Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Scraper Sharpening
Bert in Calgary
>I've been able to turn a decent burr on my scrapers after the filing, honing, etc., as long as I use a very light touch with the burnisher. If I try turning a burr with more pressure I get nothing. Can't figure this one out! Shouldn't I be able to get a larger burr with more pressure?
Re: Scraper Sharpening
Ted Shuck, Centennial, CO
>The process of rolling a burr involves pressure from the burnisher to deform the metal along the edge of the scraper. This metal is squeezed into a thin edge which protrudes from the side of the scraper. If you press hard on this deformed edge, you could separate it and squeeze it right off the side of the scraper.
Think of pinching some putty into a thin ribbon. If you pinch with just the right amount of force, you will get the ideal thickness of ribbon. If you pinch too hard, you will pinch it off completely.
Regards,
Ted
Re: Scraper Sharpening
George in Lowell, Mich.
>You could also, with too much pressure, roll the burr completely around so that if you looked along the burr from the edge it would look (exaggerated alot) like a P.
Work safe,
George in 508 Lowell, Mich.
Re: Scraper Sharpening
Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI
>The type of steel your scraper is made of really determines how well the scraper will work. One of the better investments in my shop was the scraper set from Lee Valley. I guess it would be possible to roll the burr so hard that it breaks off, but I have yet to see that actually happening, although I do admit to having somewhat limited and unscientific experience with scrapers. A couple of scenarios that might be happening 1) You might be changing the angle of your burnisher when you are pressing down really hard so the burr might be rolled over too far to actually hit the wood while scraping 2) You may not be holding the scraper at the correct angle. Try holding the scraper vertical and then while moving it across a board tilt it down until you feel the burr bite into the wood. With soft steel and a large burr your scraping angle might be too low to actually work.
Re: Scraper Sharpening
Ted Shuck, Centennial, CO
>Moses,
I think I have experienced the burr breaking off or crumbling if I press too hard with a burnisher. If I don't press too hard, then I get a nice smooth feel all along the edge. If I press too hard, then I get I sticky, rough feel, which I attribute to the burr crumbling. When I feel the edge at those areas where I got this rough feel, I don't have a good burr.
I think it is important to begin burnishing flat on the edge, at 90 degrees to the surface of the scraper. Only after some steel has been pushed out to mushroom the edge slightly, should the burnisher be tilted to turn the edge. In my experience... if the burnisher is tilted before burnishing flat on the edge, there is a greater chance of the edge crumbling.
Regards,
Ted