Use and Sharpening Instructions for Hand Scrapers

Owning Hand Scrapers will help you cut your sanding and finishing time in half. And the end result will be considerably better than if you had used sandpaper alone!

Hand Scrapers will remove material faster, and at the same time, eliminate uneven spots that sandpaper and steel wool only help to magnify. But they can do more than remove a tissue-thin shaving at a time - they can also be used to remove glue and lacquer more efficiently than with any other method. So keep them out in the open and well within reach!

But before you begin, a few words on proper sharpening and use to help you along...

Sharpening Your Hand Scrapers in Six Simple Steps

1. Clamp scraper in vise
2. File edges perfectly square with Single-Cut Mill File
3. Hone edges with Medium India stone
4. Hone with Hard Arkansas stone
5. Remove honing burr
6. Burnish edges with a burnishing tool or the shaft of a screwdriver

a) Clamp scraper in vise, hold file even with the blade edge, perpendicular to scraper face. Draw in long even strokes.	b) Remove file marks with a Medium India stone; complete honing with a Hard Arkansas stone. Avoid rocking the stones at all times.
c) Move sharpening stone along both faces of the scraper until burr is completely removed.	d) Hold the burnisher or screwdriver shaft at about an 85-degree angle and draww it lightly, both down and along the edge of the scraper at the same time, until a slightly even burr forms.

Special Tips:

1. When scraper edges dull, it is not necessary to follow the complete sharpening procedure. Simply burnish old burr up flat, then form a new one at a slightly lesser angle (e.g. 80-degrees). After putting new burr on four or five times, follow complete sharpening procedure.
2. The most common sharpening mistake is burnishing too hard! This gives the burr a big hook which will dig too far into the wood (except when scraping rough stock).
3. For rough work (removing glue or lacquer, rough scraping) - simply file edges; sharpening stones is not necessary.

a) Curl fingers around scraper ends, bowing it slightly with thumb pressure.	b) Angle the scraper away from you at about 70-degrees from the work surface and push...
c) ...or toward you and pull.	d) Hold the scraper diagonally, but move parallel to the grain of the wood.
e) Hand Scrapers should not make dust.	f) ...they should make tissue-thin shavings!

Getting The Most Out of Your Hand Scrapers

1. Bow scraper slightly, using thumb pressure
2. Hold at about 70-degrees - not perpendicular to work surface
3. Hold askew to grain, but move with the grain

Additional Uses For Hand Scrapers

Although Hand Scrapers are primarily used to remove machine marks, they are also great for:

1. Removing glue
2. Removing old finishes

Special Tips:

1. Depending on the angle of the burnish, scraper must either be held flatter or more upright to produce shavings instead of dust.
2. A dull or unevenly burnished edge will also make dust instead of shavings.
3. After scraping machine marks, wood blemishes, etc., scrape to the sides, front and back of this area to avoid creating "dips." Note: Hand Scrapers (properly sharpened) will leave a smoother surface than 220-grit sandpaper. Lack of this area to avoid creating "dips."

Note: Hand Scrapers (properly sharpened) will leave a smoother surface than 220-grit sandpaper..