blue spring steel

[Roland]

Agree with Ben about Japanese saw blades. THey make fantastic scrapers that seem to stay sharp forever.

Hello John!

How do you sharpen your scrapers? With a 45° bevel or simply 90°?

Best wishes,

Roland

[saintjohnbarleycorn]

ok I understand what you are saying now. When I first started I used a putty knife and used a file to sharpen it. I was amazed how much you could do with it, having never used a scraper before. At first it is a bit tricky to get used to the grinder and harder steel, but after a while you can get it pretty fast not too much longer than file and a putty knife, and it does last longer. So starting out with soft steel is probably a good idea, and it gets you used to the angle ( i used 90 degree until recently). A guy who was a pattern maker made me one from a big hack saw blade, and it had a 45 on it, I never really put 2 an 2 together on that until recently. Now when I do one I do the 45.

[Don Noon]

It would seem to me that sharpening a hard scraper wouldn't be much different from sharpening a gouge; I do them about the same way:

- Rough shape on a white grinding wheel, 320 grit, taking care to not overheat and lose temper (water, light pressure).

- Smooth the edge on fine diamond or sandpaper, using sideways and rolling movement.

- Polish with buffing wheel, or sometimes just remove burr by pressing edge into soft wood or using slicing motion.

I seem to be gravitating more to the hookless, hard scraper... but it will take a while before I settle on a final choice. Hooked scrapers sometimes load up with shavings in the hook and have to be cleared, and that doesn't happen if there's no hook. Maybe I'm just not making the right hook.

[Roger Hill]

It would seem to me that sharpening a hard scraper wouldn't be much different from sharpening a gouge; I do them about the same way:

- Rough shape on a white grinding wheel, 320 grit, taking care to not overheat and lose temper (water, light pressure).

- Smooth the edge on fine diamond or sandpaper, using sideways and rolling movement.

- Polish with buffing wheel, or sometimes just remove burr by pressing edge into soft wood or using slicing motion.

I seem to be gravitating more to the hookless, hard scraper... but it will take a while before I settle on a final choice. Hooked scrapers sometimes load up with shavings in the hook and have to be cleared, and that doesn't happen if there's no hook. Maybe I'm just not making the right hook.

That's what I tried an those woodcraft scrapers, Don and never came up with anything close to satisfactory. The hardness of the gouge steel is about 60. The Blue Spring about 50 and the steel shim stock 90-100. I know a grinder will cut it, but it just doesn't seem like my kind of havin' fun. Why don't you buy some and make some scrapers for all of us to try? another tool project that you really might enjoy

[Don Noon]

Why don't you buy some and make some scrapers for all of us to try? another tool project that you really might enjoy

Funny you should mention that. I just got my 10-foot roll of spring steel (RC 53 - 59) from McMaster this week. I can make as many scrapers as anyone wants. $299 each.

(it just doesn't seem like my kind of havin' fun... but if I want to get the scraper I want, this is what I hafta do.)

[NewNewbie]

When you get your scrapers you are going to need to sharpen them.

This is my number one pick when it comes to sharpening scrapers.

www.popularwoodworking.com "A Better Way to Sharpen Scrapers" by Christopher Schwarz

The guy did his homework, and managed to keep his dog from eating it as well!

[troutabout]

Go to a lumber yard and pick up some free scraps of one or two inch wide steel banding strap. It's made from high carbon steel. I use it for one of my opening knives.

[edi malinaric]

(snip)

I seem to be gravitating more to the hookless, hard scraper... but it will take a while before I settle on a final choice. Hooked scrapers sometimes load up with shavings in the hook and have to be cleared, and that doesn't happen if there's no hook. Maybe I'm just not making the right hook.

Hi Don - I was having the same problem - and was too stubborn to ask Brian what I was doing wrong... I kept stoning off the hook, squaring the edge, rolling a new hook - using more pressure and more strokes. The hooks became "better" - they must have reached 0.1mm in depth.

Brian saw me struggling and came over to have a look. Asked if he could try the scraper - then explained that the hook was far too pronounced. He showed me how it took only three strokes of medium pressure to form the hook and one pass to turn it.

The hook was best described as "almost imaginary" - however the scraper worked just fine!

Guess it's one of those cases where less is more.

Maybe 90 degrees is also OK - must try it next sharpeing - before making the hook.

cheers edi

[Roger Hill]

they have hardened, that is not blued, for much cheaper, but I guess tempering it might be a problem. they come in 100" x 6" quite a bit. Has anyone tried this?

http://www.victornet.com/subdepartments/Shim-Stock/1010.html

Michael Darnton was kind enough to point out to me that I had things all %$#@%& up. The plain steel was spec'ed on a Rockwell B scale while the other steels on that page were spec'ed on a Rockwell C scale, a major difference. As a consequence, the plain steel should be perfectly fine for machining as it is actually softer than the blue spring steel. Most anything you might want to know about hardness specs is here:

http://www.calce.umd.edu/general/Facilities/Hardness_ad_.htm

Having tried it, I stand by my advice that hard steels are a real and unnecessary PITA for making scrapers. Sorry 'bout the confusion I caused.