inboard vs outboard scrapers

[david brum]

Hi all
Novice turners question here. What's the difference between an inboard vs outboard scraper. I have looked around the net and have seen plenty of photos of inboard scrapers. Outboard scrapers look to me just like round nosed scrapers, which look just like half round scrapers. They are listed as separate scrapers, so I'm assuming they are different. Can someone set me straight?

Also, do most turners really anneal files before converting them to scrapers?

Thanks!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Welcome to SMC. I can't help you much with the scrapers because I don't use them. I have one round nose and thats it. But I can say do not make turning tools out of files. They are to brittle and if they snap they shatter. When they break and shatter bad things happen. I wouldn't want my hands around one when it did. Just to dangerous in my mind.

[david brum]

Thanks Bernie. I'm gathering that impression about files. I've broken a few over the years and they are pretty brittle. I've read that some folks re-heat treat them to make the metal more suitable. Seems like a lot of works though, unless you've got a torch, etc.

[David Christopher]

Hi all
Novice turners question here. What's the difference between an inboard vs outboard scraper. I have looked around the net and have seen plenty of photos of inboard scrapers. Outboard scrapers look to me just like round nosed scrapers, which look just like half round scrapers. They are listed as separate scrapers, so I'm assuming they are different. Can someone set me straight?

Also, do most turners really anneal files before converting them to scrapers?

Thanks!

David, inside scrapers will be rounded to the left looking down on it and the outside will round to the right....

[Reed Gray]

There isn't as much difference in scraper shaper as there are in gouges. The 'inside' scraper is quarter rounded and swept/ground back to the left side, and the outside is quarter rounded and swept/ground back to the right side. If you are turning a bowl, that is mounted on a face plate and/or a waste block attached to the bottom of the bowl blank, then the use of each is pretty obvious. The outside swept back design allows you to get closer to the face plate and waste block than an inside one would, and an inside one works better on the inside of a bowl. For me, I mount with the bottom of the bowl away from the lathe, and turn the bottom to finish, then reverse it. I use a chuck to remount. For this style, there is no use for an outside scraper. If you reverse, and want to true up the outside of your bowl, then you can use it, but with some care and a 'finish' cut on your tenon or recess, you don't need to true it up unless you are turning really thin, say less than 1/8 inch. I do use an outside scraper to true up the face/top of the bowl before I reverse it and there is a slight advantage to its shape. A round nose scraper is a combination tool which kind of does the job of both, but I prefer the inside scraper for most of my work.

For bowls, I prefer a scraper for all of my roughing and shaping cuts, and it is great for a finish shear cut. They also work great for end grain turning.

robo hippy

[Ryan Baker]

In my experience, an "outboard" scraper is not [intended to be] the same thing as a scraper for the outside of bowls. The outboard bowl scraper is a mirror image of the inboard scraper, with the cutting edge on the right instead of the left. If you are turning a bowl faceplate mounted on the outboard spindle of a lathe that is still spinning in the forward direction, you have to do the cutting on the right side instead of the left. Therefore, you need to have a scraper that cuts on the right side. I don't know how many people still turn outboard like that these days, and I would certainly rather reverse the spindle rotation, but some people probably do. I have some of these outboard scrapers, but it was always my intention to regrind them into a pair of left and right shear scrapers for working on the outside of bowls and such.

[david brum]

Thanks guys, that clears it up. I was imagining that you had to have a special scraper for the outside vs inside of a bowl, and trying to imagine why. Having a reverse scraper for outboard turning makes much more sense. Thanks for helping out a novice!

[Wally Dickerman]

I've been turning on the outboard side of my lathes for many years (I'm a lefty) If it's a HD round nose scraper to use on the inside of a bowl, just side grind it on both sides....works lefty or righty. Inboard or outboard

I use a skew shaped scraper for light duty final shaping use around the bottom area of a bowl or HF. I have one ground for RH use and one ground for LH use...inboard and outboard. I grind my own out of a square nosed tool. Used with a light touch and always with the grain it's a great tool. With most woods, very little sanding after I use it.

Wally

[david brum]

Thanks Wally. I'm working up the courage to turn my first bowl and trying to gather the necessaries. Some of this stuff is really mysterious to me right now, for sure. So far I've done only spindle turning for furniture legs. I've finally progressed to the point where I rarely destroy things with my skew chisel, so I think I'm ready.