can a card scraper be used?

[curtis rosche]

can a card scraper be used in turning for a finishing cut before sanding? i have a plane blade that is to short for my plane but its good steel still

[Ryan Baker]

Do you mean with the lathe running or not? On the inside or outside? Yes, a card scraper can be used. Depending on how you use it, it may or may not be a safe thing to do. (Don't try to power scrape the inside of a hollow form or you might do some nasty damage to your hand.)

Having said that, why bother? You can do very much the same thing by shear scraping with either your bowl gouge or a scraper, both of which are faster and safer than using a card scraper IMO.

[Jarrod McGehee]

ya and you don't need to get hurt anytime soon!

[ROY DICK]

Curtis,
Shear scrape. i know you can do that.

Roy

[curtis rosche]

ok, i was just wondering. i was just thinking outside with the lathe turned on with no toolrest

[Scott Conners]

It can be done, certainly. There was a post about it recently, I remember Malcolm Tibbets replied on his own use of scrapers. Personally, I find a good sheer scrape to work really well and use it more and more often. I have John Jordan's outside shear scraper on my short list.

[Jim Sebring]

Dale Larson, a pretty good turner and AAW Board member, showed how to use a card scraper to finish the outside of a bowl at our March club meeting. He uses a narrow scraper (about an inch wide) so that his fingers are very close to the wood. He holds the scraper at about a 45 degree angle to the surface and does a final, very light, cut after having re-turned the dried bowl. Very littlle sanding was required after the scrape.

[Cindy Navarro]

I personally think it would be a accident waiting to happen. Use a skew or bowl gouge or as Burt Marsh said at a session use sand paper for that final finish. He even used 80 to make the subtle shape he wanted without getting any catches.

[Mark Placek]

I use a "card scraper" on all my turnings, with the lathe running.
I've found using them eliminates some of the courser sandpaper I would normally start with.

The only draw-back I've found using them is on segmented work with dissimilar wood;
going from soft to hard wood will cause the scraper to dig-in deeper into the softer wood.

I've found using them is very useful on transitions where a gouge or bevel scraper may dig-in.
I suggest experimenting with them at the lowest speed possible until you get the feel for how they cut.

[Reed Gray]

My experience with a card scraper showed me that they work okay at slower speeds, like 200 or so rpm. Personally, a heavy scraper with a good burr, held at a 45 degree shear angle is much easier to use, you can support it on a tool rest, and works at higher speeds. Pull cut on both the outside and inside. From base to rim on the outside and the inside. I know, it is backwards for doing the inside, but this is not a stock removal cut, it is a clean up/finish cut, and it will work.

Note, if you haven't found out yet, once the bowl has been turned, the rim will vibrate with even gentle pressure of any tool. Turn the outside to completion and it is pretty solid. Remove the inside mass and it starts to flex. You have to take the inside finish cuts in steps. Turn to finish thickness about an inch or two down, then clean up. Another inch or so, and clean up. all the way to the bottom. You will probably have to blend in between where one cut area stops and the other begins, but generally there is very little to do. You can use your hand on the outside as a steady rest, with very gentle pressure, the same amount of pressure you put on the tool. If your hand is getting hot, you are pressing too hard. Too much pressure can make it vibrate as well. Do round over the edges of the rim as they can be very sharp.

robo hippy

[Dick Sowa]

I use a card scraper from time to time on the outside only. Like Mark said, dissimilar woods, glue joints, etc, will affect how they work. Since I have used card scrapers on flat work for a long, long time, I am very comfortable turning a burr, and using them on the outside. The only disadvantage is they dull very fast, and will need to be resharpened often.

I've found that even my best shear scraping will leave some irregularities that a card scraper cleans up quickly. I use them with the lathe running at slow speed (less than 100 rpm), or with the lathe stopped.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I used a card scraper once and didn't like it. I can get as good or better surface using a bowl gouge with the wings swept back and do a vertical shear scrape. Mike Mahoney showed us how during a demo and starts sanding at 120 to 150 grit. Bill Grumbine also shows how on his DVD.

[curtis rosche]

i was just asking because i was trying to do a shear cut on a hollowform but when i went to move the tool in one direction the tool skated across and dug into what i had already done. i guess that just means i need to watch some youtube videos of shearcutting again