80M vs the Gravel Truck

[Mark Baldwin III]

I picked up a Stanley 80M cabinet scraper the other day. Overall it isn't in the worst shape. Mild rust on the sole, and mild rust on the blade. I did a quick clean up on it, and put a fresh burr on the blade. I grabbed a piece of curly maple and set about learning to push this thing around. It makes a nice shaving, instead of dust...so I know I'm at least part way there.
However, the feel of the board after scraping was rough. Not tear-out rough, more like fine sand paper rough (it feels like running your finger tips lightly over a piece of 600 grit).
"well, hell," I said to myself, "my high angle smoother puts down a better finish than that!" I grabbed my Gravel Truck smoother and made a few passes. Indeed, the feel of the board was better.
Following are a few pictures...the scraper before cleaning, and a comparison of shavings between the smoother and the scraper. Which leaves my options...
1. mark, you've built an exceptional smoother...the scraper just isn't as good.
2. mark, learn to use and tune that scraper you numb skull.
3. mark, that's just the way it is, learn to deal with it.
The iron of the smoother and the blade of the scraper can definitely use some work. The smoother has done some work w/out being touched up for a while, and the scraper was a quick work up. Sorry for being long winded!
Any tips for getting the hang of a cabinet scraper would be much appreciated!

[Dave Anderson NH]

My only comment Mark is that I have never found the need to put a burr on the edge of my #80. Careful prep and a smooth sharp edge has always done it for me. I think that with the angle of the blade and the angle of the bevel the burr can easily make things worse.

[Mark Baldwin III]

Thanks, Dave, I'll give that a try. The scraper blade still has the bevel on either side, so I can just touch up the other side of it. New tool, new learning curve!

[mike holden]

Mark,
Polish that sole! Looks like you are dragging a piece of sandpaper over the wood along with the scraper.
Second Dave in that a burr is not necessary.
Mike

[Niels Cosman]

+1 on not needing a burr . I've also found that using a burr (for more aggressive cutting) I get better results with a lighter (smaller) burr, and it requires less maintenance. also probably a stupid question, but you did flatten and polish the "back" of your blade right? because if it is still as rusty as the showing side in the pictures, guarantee you aren't going to get a good result in any set up.

+100 for cleaning up that sole. i'll bet that texture is like gravel dragging on the wood :)

cheers,
Niels

[David Weaver]

A scraper will generally, on wood as soft as soft maple, not leave a fantastic surface - especially when you're dealing with curly.

You can back off the shaving thickness and improve the quality of the edge to combat that some, but a nice-working plane will still leave a nicer surface.

[Mark Baldwin III]

Sorry about the confusion, guys...the picture of the sole is pre-cleaning. I got the major spots off, but there are a few scratches left in it. I cleaned up the one edge of the blade that I used also, and didn't put any effort into the other side yet. I'm going to finish the tune up this evening. I had thought that I had maybe done enough to get a decent result, but I doubt that I did. Will let you know the results after more tweaking, and trying out a burr-free edge.

[Mark Baldwin III]

Here is the current state of the sole. There are some areas around the edges that didn't clean up. I'm thinking that this should be ok though. Or do I need to go for ultimate flatness?

[David Weaver]

That's plenty good. Make sure you get all of the metal dust off of the bottom, or as much as you can, or it'll foul the edge a time or two.