Homemade scraper

[Joe Hillmann]

I am getting into turning on a very limited budget so for now I am building my own scrapers. I am making them out of dull spade bits but they are too hard to get a good burr on them. I decided to try beating a burr on to one of them by pounding on the sharpened tip with a hammer until the tip was about 1/16 of an inch thick then grind it back to sharp, it results in a large burr cuts better than anything I could get by burnishing it.

I know most people who read this won't have any use for this idea but figure if there is anyone who wants to get into turning without much of a budget this may be helpful.

[Jerry Wright]

Joe: the spade bits that you are using are probably softer than the high speed steel that most turning scrapers are made of. Remember that the burr formed during grinding is on top of the tool edge as it is ground. That is burrs are where the wheel enters the tool, not where is leaves. Scraper burrs are very fine and can be felt, but not seen without high magnification.