tool making question

[Phil Labowski]

Hi all! I just have a quick question. I'm making a round nose scrapper that is 9" x 1" and about 3/8" thick. How long of a tang(sp?) do I need? I'd prefer to have it as short as possible so I don't give up blade length. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Phil

[Steve Schlumpf]

Phil.. I seem to remember 2" as the length of a typical tang... but I can not find any documentation to back that up! I'll keep looking...

[Ryan Baker]

At least 2-3" minimum. Personally, I would want at least 3". And use a ferrule.

I assume you are asking because you already have a piece 9" long? That's still going to be relatively short for a scraper of that size.

If it were me, I would not put a tang on it at all. (That just makes it weaker.) I would start with a piece that was more like 15" long. Slot the handle about 4" deep, slip it over the flat steel. Glue if desired. Then drill through and pin it together like putting scales on a knife handle. Shape as desired. (Obviously the handle end needs to be tempered soft enough to drill for this method.) It's a little more work this way, but it will never break.

[Bob Bergstrom]

Most commercial scrapers have a 7" blade and as Steve said 2" of tang is about right unless you are like Reed Gray and his monster scraper for roughing out wet bowls. I only use mine for finishing cuts that only take off whispers of wood.

[Reed Gray]

Well, my favorites are some from Doug Thompson (D Way has a nice one as well) about 1 inch wide by 3/8 thick, and about 6 inch of blade with about a 2+ inch long tang. Having more than 1 1/4 inch wide is a bit of a waste to me. I can stall my lathe easily with that scraper, but I am kind of a brute. I don't extend out past the tool rest as far as I do with a gouge, unless it is a very light cut. That is a lot of steel to put into the wood at one time, and it is easy to get over loaded compared to what you can do with a gouge. If you only have 1 scraper, round nose it, great for roughing and shear cuts from either right or left. If you have several, round nose, inside and outside (swept back to left and right) which are great for roughing and shear cuts, and a ) nose one for easing out the washboard across the bottom of the bowl. With a 9 inch long blank, 2 to 2 1/2 inch tang, and the rest for your scraper. I make a sandwich handle. The center is the exact same thickness as the scraper with the tang slot cut into it, and the bread goes on either side of that, and a ferrule. Much stronger than the forged type tang burned or pounded into a square hole.

robo hippy