Card Scraper

[Phil Mueller]

Amidst learning how to sharpen a hand saw, I decided it was also time to tackle a card scraper. Watched a bunch of videos and gave it 15-20 minutes of my time. I now understand what all the fuss is about. It's really a pretty remarkable little tool. I'm still somewhere beyond sawdust, but not yet perfect shavings. A few more attempts and I think I'll have it.

Got me curious about card scraper holders. I rounded the top corners to be a little easier on the hands, but do the holders work...like the one sold by LV?

[Bill White]

Yep! The holders work. I often use the scrapers with and without the holder depending on the task at hand.
Bill

[Prashun Patel]

If you come across a cheap cabinet scraper then you might give that underappreciated tool a whirl. Once I learned how to sharpen and push it (it's easier to sharpen than a card scraper) I felt like Tom Hanks making fire on Castaway.

[Daniel Rode]

I have a wooden holder. At the time I bought it I was sure it was indispensable. I haven't taken it out of the drawer in years. I just got used to using the card scrapers solo. Getting them properly sharp makes all the difference. Card scrapers are useful for so many things.

I recently bought a #80 and I use it all the time. I don't know how I got along without one. Between a #80 and a properly set chip breaker, I can usually tame any grain.

[Stew Hagerty]

[QUOTE=Daniel Rode;2548494]I have a wooden holder. At the time I bought it I was sure it was indispensable. I haven't taken it out of the drawer in years. I just got used to using the card scrapers solo.QUOTE]

I too have a wooden holder. It works very well, but I rarely use it. About the only time I get it out is if I have a lot to do, as long as what I am working on is not a big flat surface. If it is a big flat surface, I break out either my 80 or try out my beautiful vintage Stanley 12 1/2.
I say "try out" my 12 1/2 because even though I replaced the standard blade with a Hock, I just cannot quite get the hang of it. I would really love to find a GOOD explanation &/or video that goes into detail about how to use it.

[Phil Mueller]

You're reading my mind Prashun.

[glenn bradley]

I have a wooden holder. At the time I bought it I was sure it was indispensable. I haven't taken it out of the drawer in years.

This mirrors my experience. If I have to do a lot, and I mean a lot, of scraping I might put on gloves but, I find it hard to get good feedback from the tool, and therefor shaving instead of dust, without holding it in my hands.

[lowell holmes]

http://www.finewoodworking.com/tool-guide/video/how-to-sharpen-a-card-scraper.aspx

Check the video out. I sharpen my card scrapers like shown. You will never see a card scraper in the same light.

[Chris Fournier]

Card scrapers are the best bang for the buck in woodworking tools. Sharpening them is a snap. The card scraper is most effective when used without a holder as you get immediate feedback from the cutting edge and can tweak your hold/angle/flex to get more or less cut.

[Luke Dupont]

If you come across a cheap cabinet scraper then you might give that underappreciated tool a whirl. Once I learned how to sharpen and push it (it's easier to sharpen than a card scraper) I felt like Tom Hanks making fire on Castaway.

I thought cabinet/card scrapers were essentially the same? What's the difference? Are they not sharpened/used the same?

[Daniel Rode]

While they work mostly the same, A cabinet scraper, like the #80 has a 45* angle on the iron where a card scraper has a 90* edge. Some people, create a burr on the 45* edge, others, like me, do not. The cabinet scraper will give a flatter surface where a card scraper is good for more localized work as well as curves. I use them both. I tend to use the #80 where I might otherwise use a smoothing plane.

[Luke Dupont]

While they work mostly the same, A cabinet scraper, like the #80 has a 45* angle on the iron where a card scraper has a 90* edge. Some people, create a burr on the 45* edge, others, like me, do not. The cabinet scraper will give a flatter surface where a card scraper is good for more localized work as well as curves. I use them both. I tend to use the #80 where I might otherwise use a smoothing plane.

Ah. So, cabinet scrapers are the ones that you use in a scraper plane, correct? It's kind of confusing that people talk about them as the same animal, when one is used in the hand, and the other is essentially a hand-plane. Or do you use cabinet scrapers without the plane-body as well?

[Daniel Rode]

A cabinet scraper is the entire tool. Body and iron. A card scraper is just the iron/blade. The card scraper is typically thinner and more flexible. Card scrapers also come in various curved shapes. You can make your own from an old hand saw blade.

Ah. So, cabinet scrapers are the ones that you use in a scraper plane, correct? It's kind of confusing that people talk about them as the same animal, when one is used in the hand, and the other is essentially a hand-plane. Or do you use cabinet scrapers without the plane-body as well?

[Prashun Patel]

A card scraper is different from the blade used in a cabinet scraper. The card scraper is intended to be honed first. Then you roll a burr, which is what actually does the cutting. It is not intuitive and tricky to learn how to roll that burr properly.

A cabinet scraper, by contrast, holds the blade at a constant angle, and keeps it flexed. There is a small sole that acts to limit the depth of cut. You essentially end up with a cambered plane. Here's what I love about the cabinet scraper: the blade is sharpened at 45 degrees. You can sharpen it just like any other plane blade, taking it up through your grits to a polish. No hook, no burr. I find because there's no burr, the edge lasts longer than a card scraper.

A scraper plane is just an evolution of the cabinet scraper. Whereas a scraper plane may cost on the order of $100+, a cabinet scraper is probably obtainable for $20.

[Reinis Kanders]

Here is Sellers' take on the cabinet scraper prep. Note that he does add a burr to it. I have tried both ways and for me it worked better with the burr.
https://paulsellers.com/2013/07/cabinet-scrapers-answering-whats-needed-in-real-woodworking-realms/

[Patrick Chase]

The reason people use holders has more to do with heat where the thumbs press against the middle of the scraper to camber it, rather than with the scraper edge digging into their hands. As somebody else noted well-sharpened/turned edges cut more efficiently and generate less heat, but even so it can get uncomfortable. I usually work with a pair of identical scrapers and swap every so often.

Somebody (can't remember who) once suggested a flexible refrigerator magnet as a heat shield.