StewMac scrapers

[Richard Dooling]

There has been some interest in the StewMac scrapers since the increasingly famous John K Jordan mentioned them a while back. I just received the original and the mini and like them a lot. They are much stiffer than most cabinet scrapers at 1/8" thick.

Here's a drawing of the scrapers for anyone interested in the sizes and profiles. It's not perfect since I traced the scrapers onto a piece of graph paper that's from my printer, but it's close enough to give a feel for the sizes. I was a little surprised at how small the mini felt when I actually held it in my hand.

BTW the shipping is the same for two as it is for one.

Original: 3 3/4 x 1 11/16

Mini: 2 1/2 x 1 1/2

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[Jim Tobias]

They also have a rectangular one with a concave side as one of the long sides. I reach for these constantly and I'm not a luthier. The size and stiffness gives great control.

Jim

http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Types_of_Tools/Scrapers/StewMac_Ultimate_Scraper.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=2017-10-gp&gclid=Cj0KCQjwvuDPBRDnARIsAGhuAmZc0aqVgjo204ygCI24 VgOO03RFOsrruPwVLFDl26kAa0F7VfiGag4aAl3NEALw_wcB

[Frederick Skelly]

Are they hard to "sharpen"?

[John K Jordan]

Are they hard to "sharpen"?


They are trivial to sharpen. I just sharpened mine on a bench grinder with a CBN wheel but any grinding wheel should work - it's mostly a matter of setting the grinder tool rest properly. Their web site has a video, also on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7XRbfbpXiE

JKJ

[Scott Ticknor]

I believe these are manufactured from 01 gauge plate, the rockwell rating seeems the same. I remember watching a woodturning video ( back in the dinosuar days) by Dell Stubbs where he used a hand held scraper to clean up some gnarly grain. i have used my goosekneck card scraper in side bowls since then when the need arised. This scraper looks just the thing to replace my old gooseneck scraper ,nice and thick so less burned fingers!

[Frederick Skelly]

They are trivial to sharpen. I just sharpened mine on a bench grinder with a CBN wheel but any grinding wheel should work - it's mostly a matter of setting the grinder tool rest properly. Their web site has a video, also on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7XRbfbpXiE

JKJ

Thanks John!

[John K Jordan]

I believe these are manufactured from 01 gauge plate, the rockwell rating seeems the same. I remember watching a woodturning video ( back in the dinosuar days) by Dell Stubbs where he used a hand held scraper to clean up some gnarly grain. i have used my goosekneck card scraper in side bowls since then when the need arised. This scraper looks just the thing to replace my old gooseneck scraper ,nice and thick so less burned fingers!

Scott, years ago I was having problems with checking when sanding on a cedar bowl so I cut the end off a gooseneck card scraper on the inside:

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The smaller scraper was easier for me to hold and get into the curves inside the bowl. It worked so well I acquired and made other scrapers and use them a lot.

I still use many of the others but find myself reaching for the StewMac first, often trying both the thin and thick - in some cases one works better than the other, mostly due to the wood. For example, sometimes the thick scrapers work better to take out ripples (used with the grain) at the bottom of a bowl or platter and the thin, flexible scrapers work better on end grain, nearly always better in one direction than the other. (I used some of both inside a Beads of Courage box/bowl I'm finishing now, lathe off.) I've even used small scrapers on thin tapered spindles when I had trouble with chatter. In case someone is interested I use these (I've posted this picture before):

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I asked StewMac what kind of steel they use and all they said was "tool steel". I'm seriously thinking of buying a flat strip of 1/8" thick O1 steel and making my own scrapers with different shapes. It comes unhardened so it can be cut and machined then oil hardened. I could probably cut out shapes quickly with the plasma cutter then grind to final shape. I notice StewMac uses a milling machine then probably a grinder to dish out the center of their scrapers to make them easier to grip.

JKJ

[Richard Dooling]

I'm seriously thinking of buying a flat strip of 1/8" thick O1 steel and making my own scrapers with different shapes. It comes unhardened so it can be cut and machined then oil hardened. I could probably cut out shapes quickly with the plasma cutter then grind to final shape. I notice StewMac uses a milling machine then probably a grinder to dish out the center of their scrapers to make them easier to grip.

JKJ
If you decide to make a few extras let me know!:) I'm already thinking of some custom grinds but I'm not really in a position to start hardening (and learning how to harden) steel. Happy to compensate.

[John K Jordan]

If you decide to make a few extras let me know!:) I'm already thinking of some custom grinds but I'm not really in a position to start hardening (and learning how to harden) steel. Happy to compensate.

I wouldn't want to sell something that I copied (especially if I copied StewMac's wonderful grip design) but I might be talked into making one for you! Another options is to cut the shapes yourself and get someone to harden and temper the steel. I suspect a good machine shop could do that.

I use Sorby multi-tip straight and gooseneck tools on the inside of bowls and closed forms - I have the round and teardrop cutters. These work very well, but neither shape is not best in all cases. I want to make a other cutters with different profiles. Michael Gibson was using one with a more egg-shaped profile that looked good. If I find shapes I really like I might make several identical and do what I do with the spindle gouges: switch to a sharp one until they are all dull then sharpen all at once.

If you (or anyone!) have ideas for specific sizes or shapes that would be interesting. I thought I might try making some shapes first from cardboard and try to see what fits best into some things I've already turned.

JKJ

[Scott Ticknor]

John, my son and I made some hook knives for spoon carving. I went to the local ReStore ( Habitat for Humanity ) and bought a 12 inch high speed steel saw blade for $5.00. Because nobody wants hss saw blades anymore they are always lots to choose from. They are less than 1/8 but still thicker than the standard card scraper. Half the fun of this hobby for me is making tools and jigs.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

If you decide to make a few extras let me know!:) I'm already thinking of some custom grinds but I'm not really in a position to start hardening (and learning how to harden) steel. Happy to compensate.

I'll buy some too!

[Richard Dooling]

Are they hard to "sharpen"?Fredrick,

Here's a video showing the process. (https://youtu.be/a7XRbfbpXiE)

[John K Jordan]

John, my son and I made some hook knives for spoon carving. I went to the local ReStore ( Habitat for Humanity ) and bought a 12 inch high speed steel saw blade for $5.00. Because nobody wants hss saw blades anymore they are always lots to choose from. They are less than 1/8 but still thicker than the standard card scraper. Half the fun of this hobby for me is making tools and jigs.

That's an idea. I probably have some old HSS blades. I have a plasma cutter so perhaps I could cut out the shape and grind away any heat affected areas. A local and famous knife maker used to use high-carbon steel circular saw blades for all his knives, cut out with a oxy-acetylene torch, shaped, then hardened. I have one of his skinning knives. I can put an amazing edge on it - have used it to skin hogs and raccoons and such.

I think 1//8" or a little thicker might work better for the way StewMac recommends to grind these since the concavity from the grinding wheel at 90-deg sharpens both sides at once. I guess thinner steel could be ground at more of an angle at the expense of making just one side useful. That's the way I've been sharping the Sorby teardrop and round HSS cutters.

One thing about sharpening scrapers. For years I've sharpened the flexible card scrapers (like cabinet scrapers but curved) more-or-less the same way as the cabinet people recommend by burnishing a cutting edge. I tried one the other day without burnishing - just grinding at 90-deg. It seems to work just fine on the inside of a walnut and cherry bowl. I'll have to experiment more.

I have good fun making tools too! It is great to be able to make something instead of buying it, maybe make it better, and in some cases make things that I might not even be able to find. For help with carving on turnings I wanted a small coping saw to use shorter and very fine blades so I made this, from 1/4" and 3/8" cold rolled, a bit of TIG welding, some milling and driling, and some wood turning:

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I also like to make tool handles with adapters with set screws. I like to make them more compact and easier to hold than those I've bought. (I've posted these before) #3 and 4 are some I bought, too big a diameter, I think, for small tools.

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JKJ

[John K Jordan]

If you decide to make a few extras let me know!:) I'm already thinking of some custom grinds but I'm not really in a position to start hardening (and learning how to harden) steel. Happy to compensate.

Richard,

I ordered some precision ground tool steel to play with and it came yesterday. I'll try cutting out some shapes with the plasma torch and try my hand at the hardening and tempering. If you send me a drawing and dimensions of the shape you might like to try maybe I can make one as a test. The steel is 1.5" wide so that would be the limit in one direction.

I used the small StewMac scraper on a "squarish" dished platter yesterday to clean up unavoidable tool marks on the wings (with the lathe off, of course!) on the bottom. In the past I've used the thin flexible card scrapers for this but the 1/8" scraper worked as well or better. I put a snapshot here: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?259299-Finish-for-olive I'm about to reverse it to turn the top.

I hardly know what to do with myself. With the farm and all this is the first time in months I've had extra time to play in the shop!

JKJ

[Richard Dooling]

Hmmm. I've been thinking about shapes so let me cut a couple out of card stock and see how they feel.

I got the regular and the mini some days ago and have been able to try them out only a little. What a different feel from the card scrapers - though I can see me using both.

Congratulations on have some play time! If I don't get into the shop now and then I get grouchy. Just ask my wife.

[John K Jordan]

What a different feel from the card scrapers - though I can see me using both.


I used both on the olive piece I'm working on (finished turning it today.

The StewMac scrapers took of wood much quicker which enabled me to remove some tool marks and undulations near the wings get the shape in the center of the top right with less work with the NRS and shear scrapers I'd use otherwise. Then I used a full-sized thin cabinet scraper with a shallow radius ground on one side, just a bit shallower than the inside curvature. This took off extremely fine shavings and made quick work of getting the entire curve perfect - then I hit it with 320 and 400 paper with a palm ROS and some hand sanding with a soft sanding block. I think it's about ready for finish now.

I've been using the thin scrapers for a long time now - these thick scrapers are a fantastic complement to the thin ones. No wonder people who make violins and such like them!

JKJ

[Pat Pollin]

I do a fair amount of heat treat at work with a Paragon furnace for precipitation hardening stainless grades and some O1 machinist tooling.
our furnace was very reasonably priced, the normal catalog even more so in smaller "knife-smith" sizes
I have had excellent results on D2 and O1 using foil wrap, optional Argon gas inlet
Next run I will have to sneak in some extra stock for scrapers or a knife

[John K Jordan]

I do a fair amount of heat treat at work with a Paragon furnace for precipitation hardening stainless grades and some O1 machinist tooling.
our furnace was very reasonably priced, the normal catalog even more so in smaller "knife-smith" sizes
I have had excellent results on D2 and O1 using foil wrap, optional Argon gas inlet
Next run I will have to sneak in some extra stock for scrapers or a knife

Pat, Those furnaces look good. A friend of mine has one he said I could borrow. The prices seem reasonable if I end up doing a lot of this.

I admit to never hearing about Argon purge. It Argon useful when treating O1? I have argon argon/CO2 mix, and nitrogen gas.

JKJ

[Richard Dooling]

Hi John,

Sorry it took me so long to get back to this. Life got in the way, planted like an offensive lineman in front of the shop door.

Here’s an idea for a scraper design. My thought was to have more of a handle shape that might add some advantage to reaching into a bowl. The shape of radius A and the adjacent curves should be easy to adjust as needed.

Thoughts?

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[John K Jordan]

Hi John,

Sorry it took me so long to get back to this. Life got in the way, planted like an offensive lineman in front of the shop door.


Ha! I had that lineman here for eight months this year! I can't remember ever being this far behind...

I got the picture. I'll see what I can do. It will prob be mid January before I can play with this so if you decide on any refinements send another picture. (Send it to my email though the SMC PM function so I won't be as likely to miss it!)

Another option for holding might be put some holes in the steel before hardening then mount it on a handle. Sorby does this for their little teardrop scrapers intended for use with the lathe spinning but the same idea may work for hand held as well. My only concern would be positioning the scraper various ways inside, something I find I need to do often. For that reason a small scraper might be better, handheld or on some kind of articulated handle.

I like the large curve on your drawing. I have a curved one that I use a lot on every shallow dished platter I make. It's the one on the left in this picture. I used it on the dish of a cedar piece just a this week. Scraping let me go directly from plenty of tool marks to 600 grit sandpaper. I'll post photos later when I get the final finish done.

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I'm going to try to duplicate that one with the 1/8" steel. (I bought three 18" lengths so I can experiment a lot!)

JKJ

[Richard Dooling]

Honestly the StewMac shapes are very adaptable and I've been pleased wth their versatility.

Seems like an actual handle would be great but I figured it would need to be removable or it would need a jig to raise the scraper off the grinder support. Maybe something like a flat hot dog plane handle? Allen screw to tighten. It wouldn't need to be super secure since this is designed to be used with the lathe off.

Probably I'm overthinking it (who me?) - a decent piece of leather might do as well.

[John K Jordan]

...Seems like an actual handle would be great but I figured it would need to be removable or it would need a jig to raise the scraper off the grinder support. Maybe something like a flat hot dog plane handle? Allen screw to tighten. It wouldn't need to be super secure since this is designed to be used with the lathe off.


I don't know what a flat hot dog plane is but I thought about trying threaded holes in one to fasten a handle with a flat head screw. My fingers sometimes cramp up if I hold something small for too long so I might experiment with some larger grips.

JKJ

[Reed Gray]

My comment was the last one up on that video... Old one. I would bet that with the micro grained carbide burnishing rods, you could burnish a burr on them, while the guy in the video says you can't do that. No problems doing it on M42 and V10.

robo hippy

[Richard Dooling]

The hot dog is a handle attached to a plane to make it easier to use on it's side - usually for a shooting board.

https://www.lie-nielsen.com/product/email-subscription-thank-you-hot-dog-for-the-low-angle-jack-plane-

So I was thinking of a similar, flat design to make a removable scraper handle. But again, probably too much effort for the return.

[Richard Dooling]

Reed

I can't see why this would not work.
Doing a touchup at the lathe rather than going back to the grinder saves time. Of course if I had your tool rest that would make quick set-ups easier.
My comment was the last one up on that video... Old one. I would bet that with the micro grained carbide burnishing rods, you could burnish a burr on them, while the guy in the video says you can't do that. No problems doing it on M42 and V10.

robo hippy