Which cabinet scraper

[Craig D Peltier]

Hello, I want to buy a cabinet scraper but dont know which one.I have never used one. Should I just buy the set from woodcraft for like $15? Is it a must to have a holder for it so it doesnt kill your hands?

Thank you

[Pete Bradley]

I never use a holder. You just have to be careful not to get too enthusiastic or you'll burn your thumbs.

Pete

[glenn bradley]

This may be better on the neander forum and they probably have much stronger opinions than I. For what it's worth, I have that set or the Sheffield set that everyone seems to sell for about that price. Along with a good file, a stone (or diamond plate) and a burnishing rod, they've worked just fine. Such a simple and amazingly useful tool.

I don't use a holder but if I forsee another big scraping effort coming up, I'll make or get one just for comfort. My dad has one and they're pretty cool but I lose the "feel" of the surface with the holder. IMHO.

[Andrew Williams]

I use the Lie-Neilsen 112 all the time, but I usually finish scrape with handheld cards. They were the Lee Valley hardened set. Important to joint their edges and stone them, and get a real burnisher.

[Craig D Peltier]

Thanks its all foreign to me but I will investigate.

[Christopher Stahl]

I use the Veritas Cabinet Scraper from Lee Valley, along with their hardened steel curved and straight scrapers. I'm quite satisfied with them.

[Joe Meazle]

The Veritas cabinet scraper is one of my favoirte tools. I use more than i do my veritas scraper plane. I can get much more aggressive withthe cabinet scraper then move to a card scraper. The cabinet scraper also keeps things flatter IMHO than a card scraper alone. The Vertias Cabinet scraper is one of the great bargins out there IMHO.
Joe

[jonathan snyder]

Craig,

If you are looking for card scrapers, check out he LN set http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?sku=hss I had asked here a while back http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=44796 and several folks recommended the LN's. They are 100 times better than the shop fox scrapers I started with.

Jonathan

[Terry Bigelow]

I have the LN's too. Love 'em. Especially the really thin one. Once I got good at setting it up I really like using it. It's like magic! A little tiny hook on a square piece of metal smoothes out the toughest grain, who'd a thunk it?

[Craig D Peltier]

Thanks, this is different from a cabinet scraper though right? I mean I guess you use them both but they are a different creature correct?
Craig,

If you are looking for card scrapers, check out he LN set http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?sku=hss I had asked here a while back http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=44796 and several folks recommended the LN's. They are 100 times better than the shop fox scrapers I started with.

Jonathan

[Mark Stutz]

Thanks, this is different from a cabinet scraper though right? I mean I guess you use them both but they are a different creature correct?
Craig,
They are indeed different animals. To me, a cabinet scraper is handled and holds the blade at a fixed angle, and a card scraper is hand held. I use the latter but don't have the former. It's my understanding the learning curve is a bit steeper for the cabinet scraper, but now that I'm comfortable with the card scraper, this will be on my list. I'll also recommend the LN set...the thin blade works very well! I would suggest getting the card scraper, learn to turn the hook, and have at it...the cabinet scraper can come later.

My .02,FWIW

Mark

[jonathan snyder]

Thanks, this is different from a cabinet scraper though right? I mean I guess you use them both but they are a different creature correct?

Craig,

I thought you were asking about card scrapers, as you mentioned a holder. If you are looking for a cabinet scraper, check out a vintage Stanley # 80 which can be had for $20.00 - 30.00, or look at the LV #80. The LV #80 is supposed to have some improvements over the old Stanley, but I have never used one.

Jonathan

[Bruce Haugen]

Heck, Craig,
If I were in your shoes, I'd find the nearest garage sale selling an old handsaw that looks pretty much used up and buy it, cut it into scraper sized pieces and take it from there. One school of thought about why you don't see many of the old, good handsaws in the wild is that as they became no good for sawing anymore, they were cut up for scrapers.

Failing that, go to your local woodworking store and get one or two of their standard ones. My favorite was from Patrick Leach (now sold out to Lie-Nielsen), .02" thick, very flexible and fairly hard.

Bruce

[Hank Knight]

Craig,

Unless you have a lot of big surfaces to finish - table tops and the like, I think you will find a cabinet scraper to be an expensive white elephant. By cabinet scraper, I'm talking about the scraper that looks like a plane - with wooden handles and a thick scraper blade you can adjust to various angles to suit your work. I bought a LN cabinet scraper (Stanley #112 type) 5 or 6 years ago for a table project I was working on. It worked better than I expected at leveling and smoothing the large table top. I used it again to smooth my new maple bench top in '04. It worked great for that too. But except for those two jobs, the cabinet scraper has sat on the shelf in my shop, unused. It's big, heavy and not very manuverable, which is OK for big, flat surfaces, but not so user-friendly on small stuff.

Several posters here have suggested a Stanley #80 or similar scraper. These are the ones that look like a spoke shave. I have one and I use it all the time. They are great for levelling and smoothing all kinds of work. They will handle large surfaces, but not as efficiently as a #112. They're light, easy to handle and do a great job. For general applications, I think you would be better off with a #80 or a modern equivalent, and they cost about 1/4 to 1/3 of what you would pay for a #112.

When referring to #80s and #112s above, I'm referring to the original Stanley designs. There are other makers of these tools today, and most have improved on the original Stanley designs. Lee Valley, Lie-Nielsen and Kunz, to name three. Of course the Stanleys are still available on the used tool market.

Others on this thread have talked about card scrapers. Those are the real work horses in my shop as for as scrapers are concerned. I usually have one or two on my bench during almost any project. They are the simplest of tools - just a flat piece of steel with a hook turned on the edge - but they have hundreds of uses. I use them almost without thinking to smooth a surface, pare a joint, knock glue beads off a glue joint and many, many other applications. You may already be familiar with card scrapers. If so, I'm preaching to the choir. If you're not, get several (they'er inexpensive), a file and a burnisher and learn how to use them. Card scrapers almost indespensable in my work and you will quickly find them to be a handy addition to your go-to tool collection.

My $.02

Hank

[Harold Beck]

I use the LV version of the Stanley 80. I just love it. I have used it to flatten panels and to smooth stock and veneer that I have resawed on the band saw.

Every time I use it, I end up walking into the house and telling LOML that I love her and my cabinet scraper. She just shakes her head and mutters something about "for better or worse".

HB

[Phil Clark]

When looking for a source for a cabinet scraper like the Stanley #80 or the # 112 don't overlook Ebay. Today there are at least 3 of each that will be sold. In addition to getting a quality tool that Veritas and LN have copied, you get the benefit of reconditioning your item which itself is a pleasing experience.

[Ron Crusee]

What a great idea...




Heck, Craig,
If I were in your shoes, I'd find the nearest garage sale selling an old handsaw that looks pretty much used up and buy it, cut it into scraper sized pieces and take it from there. One school of thought about why you don't see many of the old, good handsaws in the wild is that as they became no good for sawing anymore, they were cut up for scrapers.

Bruce

[Mike Francis]

I use old Disstons cut up and they make great scrapers. I can get the saws for about 2-3 dollars each at estate sales and I have collected many of them for this very reason.
Mike

[Craig D Peltier]

Okay so I got a set of card scrapers. Do I need to sharpen and edge on them and burnish them? I have seen video of guys pulling wood curlies off with them?

Thanks

[Larry Rose]

Go for the LNs they hold an edge better than the cheaper ones and cost very little more.

[Maurice Metzger]

Bob Smalser to the rescue:

http://www.cianperez.com/Wood/WoodDocs/Wood_How_To/INDEX_How_To_pages/Smalser_on_TuningCardScrapers.htm

Maurice