Need Recommendation for Negative Rake Scraper

[Izzy Charo]

Hello,
I'd like to add one or two negative rake scrapers to my growing collection of turning tools...lots of them out there to choose from. I'm turning basic bowls, some with recesses below the rim. Which ones would you recommend I look at...
Thanks,
Izzy

[Paul Heely]

I've been using some Thompson 1-1/4" skews as negative rake scrapers with good results. They are bit pricey, but the I use and sharpen them, usually touch up with a diamond stone and only hit the grinder when that won't do, they will last probably my lifetime.

[roger wiegand]

For the most part is scrapers thicker is better-- 3/8" at a minimum. More steel will help to dampen vibration. Any scraper (or other piece of square or rectangular stock) can easily be made "negative rake" by adding a bevel on top. I'm a fan of both Doug Thompson's tools and D-Way. English tools from Hamlet, for example, can be less expensive and are also of high quality.

I am not fully convinced that a negative rake scraper accomplishes anything that can't be done by presenting a regular scraper at the appropriate angle. Honing and raising a burr with a burnisher on them can be a little more difficult than with a flat top scraper.

[Peter Blair]

I like mine. I converted seldom used scrapers I already had. I use for hollowing and finishing inside of boxes and sometimes bowls etc. I even ground a few HSS 1/4" square to use in my hollowing rigs. All seem to work well for me but the do dull quickly.

[Reed Gray]

My NRSs are mostly 1/4 to 5/16 thick. They are very dainty use type tools. I do prefer the M42HSS from D Way or Doug Thompson's 5/16 by 1 inch scraper. If you have any old scrapers around that you don't use, They can be easily repurposed. Same with a skew chisel. I do prefer the 60/30 grind with a burnished burr to the skew chisel type grind and the grinder burr...

Roger, watch my video Scary Scrapers. I do know that some prefer very thick scrapers, but I don't. Never use one wider than an inch, or thicker than 5/16, and they are my main heavy roughing tools for my bowl turning. I did have some thicker ones, but don't like them any more. Never understood the 'less vibration' argument. Bigger wider scrapers are more prone to digging in. That and hanging too far off the tool rest...

robo hippy

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I also converted ones I have to NRS. I have many brands, Thompsons are great, I converted "off brands" ones too. The better the steel, the longer the burr lasts, but they all require more than frequent sharpening. I'd re-purpose one you have before jumping in and buying a new tool. It may not be what you expect.
Personally, I use a diamond card and a hand burnisher. I don't have to leave the lathe. 2 or 3 swipes with the card and 2 or 3 passes with a carbide burnisher and going again. Google Boxmaster tools, that's where I got the hand burnishing info from. There's a lot of discussion on a grinder burr and a hand formed burr......

[roger wiegand]

Roger, watch my video Scary Scrapers. I do know that some prefer very thick scrapers, but I don't. Never use one wider than an inch, or thicker than 5/16, and they are my main heavy roughing tools for my bowl turning. I did have some thicker ones, but don't like them any more. Never understood the 'less vibration' argument. Bigger wider scrapers are more prone to digging in. That and hanging too far off the tool rest...

robo hippy

OK, will do. Like most things turn out to be, it's probably poor technique on my part. I saw improvement going from a 1/4" to a 3/8" thick scraper. Except for shear scraping the outside of bowls most all of my experience with scrapers has been pretty bad, so I imagine I have much to learn. Watching Cindy Drozda get beautiful surfaces while scraping got me thinking I must be doing something wrong.

[JohnC Lucas]

Doug thompson sells tool blanks that are perfect for grinding to a negative rake. That's what I did. You can grind any shape you want. I was thinking today about buying another one and grinding a negative rake box scraper out of it.

[John K Jordan]

Doug thompson sells tool blanks that are perfect for grinding to a negative rake. That's what I did. You can grind any shape you want. I was thinking today about buying another one and grinding a negative rake box scraper out of it.

Same here, mostly Thompson steel, flat bar scraper stock, round stock, skews ground as scrapers. Grind what shape I need or want to try.

I made a NRS box scraper but so far I've not been as happy with it as with the "normal" box scraper. It SHOULD work OK so I think I need to look at it more carefully and see if my angles are too large.

JKJ