Stewmac Ultimate Scraper?

[Frederick Skelly]

I was reading the other scraper thread and it reminded me of the Stewmac Ultimate Scraper that I've been hearing about for quite some time. At $54, they are fairly pricey but they have free shipping through tomorrow and that kicked me over the edge. It should arrive in about a week.

Anyone here use one of these? What's your experience with them? Do you find them as easy to sharpen as Stewmac's video makes them sound?

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Those are neat (and pricey) I have made similar scrapers from old planer blades. They do not have the concave center (yet) and the hole is burned through with a torch or stick. We always joke about StewMac's "send in your shop tips" dialogue. A neat shop tip will show up and within a few months StewMac will have a patented expensive tool for sale.

[Edward Weber]

They are good but as I'm sure you know, they are not like normal card scrapers that you burnish an edge on. These are much thicker and are used straight from the grinder. I find them easy to sharpen on a CBN wheel, I have not tried it on a friable wheel.
The video shoes what looks to be a 6" grinder, this will have a deeper hollow grind than an 8", although I use an 8" wheel with good results. YMMV

[Maurice Mcmurry]

They work OK ground square. As Edward states, hollow ground is better. My small Grizzly Tormek copy works well. I want to try an ice-skate grind but have not found the right stone yet.

[Jim Koepke]

That looks interesting Frederick. Being a cheapskate my tendency will be to make my own.

Another idea you might try is a 90º bevel on a chisel.

This was my post on that > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?289820

Since then, it proved itself so useful 1/8" & 1/4" chisels were purchased and ground to have 90º bevels. They are very useful for use in tight places and many other things.

If using a standard bench grinder, grind the chisel with the back side facing up.

Here are a couple of uses:

90º Bevel Chisel in Use.jpg

This was one of the 1/2" chisels first uses, cleaning up saw marks where no other tool could reach. Notice there is still some of the original bevel left.

Scraping Rust w:90º Chisel.jpg

It also removed rust from the side of a block plane without leaving scratches, keep the chisel flat on the work for this.

So my guess from using what is essentially a specialized scraper, once you get the hang of those thick scrapers, you will enjoy them.

Be sure to post your results.

jtk

[David Bassett]

I was reading the other scraper thread and it reminded me of the Stumac Ultimate Scraper that I've been hearing about for quite some time. At $54, they are fairly pricey but they have free shipping through tomorrow and that kicked me over the edge. It should arrive in about a week.

Anyone here use one of these? What's your experience with them? Do you find them as easy to sharpen as Stumac's video makes them sound?

Uh, for anyone unfamiliar, that should be spelled: StewMac, as in Stewart-MacDonald, a Luthier's supply. (Tools, parts, wood, finish, and guitar & mandolin kits.)

[Stephen Rosenthal]

I became aware of StewMac scrapers on the Ken Parker Archtoppery YouTube channel. He uses them on his guitars and has a few videos on sharpening them. It’s an interesting tool, but as others have noted, pricey. But with free shipping it’s worth considering. However, Blue Spruce and Crucible Tools offer thick card scrapers (not quite as thick as StewMac) for a lot less money.

[Frederick Skelly]

Uh, for anyone unfamiliar, that should be spelled: StewMac, as in Stewart-MacDonald, a Luthier's supply. (Tools, parts, wood, finish, and guitar & mandolin kits.)

Thanks. That was a valuable correction. Have any experience with this scraper David?

[Frederick Skelly]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the feedback. (Jim, Id forgotten your thread. Thanks for the link.)

Yeah, I looked at the Crucible too, but the much-thicker Stewmac just looked intriguing and I thought I'd give it a try. I'll let you giys know what I think.

Fred

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I like to look at Antonio Stradivarius's tool kit from time to time. It is quite minimal. He did use some interesting scrapers.

Antonio Stradivari's Original Tools

Screen Shot 2022-09-18 at 11.43.50 AM.png

[Reed Gray]

They very carefully do not list what type of metal it is made from. The video also comments that you can't burnish a burr on it. My guess would be that it is some thing similar to M42 high speed steel. Me, being too frugal to even try one when my standard card scrapers work just fine might experiment with a M42 blank if I could get one. You can burnish a burr on M42 if you have a carbide burnishing rod. You can turn a very small burr on M2 if you use the standard burnishing tools, but the triangle one works better. If I was going to put an edge on one of these scrapers, I would use the CBN wheels or the diamond ones for the Tormek and assorted clones. I did post the comments about a carbide burnishing rod and the CBN wheels on the You Tube video about that scraper, but never got a response. That was years ago.

robo hippy

[David Bassett]

Thanks. That was a valuable correction. Have any experience with this scraper David?

Uh, no. Sorry. I'm aware of it because it's on my "that's interesting, I should try it someday" list. Stephen's comment didn't sound quite right, so I've been poking around and hope the notes below are useful.

I became aware of StewMac scrapers on the Ken Parker Archtoppery YouTube channel. He uses them on his guitars and has a few videos on sharpening them. It’s an interesting tool, but as others have noted, pricey. But with free shipping it’s worth considering. However, Blue Spruce and Crucible Tools offer thick card scrapers (not quite as thick as StewMac) for a lot less money.

I guess Crucible Tools scraper is on the thick end of the range for a traditional card scraper at 0.032", but that's not anything like the 1/8" (0.125") of the StewMac Ultimate scraper Frederick ask about. I can't find the thickness of the Blue Spruce Toolworks scrapers, they say "twice as thick as most card scrapers". (Looking at different offerings I find card scrapers from 0.010" to 0.032", with many many more not saying.) Also their website says they're not available until next month.

After my quick searches the most informative about the differences was a post by Derek (what a resource!) on the LAP Blog:

https://blog.lostartpress.com/2019/0...#comment-57784

giving a little history of much thicker scrapers and mention his experience. (I'll bet he has written more here, or on his own website, for anyone interested enough to do some searching.)

[Stephen Rosenthal]

Uh, no. Sorry. I'm aware of it because it's on my "that's interesting, I should try it someday" list. Stephen's comment didn't sound quite right, so I've been poking around and hope the notes below are useful.




I guess Crucible Tools scraper is on the thick end of the range for a traditional card scraper at 0.032", but that's not anything like the 1/8" (0.125") of the StewMac Ultimate scraper Frederick ask about. I can't find the thickness of the Blue Spruce Toolworks scrapers, they say "twice as thick as most card scrapers". (Looking at different offerings I find card scrapers from 0.010" to 0.032", with many many more not saying.) Also their website says they're not available until next month.

After my quick searches the most informative about the differences was a post by Derek (what a resource!) on the LAP Blog:

https://blog.lostartpress.com/2019/0...#comment-57784

giving a little history of much thicker scrapers and mention his experience. (I'll bet he has written more here, or on his own website, for anyone interested enough to do some searching.)

David,

At the risk of sounding defensive, what exactly is not quite right? I noted it was an interesting tool, pricey but worth a look with free shipping. I stated that Blue Spruce and Crucible offer thicker scrapers that are not as thick as the StewMac. Are they different tools? I can’t say because i don’t have experience with any of them. But I don’t see anything “not quite right” in my comment.

[David Bassett]

David,

At the risk of sounding defensive, what exactly is not quite right? I noted it was an interesting tool, pricey but worth a look with free shipping. I stated that Blue Spruce and Crucible offer thicker scrapers that are not as thick as the StewMac. Are they different tools? I can’t say because i don’t have experience with any of them. But I don’t see anything “not quite right” in my comment.

I'm sorry, no offense intended.

In my mind, (and perhaps only in my mind,) there are two different classes of scrapers that have come into this discussion. The much thicker StewMac model that Frederick ask about and "card scrapers" which are pretty well known but come in many variations. When I read your comment in the context of this thread it seemed to suggest the Crucible & Blue Spruce were in the former StewMac style, but I understood the Crucible to be a variation of the card scraper style. Something didn't jibe in my mind, that's all I meant. Nothing you said is wrong, just misunderstood.

Then, since I was curious, I looked some stuff up and tried to add information to the discussion.

[Stephen Rosenthal]

I'm sorry, no offense intended.

In my mind, (and perhaps only in my mind,) there are two different classes of scrapers that have come into this discussion. The much thicker StewMac model that Frederick ask about and "card scrapers" which are pretty well known but come in many variations. When I read your comment in the context of this thread it seemed to suggest the Crucible & Blue Spruce were in the former StewMac style, but I understood the Crucible to be a variation of the card scraper style. Something didn't jibe in my mind, that's all I meant. Nothing you said is wrong, just misunderstood.

Then, since I was curious, I looked some stuff up and tried to add information to the discussion.

No offense taken. Was just wondering what you found not quite right. Thanks for the clarification.