Scraper?? I don't need to BUY no stinkin' scraper

[Bay Area Dave]

I got desperate for a scraper today, so grabbed one of my putty knives (Now dammit; no laughing!!!!) and proceeded to flatten the edge on a diamond sharpener. Ran a screwdriver shank over it about half a dozen times, and damn if I couldn't feel a sharp edge! Ran over to the glue-up drawer front (yesterday's screw-up, which I salvaged) and scraped a bit of protruding edge to flush the two pieces up. Damn if that wasn't almost mystical! You Neanders JUST might have something there. The grain was just POPPING out at me!

I guess I could skip the $18 burnishing tool when I get a set or "real" scrapers? BTW what's the difference between a scraper that is labeled a scraper and a scraper that I "made"?

1. Better cachet
2. Edge will last longer
3. Both one and two
4. None of the above

dave

[Bay Area Dave]

typo: should read, "when I get a set OF "real""

Bay Area Dave wrote: snip

[Caractacus Potts]

Screw drivers work fine. Go to the flea market and get an old saw that someone ruined by painting a mill scene on. Cut a scraper out of the steel and go to town. You'll probably have better steel in there than what's in your putty knife. You can also cut shapes to match any profile that you need.

[Bay Area Dave]

Cool. thanks, CP. I'll keep my eye out for a saw going on the cheap.

dave

Caractacus Potts wrote:

[Leon]

The biggest difference between a "real" scraper and your putty knife scraper is that a real scraper is probably cheaper than your putty knife and has a lot longer edge to work with. A regular scraper may hold its hook longer than your putty knife.

[Doug Miller]

Definitely. But lay off the screwdrivers. There's much harder steel readily available: find yourself a machine shop that rebuilds engines, and ask them for a few used valve lifters. I got four lifters from a Chevy big-block for two bucks, and I figure that's gonna be a lifetime supply of burnishing rods. Some cleaning and polishing will be required. And of course there's no handle, but part of the fun is turning your own. (Do you have a lathe?)

Probably, but who cares?

Definitely. Scrapers are made from pretty hard steel. You can make your own from an old handsaw -- that's likely to be harder steel than a putty knife.

1. Longer cutting edge.

-- Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

How come we choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America?

[Andy Dingley]

Damnit Dave ! That was _my_ idea

No, hang on - I put a handle on a $2 Sandvik scraper and used it instead of a $12 wallpaper stripping knife, now I remember.

-- Die Gotterspammerung - Junkmail of the Gods

[B a r r y B u r k e J r .]

FWIW, a Sandvik (sp?) scraper is the same price or cheaper than a _good_ putty knife. They're about $6.

I would imagine a screwdriver shaft would get chewed up in a hurry burnishing a real scraper.

Barry

[*Casey*]

Hi, You probably mean pushrods; hydraulic lifters are too short & thick to make a decent burnisher, and I think they have only two polished areas, rest is rough cast. Also would be hard to get all the oil out of them :-) Casey

[Bay Area Dave]

Hey, Andy, that gives me an idea. What about rolling an edge on a taping knife? I've got several, up to a foot wide.

dave

Andy D> >

[Doug Miller]

Who said anything about hydraulic lifters? "Pushrod" is the slang term, "valve lifter" the correct one.

-- Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

How come we choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America?

[Leon]

Having been in and retired from the automotive industry for 20+ years, and concerning most any Chevy V8, I can honestly say that I have never heard of a "Push Rod" being the slang term for "lifter" or "valve lifter". Valve lifters, be they hydraulic, solid or roller, are used along with "Push Rods". Push rods and lifters are 2 different parts. Anyway, you will normally find most Chevy engines small or big block, equipped with hydraulic lifters and hollow push rods.

So, which is it, the 3" x 3/4" lifter, or the 10" x 1/4" push rod? ;~) Seems the longer push rod would be much easier to use given its much longer length. The Lifter on the other hand would seem to be more difficult to use because it is shorter and many have indention's on the sides that would interrupt the smooth surface.

[Bay Area Dave]

You and Casey got Know-it-all Miller dead to rights. "Pushrod" has NEVER been the slang form of lifter. Besides which, OHC engines have NO pushrods; only lifters. :)

dave

Le>>In article ,

[CW]

If that was a good quality putty knife, it will work as well as anything. You do need a good burnisher, however.

[Bay Area Dave]

Is a real burnisher smooth? My screwdriver shanks are pretty rough; chromed steel, but nontheless ROUGH.

dave

CW wrote:

[CW]

Burnishers are very smooth and very hard. I made mine out of a 3/8 x 3" dowel pin. This is not what you might thing of as a dowel. These are used as alignment pins in machinery. They are as hard as a file and ground to a very high surface finish. Mount in a handle. Someplace like Grainger or Rutland tool would have them. I even saw some at Eagle (before they became Lowes).

[Leon]

Well I was going to go into that aspect concerning the OHC engines but I don't recall if any late model Chevy V8's have OHC's. He was talking "big block".

Which brings up another point, the valve itself would probably work pretty well for putting a burr on a scraper. Valves are normally quite hard.

[Sweet Sawdust]

[Sweet Sawdust]

"Try a piece of broken glass.

[Bay Area Dave]

Thanks AGAIN, I've got one of those 6" thick Grainger catalogs somewhere in my office...and a Grainger's not far from the HD PRO I want to check out tomorrow...

dave

CW wrote: