scrapers

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

I know. I didn't comment on the water absorbtion or grain raising.

I was thinking of the quality of the surface, due to it being severed and not scratched.

Barry

[charlie b]

If you like the Veritas Variable Burnisher you're going to love their card scraper holder thing-a-majig. Turn a knob to flex the card scaper as much as you want and no more thumb cramps or blisters.

charlie b

[Andy Dingley]

I find that a stiff scrubbing brush and carbolic soap are adequate for my peasants. Perhaps your estate is on a clay soil, and your serfs get dirtier ?

[Bridger]

sometimes a scraper leaves a better surface than sandpaper. in softwoods sandpaper will probably leave a better surface Bridger

[terry boivin]

[lopez]

This is a bit off topic - but still relates to scrapers.

The scraper produces a very smooth surface. Certainly smoother that a 150 grit sandpaper. How does it affect the ability to stain the wood after scraping. When you use sandpaper beyond 150 grit, it makes it more difficult to effectively use a pigment stain (does not affect dyes). Does that mean I shouldn't use the scraper if I want to use a pigment stain?

Len

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tmbg wrote:

[Bruce Rowen]

It depends on where you want your pigment stain to go. Sanding leaves scratches in the wood and unless you do a good job of removing the scratches left by the previous grit with a finer grit paper, the pigments will love to collect in the scratches and highlight them. It takes no more looking that using an orbital sander with 120 grit paper on pine to see the effect. The target for pigments should be the pores of the wood, a scraper wont remove the pores, but it may tend to close them up a bit on some woods. neither paper or a scraper will drastically change the pore collection ability of the pigments.

Another benefit of a scraper, especially with soft woods like pine is they will leave a flat surface. Sanding will hollow out the soft areas and leave the surface irregular.

-Bruce

l>

[Larry Jaques]

On Tue, 06 Jan 2004 19:07:25 -0800, charlie b brought forth from the murky depths:

Cotton gardening gloves work well to keep scrapers from warming your fingers too much, charlie.

========================================================= The Titanic. The Hindenburg. +

The Clintons. + Website & Graphic Design =========================================================

[Mike G]

So you scuff it up a little with the appropriate grit.

Don't get me wrong I love my scrapers and the are indispensable in some operations.

However, I think that all this swooning over scrapers has gone way over the top and has become more of a "me too" trendy thing which tends to happen when "new old things are rediscovered" A year or so ago you would have been lucky to find twenty people. in the group who had any idea what a scraper was or did. I know, I saw and answered a lot of the posts.

I defy anyone to look at two finishes done by any competent finishing person, one done with a scraper and one done with sandpaper, and tell which is which. Make that five pieces. It raises the odds on a good guess hitting the mark.

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

I think it depends on the choice of finish.

If the piece is pigment stained, there is a much greater chance of seeing the difference, as some wayward scratches may be perfectly visible.

If the piece has an oil finish, especially if the finish was "wet sanded" with the oil, I agree with you.

Clear finishes right on the wood could go either way, depending on the type and color of wood and the skill of the sander / scraper.

My opinion only.

Barry

[Montyhp]

[Frank Shute]

Next time I'll try your carbolic/scrubbing brush method. Thinking about it, sandpaper's too good for them ;)

The hassles of being an evil land-owning toff ....

-

Frank (aka "the Lord")

[Mike G]

You are, of course, correct, though the same can be equally stated for someone not familiar with the scraper and gets digs and chatter marks in the wood. That is why I specified "competent finisher".

Still, the points are worth mentioning for any type of wood preparation..

Take care Mike

[jev]

[DarylRos]

Not true. Nothing beats the clarity of a freshly planed surface. A scraped surface is not quite as good as a planed one.

I hate sandpaper.However, on something evil like curly bubinga, I think I would rather sand it. Or change woods.

[ken]

So is there a good or proper way to finish end grain then?

[Mike G]

End grain?

Don't know how it relates but, yes.

The only real problem with end grain is that wicks up finish and stain so well it looks much darker then the rest of the piece.

Just sanding end grain to a much fine grit, say 320, 400 grit will do a lot to mitigate the problem, then there is sealing it with shellac or commercial pore sealer.

Anything that improves the end grain over the rest of the wood will mitigate the problem including scraping. However, with a scraper, and since end grain is usually milled to some kind of profile, it is hard to match that profile without making a custom scraper and, if you don't match the profile, it's more work then it is worth, in my opinion, trying to get the profile evenly scraped.

Now if you are talking about the raised nubs of severed wood grain that results in what is called "raised grain" it's a simple matter of dampening the wood, letting it dry then giving it a ever so light scuff sand to remove the nubs. Naturally a sharp scraper can be used to do the job but you have to remember your purpose is NOT to remove material, just that little fuzz.

I've found that if the piece is not to be stained and a water based finish is to be applied removing these nubs is easier if you just apply one light coat of the finish and let it cure.The nubs will still remain standing but, stiffened by the finish they are easier to remove.

If stain is to be used I dampen a piece, let dry, remove nubs, before staining. While it's not quite as easy to remove the nubs if you try to do so after the stain is applied there is a good chance of accidentally cutting through the stain and spoiling it.