So useful - I just bough my first set of scrapers and a burnisher. In the days before UA-cam I'd have been totally stuffed once they'd lost their edge. Now I've got experts like yourself to help me out. Thanks!
Thanks for the feedback Ralph. Usually scrapers aren't ready to go straight from new, they need sharpening first and you may have to spend more time on the filing stage as they are usually stamped out and the process leaves a slightly rounded edge on one side.
Thanks so much Chris for teaching us how to sharpen our scrapers. I really like the tip of blocking the tool in the vice to keep it horizontal. I appreciate you taking your time to make these videos. Selfless people like you,spreading the knowledge, is one of the things that make this craft really fun and satisfying. Robert
thanks Pretty much the same techniques I was taught during my apprenticeship fifty years ago. Glad to see people are still using them in this modern era of powered machines
totally besotted with my belt sander and my orbital, which I thought would cure all problems. A friend today demonstrated what a "scraper" can do using the backside of a hacksaw blade !!!!!!! .After seeing your vid I'm converted. I,m 64yrs and forever saying yer never too old to learn!! Thank you.....I'm up in the morning to make a scraper. My type of thinking was to whack on some 40 grit and rip up some saw dust then be real clever and use some 120gt just couldn't understand why I couldn't get a "good" finish and it wasn't for the lack of tryin !!!!
Hey Chris, I just wanted to let you know that over 8 years after you uploaded this video, it is still helping someone (me) to improve their card scraper sharpening technique. I had never gotten it quite right before, but with your tips, I got the best shaving I have ever seen from my scrapers.
Thanks for the feedback Endede. This was the first video I ever loaded to UA-cam. In those days my daughter Heather helped with the camera work and I think the less static camera made the vids more interesting and got better detail.
Thanks for these lessons. Screwed around with "jigs" and (probably Chinese) scrapers in years past only to be totally frustrated. Finally bought a Bahco scraper, a Crown burnishing tool, followed your instructions to sharpen the scraper and - wow! - the feeling after drawing it over the hard Maple and winding up with a four foot long micro thin snakeskin shaving reminded me of my first kiss many years ago! Thanks again!
***** Hi Dave, I am glad I have helped to bring back fond memories for you! Actually I have always said that using a really well set sharp plane on a nice piece of oak is better than sex, at least as far as I remember it is! Chris
Christopher Tribe I was telling my friend the other day about how good it feels to use a quality plane on wood and he asked me whether I needed a cigarette after. I replied "I think I may need two!" Love the card scraper sharpening video, it helped me get my card scrapers and my scraper plane (the hardest one to sharpen correctly) super sharp. My sincere thanks!
Hello Chris, I just wanted to thank you for doing this video. I have watched 4 other videos before this one and could not get my scraper as sharp as I needed it to be. I followed your tutorial and in the first try with little effort into it got it to the point that I was shaving brown ebony with ease. Now that I know this way I'll put some more effort into the process to make it better. Thank you again for the video. It was easy to follow and didn't have any unnecessary information. Was to the point and was exactly what I needed to know.
Thank You Mr Tribe, I was a boatbuilder for a while! lol. Yes, I too love shaping card scrapers for handrail profiling etc. Your videos are excellent, top drawer sir.
Thanks Chris for a terrific video. I purchased a DMT DUO SHARP like yours and followed your instructions. The results were great!! It has a fine and extra fine sides. Have a good day!! Blue Max Stringed Instrument Repair
I would just like to comment on one thing if I may. Some of the viewers may have never used diamond sharpening units before. I had to learn not to put too much pressure on diamond "stones". Diamonds work very well, but if you press too hard on them you can pull the diamonds loose from their set. Some are glued, some can be brazed or soldered, and some are set in the metal backing. Please remember that a diamond is pure Carbon and burns at just over 1700C, (or 3092F). While diamonds for practical use are pretty much indestructible, they can be pulled out of the mounting. A diamond hone can get clogged up just like any stone could. I have found them easy to clean, either with an ultrasonic unit, or just a cleaner like Comer or Ajax, about like you would clean your sink with. We used a lot of diamond polishing compound, and I found using a light touch almost always worked better than a heavy one. Chris, thanks for posting all your informative videos! Smiles!
I usually wash my diamond stone under the tap. Thought I'd give it a good clean so gave it a really good clean with oven cleaner, seemed to do the job!
Thanks for the video Chris, my daughter offered me for Christmas your book Complete woodworking manual in french of course. Your book is fantastic. I recommend it to anyone who wants to start a carpentry. It is very complete. And of course I put a blue thumb and subscribed ;o)
Thanks for the video. I learned something useful. You may want to add an annotation at 6:25. You said oil stone, but it was actually the diamond tone you used.
If you draw file it, the file acts as a winding stick of sorts to help you get a 90 degree edge. I use a pull stroke with one hand on either end of the file (using one without a handle), and clean the dust off both file and scraper with a swipe of the hand between each stroke. I only mention this because a lot of woodworkers don’t know the secret of draw filing.
Thanks for that. As a woodworker I sometimes regret not knowing more metalwork/engineering techniques. For instance I use engineers blue when fettling planes but never sure whether I'm doing it right.
Hi Haxmarry Goosenecks are similar, just more difficult as you have to work the curved edges. Miami John Of course I do all four edges, I just forgot to mention that!
Something else I forgot to mention is that you don't need to file and hone the edge every time you sharpen. It is possible to re-turn the edge a few times between full sharpening. Simply flatten the burr back by rubbing the flat of the scraper as I did when work hardening then turn the edge back again. Sometimes the edge is even better after re-turning but after a few times the edge is lost.
I prefer another fellow's vid where he held the card in a vise for all actions: , using a wood block to guide the filing (sharpie ink to gauge smoothness) , to hone with the diamond card, and to burnish. All easier to control and hold angles.
To each his own Rabo! My only comment would be that once you have mastered doing it without aids it makes the job more straight forward. If you use aids you will not get to the point where you can do without.
Very helpful, thanks, Chris. I'm new to this and love the scraper my Dad gave to me. So much so, it's blunt!! One question: would you repeat this on all 4 edges?
Hi Damian. I should have made it clear in the vid. that you do all four edges on the long sides. Usually you work all four edges until they are all blunt then resharpen them all. Another thing I forgot to mention (this was my first YT video so I was a bit of a novice) is that you don't need to do a full sharpen each time. You can skip the filing and stoning bit and flatten out the burr by rubbing the side with the burnisher, like I did when I was work hardening, then return it as usual. Some say the re-turned burr cuts better than the original. However this can only be done one or two times, eventually the burr gives up and you have to do a full sharpen.
@@MrCJTribe Thank you. Very helpful. For a first video, it's great. Just with my 92 yr old Dad now who gave me the scraper - he knows them as 'scarston scrapers'. (And is amazed by UA-cam :-)
My videos were better when my daughter did the filming, but she has flown the nest now. To me a skarsten scraper had small replaceable blades like this one www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191192880327. I remember my father using one to remove paint.
@@MrCJTribe yes. We have just found one - a wooden handle with fitting into which a blade is slid. The main scraper he gave me was a Marples, made in Sheffield.
Hi Chris When you're work hardening the edge, is the burnisher flat with the scraper? or angled slightly? Are you turning a burr towards the edge which you then turn back when you use the burnisher at 90degrees? What is work hardening? Many thanks
Carborundum stones used to be the most common stones, much harder than water stones but they may still get grooved from sharpening a scraper . I believe it was the practice to use the side of the stone instead.
@@MrCJTribe Thanks I have several carborundum stones from my grandfather's tools, I'lll look into using the edge of the stones, the scrapers were all sharp and the last time he used them was about 1970.
The aim is to form a flat edge square with the faces of the scraper, then drag the burr over with the burnisher. Basically removing the rounding from previous turnings of the edge. The work hardening is to help define and harden the edge.
Hi Mark, thanks for the comment. I adjust the angle until I get a good shaving, there is usually a sweet spot when you get good clean shavings, the angle depending on how much the burr has been turned.
i am a cabinetmaker with 50yrs experience, i am not knocking what he does to sharpen the scraper, what i cant understand why he only sharpens one edge, when i sharpen mine i put four cutting edges on it, just as easy to put four on as one. regards
If you are making dust even after going through this sharpening process there could be a couple of reasons. Firstly you may not have been thorough enough with filing off the previous rounding. You should make sure the edge is completely flat all the way across, otherwise you will not be able to turn the edge. Secondly there may be issues with the way you are turning it. The burnisher, which should be hardened steel, should be held only a little below horizontal and drawn across with moderate pressure dragging it across from handle end to point. It's difficult to describe pressure so probably err on the side of heavy rather than light. You could increase the angle with successive strokes but not too much. I hope that helps, let me know how you get on.
So grateful for helping me figure out this seemingly simple, yet for many years, elusive procedure. Cheers!!!
Thanks Dadla, glad to have been of help. There's nothing quite like using a really sharp card scraper.
So useful - I just bough my first set of scrapers and a burnisher. In the days before UA-cam I'd have been totally stuffed once they'd lost their edge. Now I've got experts like yourself to help me out. Thanks!
Thanks for the feedback Ralph. Usually scrapers aren't ready to go straight from new, they need sharpening first and you may have to spend more time on the filing stage as they are usually stamped out and the process leaves a slightly rounded edge on one side.
Thanks so much Chris for teaching us how to sharpen our scrapers. I really like the tip of blocking the tool in the vice to keep it horizontal. I appreciate you taking your time to make these videos. Selfless people like you,spreading the knowledge, is one of the things that make this craft really fun and satisfying. Robert
thanks
Pretty much the same techniques I was taught during my apprenticeship fifty years ago. Glad to see people are still using them in this modern era of powered machines
totally besotted with my belt sander and my orbital, which I thought would cure all problems. A friend today demonstrated what a "scraper" can do using the backside of a hacksaw blade !!!!!!! .After seeing your vid I'm converted. I,m 64yrs and forever saying yer never too old to learn!! Thank you.....I'm up in the morning to make a scraper. My type of thinking was to whack on some 40 grit and rip up some saw dust then be real clever and use some 120gt just couldn't understand why I couldn't get a "good" finish and it wasn't for the lack of tryin !!!!
B Pflanzzeit:Ihr
Hey Chris, I just wanted to let you know that over 8 years after you uploaded this video, it is still helping someone (me) to improve their card scraper sharpening technique. I had never gotten it quite right before, but with your tips, I got the best shaving I have ever seen from my scrapers.
Thanks for the feedback Endede. This was the first video I ever loaded to UA-cam. In those days my daughter Heather helped with the camera work and I think the less static camera made the vids more interesting and got better detail.
This is probably the best card scraper video on UA-cam.
Thanks for the positive comment , it's appreciated.
Thanks for these lessons. Screwed around with "jigs" and (probably Chinese) scrapers in years past only to be totally frustrated. Finally bought a Bahco scraper, a Crown burnishing tool, followed your instructions to sharpen the scraper and - wow! - the feeling after drawing it over the hard Maple and winding up with a four foot long micro thin snakeskin shaving reminded me of my first kiss many years ago! Thanks again!
***** Hi Dave, I am glad I have helped to bring back fond memories for you! Actually I have always said that using a really well set sharp plane on a nice piece of oak is better than sex, at least as far as I remember it is!
Chris
Christopher Tribe I was telling my friend the other day about how good it feels to use a quality plane on wood and he asked me whether I needed a cigarette after. I replied "I think I may need two!"
Love the card scraper sharpening video, it helped me get my card scrapers and my scraper plane (the hardest one to sharpen correctly) super sharp. My sincere thanks!
.
Pięknie to opisałeś
Hello Chris, I just wanted to thank you for doing this video. I have watched 4 other videos before this one and could not get my scraper as sharp as I needed it to be. I followed your tutorial and in the first try with little effort into it got it to the point that I was shaving brown ebony with ease. Now that I know this way I'll put some more effort into the process to make it better. Thank you again for the video. It was easy to follow and didn't have any unnecessary information. Was to the point and was exactly what I needed to know.
Thanks for the positive feedback. This was the first ever video that I posted on UA-cam and it remains my most popular one.
Thank you, Chris. I've always had trouble getting a good edge on a scraper, but this made it easy. It's a pleasure to use now. Cheers!
Thank You Mr Tribe, I was a boatbuilder for a while! lol.
Yes, I too love shaping card scrapers for handrail profiling etc.
Your videos are excellent, top drawer sir.
Thanks Chris for a terrific video. I purchased a DMT DUO SHARP like yours and followed your instructions. The results were great!! It has a fine and extra fine sides. Have a good day!! Blue Max Stringed Instrument Repair
Thanks for sharing your knowledge, Chris, genuinely appreciate your help.
I always use this video as a reminder..And added to my watch later playlist
Thanks Joe, I'm glad it's useful.
I would just like to comment on one thing if I may. Some of the viewers may have never used diamond sharpening units before. I had to learn not to put too much pressure on diamond "stones". Diamonds work very well, but if you press too hard on them you can pull the diamonds loose from their set. Some are glued, some can be brazed or soldered, and some are set in the metal backing. Please remember that a diamond is pure Carbon and burns at just over 1700C, (or 3092F). While diamonds for practical use are pretty much indestructible, they can be pulled out of the mounting. A diamond hone can get clogged up just like any stone could. I have found them easy to clean, either with an ultrasonic unit, or just a cleaner like Comer or Ajax, about like you would clean your sink with. We used a lot of diamond polishing compound, and I found using a light touch almost always worked better than a heavy one.
Chris, thanks for posting all your informative videos!
Smiles!
Thanks for that, worth bearing in mind. Diamond stones have a reputation for being indestructible but I'm sure they suffer wear s you describe.
I usually wash my diamond stone under the tap. Thought I'd give it a good clean so gave it a really good clean with oven cleaner, seemed to do the job!
Thanks Chris very useful video especially the tip on the file guide block.
I have been burnishing the edge flat and rolling over both sides of the same edge. I will give this a try today. Thanks.
Now I know what I've been doing wrong. I guess I've been burnishing too much and making the burr curl. Thanks for the very informative video.
Thank you, I found your explanation easy to understand, much appreciated.
Yes , I can understand why you might want to wear gloves. But I have been doing this without glove for some time with no mishaps (so far!)
Chris
The best explanation that I have seen. Thanks.
Very good video, clear and simple to follow! Thanks.
Thanks. The wheeze with the block to keep the the filing etc. at a true 90 degrees is excellent.
Thank you good vid, my Dad always did the sharpening when I was a kid, I always got the blisters on the thumbs scraping the bar tops haha
Hot thumbs syndrome! I've had that but not the blisters.
Thanks for the video Chris, my daughter offered me for Christmas your book Complete woodworking manual in french of course. Your book is fantastic. I recommend it to anyone who wants to start a carpentry. It is very complete. And of course I put a blue thumb and subscribed ;o)
Thanks for the kind words. I didn't know the French edition was out, the publishers tend to keep me in the dark, I'm glad you find it useful.
You made it look so easy.
Thanks for the video. I learned something useful. You may want to add an annotation at 6:25. You said oil stone, but it was actually the diamond tone you used.
Phenomenal.. thank you. Need to refresh my scrapers.
Thanks Chris very informative as usual
If you draw file it, the file acts as a winding stick of sorts to help you get a 90 degree edge. I use a pull stroke with one hand on either end of the file (using one without a handle), and clean the dust off both file and scraper with a swipe of the hand between each stroke. I only mention this because a lot of woodworkers don’t know the secret of draw filing.
Thanks for that. As a woodworker I sometimes regret not knowing more metalwork/engineering techniques. For instance I use engineers blue when fettling planes but never sure whether I'm doing it right.
Renata was the one so adamant I lookup Woody Hyezmar in the internet. It's got quite a few good plans in there I had to admit.
That is awesome!
Thanks for a lot of tips I didn't know
Hi Haxmarry
Goosenecks are similar, just more difficult as you have to work the curved edges.
Miami John
Of course I do all four edges, I just forgot to mention that!
Thank you. Clear and well explained.
Something else I forgot to mention is that you don't need to file and hone the edge every time you sharpen. It is possible to re-turn the edge a few times between full sharpening. Simply flatten the burr back by rubbing the flat of the scraper as I did when work hardening then turn the edge back again. Sometimes the edge is even better after re-turning but after a few times the edge is lost.
Great video! Thanks for the techniques!
I prefer another fellow's vid where he held the card in a vise for all actions: , using a wood block to guide the filing (sharpie ink to gauge smoothness) , to hone with the diamond card, and to burnish.
All easier to control and hold angles.
To each his own Rabo! My only comment would be that once you have mastered doing it without aids it makes the job more straight forward. If you use aids you will not get to the point where you can do without.
Thanks for the kind comments. Go to my web site to find out more about what I do.
Happy Christmas
Chris
thanks so much so clear and easy to follow.
many thanks for an informative lesson.
Very clear explanation. Thanks!
So is the process for a convex/concave scraper the same except that you'd use a rounded file and slip stone?
Not sure Alistair. My experience is with sprung steel card scapers. What are you using the hardened steel scraper for. Chris
Why wouldn't I just use a plane? What's the advantage of using one of these cards?
Very helpful, thanks, Chris. I'm new to this and love the scraper my Dad gave to me. So much so, it's blunt!! One question: would you repeat this on all 4 edges?
Hi Damian. I should have made it clear in the vid. that you do all four edges on the long sides. Usually you work all four edges until they are all blunt then resharpen them all. Another thing I forgot to mention (this was my first YT video so I was a bit of a novice) is that you don't need to do a full sharpen each time. You can skip the filing and stoning bit and flatten out the burr by rubbing the side with the burnisher, like I did when I was work hardening, then return it as usual. Some say the re-turned burr cuts better than the original. However this can only be done one or two times, eventually the burr gives up and you have to do a full sharpen.
I've just realised I'm repeating advice given in an earlier reply. Must be my age!
@@MrCJTribe Thank you. Very helpful. For a first video, it's great. Just with my 92 yr old Dad now who gave me the scraper - he knows them as 'scarston scrapers'. (And is amazed by UA-cam :-)
My videos were better when my daughter did the filming, but she has flown the nest now. To me a skarsten scraper had small replaceable blades like this one www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191192880327. I remember my father using one to remove paint.
@@MrCJTribe yes. We have just found one - a wooden handle with fitting into which a blade is slid. The main scraper he gave me was a Marples, made in Sheffield.
Thank you. I needed the help.
I hope it worked for you Thomas.
Great video. Thanks for the info.
Like the guide idea thanks!
You're welcome.
Great video! I know feel confident sharpening my scrapers when they arrive! I am assuming the technique is the same for a gooseneck scraper as well :P
Thanks for that somuchyarn. Chris
very helpful ! thank you!
Hi Chris
When you're work hardening the edge, is the burnisher flat with the scraper? or angled slightly? Are you turning a burr towards the edge which you then turn back when you use the burnisher at 90degrees? What is work hardening?
Many thanks
Thanks Chris!
Thank you Peter.
Good explanation!!
Thanks Henning.
awesome video. Thx.
Nice very nice .Thanks
Is it the same for hardend steel scrapers
Excellent, thank you.
What kind of sharpening stones were used before diamond blocks?
Carborundum stones used to be the most common stones, much harder than water stones but they may still get grooved from sharpening a scraper . I believe it was the practice to use the side of the stone instead.
@@MrCJTribe Thanks I have several carborundum stones from my grandfather's tools, I'lll look into using the edge of the stones, the scrapers were all sharp and the last time he used them was about 1970.
My husband used these plans from woodprix and he's very satisfied.
I'm overjoyed for him!
@@MrCJTribe I'm glad you do Chris!
Did you mean, "Round the *corners*" rather than, "round the edges"?
You should watch Paul Sellers video
Thank you Sir !!!!!
so the idea is to create a flat bevel surface before the burnisher join the process ??? ....thanks ...
The aim is to form a flat edge square with the faces of the scraper, then drag the burr over with the burnisher. Basically removing the rounding from previous turnings of the edge. The work hardening is to help define and harden the edge.
ooh thanks a lot Chris
Yes.
I am far from an expert but I was rather surprised how much of an angle you had your scraper at. I guess everybody does it different
Hi Mark, thanks for the comment. I adjust the angle until I get a good shaving, there is usually a sweet spot when you get good clean shavings, the angle depending on how much the burr has been turned.
@@MrCJTribe oh I get it thanks
I think he did only one edge to speed up the video. I am sure he knows to sharpen all four edges.
Hahaha "Wub the wod"
It is spring steel, not sprung. It refers to steel that has been hardened to a spring temper.
You say potato I say potahto
18 stupid people gave you a thumbs down. Go figure. What you've shown in this video works.
Thanks for that Gino, glad it worked for you. There is a bit of a knack to it, perhaps the 18 don't have it.
i am a cabinetmaker with 50yrs experience, i am not knocking what he does to sharpen the scraper, what i cant understand why he only sharpens one edge, when i sharpen mine i put four cutting edges on it, just as easy to put four on as one. regards
*now
Mystery solved
I make dust , no shavings.
If you are making dust even after going through this sharpening process there could be a couple of reasons. Firstly you may not have been thorough enough with filing off the previous rounding. You should make sure the edge is completely flat all the way across, otherwise you will not be able to turn the edge. Secondly there may be issues with the way you are turning it. The burnisher, which should be hardened steel, should be held only a little below horizontal and drawn across with moderate pressure dragging it across from handle end to point. It's difficult to describe pressure so probably err on the side of heavy rather than light. You could increase the angle with successive strokes but not too much.
I hope that helps, let me know how you get on.
I went back and tried again , this time I only burnished 2 passes and it worked great. I think I was crushing the hook before
Glad to hear you have sorted it Dennis.
Nail paint from a pharmacy. It has a horrible taste and customers have told me it worked
Great video!...but you really do need to stop biting your nails.
Excellent. Thank you.