So there I was. Standing at the vise scraping wood.
You know everybody wants to start with aircraft carrier table tops.
First thing they think of. Lets do the bowling alley.
And I once scraped my whole living and family room floors. Looked real
nice. But it wasn't exactly delightful to do.
Well scrapers can do more. Scrapers can shape wood really amusingly.
Carve, then use a spokeshave, then scrapers.
I was just doing a hammer handle. Quickie job. And the final shaping
will be done with a scraper. I doubt I will sand it at all.
You know, people get the wrong idea about scrapers all the time. They
think the scraper is supposed to be the magic. They think some mystical
regimen of razor sharpening is going to make them work.
But its really you.
Scraping is a skill. Its posture and pressure and grain reading on the
fly. Its a serious skill.
When you can scrape, you can use a bottlecap on a cast iron skillet if
you want.
Its scraping, you make it happen.
And one of the joys is actually cutting wood with a scraper. Not just
finishing, but cutting the wood in meaningful bites enough to shape a 3
dimensional object.
Chair scrapes were made for this. But you can use a plain scraper in
your hand if you want.Its what I often do.
I have shared these pix before.
But its nasty stringy yew wood. No way you are using a drawknife or even
a spokeshave. The grain is all twisty and interlocked.
There simply IS no good angle of attack.
But a scraper? Yeah you can carve this nasty wood with a scraper in
your hands.
These are scraper shavings.
http://users.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/images/hometools/handlec
arving.jpg">http://users.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/images/hometools/handle
carving.jpg
http://users.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/images/hometools/handlecarving2.jpg
see the scraper in each pic? a chunk of old handsaw.
And for ordinary wood like hard as a brickbat hickory?
Drawknife, spokeshave, scraper. Its not so much hard work.
I just did some in my bathrobe and slippers. lol
yours Scott
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Scott Grandstaff
Box 409 Happy Camp, Ca 96039
scottg@s...
http://www.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/
http://www.snowcrest.net/kitty/hpages/index.html
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