OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

265481 Claudio DeLorenzi <claudio@d...> 2018‑03‑16 Re: fettling a scraper plane: final installment
I think this will depend on how much you have turned your burr over.  If
you do excessive pressure, you can curl that burr right over so that it's
practically closed over itself, like a wave that has crested over, and you
need to lean it almost flat to engage the wood.
   It's a cutting tool, as your shavings will attest and the so called burr
is the blade.  The same principles apply as when you sharpen anything, so
you need both intersecting surfaces to be nice and smooth.  If you're good
with draw filing, you can pull off nice long clean strips of steel, leaving
a nice crisp edge along the distal edge.  Then all you need to do is hone
the one  flat side of an angle blade (or both sides of a card scraper).
  Don't forget to consolidate (work harden) the edge after applying a
little oil to the edge (old timers used their ear for a handy supply of
lube), then burnish it to squash the steel into the "burr".  You should be
able to easily feel it when you've got one with your fingernail ( and it's
a sharp blade which can cut your skin if you are not careful).   Thicker
blades are totally different and much more difficult (for me anyways).
Thin blades (less the 40 or 50 thou) are easiest to do, provided you have
good steel.  I like the really super thin scrapers I got from Lee Valley in
their kit or set of card scrapers.  The thinnest one in the set is about 9
thou, and it's perfect for doing what Scott described with shapes because
you can easily curl it over to do rounded shapes without having to cut the
blade.  The most common sizes you find are about 25 to 30 thousandths of an
inch in thickness.
Claudio

Recent Bios FAQ