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Making custom scrapers

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satwel:
I have an extra set of cabinet scrapers and I'd like to make a few customized shapes - one for smoothing a ramrod groove and another to create forestock molding. What techniques are best for cutting and shaping metal scrapers to create precise and/or intricate shapes? The steel seems quite hard. Will it ruin a metal file?

Thank you.

rich pierce:
For a scraper to be useful, it needs to be a certain hardness, probably about "spring hardness".  If too soft, the raised bur edge will not last.  If too hard, you can't raise a bur with a burnisher.  Shorter answer- you can file it.

Larry Luck:
Not knowing any better, I made scrapers for forestock moldings from a piece of drywall knife.  I sketched out the profile on a piece of paper, glued it to an approx. 2x3 inch piece of metal, filed to the profile, and soaked the paper off.

It worked pretty well to establish the moldings, but I cleaned them up with files and sandpaper.

I also made one in sort of a part of a French curve to hollow the cheekpiece and it is still going strong.

While a cabinet scraper's thickness will probably provide more stability, the thinner stock is easy to file to shape.

Just one solution.

Larry Luck

Dphariss:

--- Quote from: satwel on August 10, 2009, 05:02:37 PM ---I have an extra set of cabinet scrapers and I'd like to make a few customized shapes - one for smoothing a ramrod groove and another to create forestock molding. What techniques are best for cutting and shaping metal scrapers to create precise and/or intricate shapes? The steel seems quite hard. Will it ruin a metal file?

Thank you.

--- End quote ---


It depends on the use the scraper will be put to. For some things I like them on the soft side or spring temper.
Others I leave quite hard and do not burr them for a cutting edge I form a very sharp square edge.
These I draw back to a light straw color and these will also scrape steel.

This is a scraper that is too hard to roll a burr on. It is sharpened by stoning to a sharp edge. I use them for inletting, carving and scraping steel parts such as fitting a frizzen to a pan. It is made of O-1 tool steel about 3/32" thick. They will provide a lot of use before dulling being hard and made of O-1. They can be made in a multitude of shapes the widths. Including forend moulding with or without the "scratch stock" type tool.
Dan

Clark Badgett:
Would .020 shim stock work for scrapers. I can check to see if it's hardness is labled or not (probably not). I do know it is hardened.

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