Cabinet Scrapers

woodmagman

Cabinet scapers are a almost forgotten tool. Why do we not use them more when finishing and refinishing wood? Floors, doors. Now I am not talking about paint scapers. Scraper can be 6x3" flat metal with honed square edges.

house bldr

I haven't used one of those since high school wood shop, and thats a looong time ago Always seemed like an uneccesary step to me,it does basically the same thing a belt sander does but is a lot more work. Makes my thumbs hurt just thinking about it!

woodmagman

Typically the cabinet would be scraped instead of sanding. Leaves a finish like glass. Your right though, it is physical work.....

Scott Young

i use them on specialty projects.

ozmy6

Go buy the planer and lie about the price.
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woodmagman

That would be like using a milling machine to hone a cylinder

Teetorbilt

A scraper shears the fibers in the wood. Everything else just shreds them. That's why you have to keep sanding and sanding to lighter papers and the finish still looks kinda funky.

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K2

Putting an edge on a scraper is just about a lost art. Trained violin makers never use sand paper but use a series of curved scrapers of different thicknesses. Sharpening a curved scraper is extra tricky.

karma_carpentry

I use them a lot but I still don't know the "right" way to put an edge on it. I have a burnishing rod but lately I've been just dropping the scraper's edge on the stationary belt sander with about 100 grit paper on it and it puts an edge on it that scrapes up a good curl. When they have a good edge they're better than sandpaper and can cut across perpendicular grain patterns.

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RippySkippy

As for putting an edge on scrapers, I have and like the scraper system from Woodsmith.

Something I've really like a lot is a carbide paint scrapers. whenever the planer leaves a small ridge from a nicked blade, or if a couple of pieces don't line up quite right, the carbide paint scraper wisks the excess away. Be careful though...if you don't center your pressure on the scraper, you will gouge the wood with the edges. Rounding the corners slighlty helps alot.

Another application: if you paint slab doors, and end up with rough spots or ridges, a light touch of the paint scraper will zip the ridges off, then a light sanding will smooth the surface nicely. I made a tool cabinet to fit under my work bench, and polyd the exterior. The paint scraper would zip off the nibs and ridges left from the brush, a light sanding finished the prep for the next coat.

Rip

JPhelps

Cabinet scapers are a almost forgotten tool. Why do we not use them more when finishing and refinishing wood? Floors, doors. Now I am not talking about paint scapers. Scraper can be 6x3" flat metal with honed square edges.
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Woodman and/or Teetor, just a couple of questions. Because I recently had the opportunity to sand wood flooring under a toe kick(which really sucks by the way, theres no good way to do it). In other words you just can't get there from here. haha sorry had to throw that in. Would this be a good application for a cabinet scraper--keep in mind I've never had one. But from what I gather its small enough to hold in your fingers, so it would be relatively safer to work wood in a small space without damaging everything around it?

karma_carpentry

JPhelps, they're definitely safe. You have to try really hard to damage anything with them. They remove a small curl at a time. You might quite a sore hand and back doing all that flooring in a tight space, but I think it would do it. Might want to "kill" the corners so you don't gouge.

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woodmagman

Note that a cabinet scraper shaves the surface and does not leave the wood that has been scraped in the same condition, as it would if it were sanded. It is a finer finish. Stain will take differently to the two surfaces. Be aware of that. It is the same if you sand a cabinet door before staining and do not complete the process 100%, there will be noticeable differences in the finish, and it will appear blotchy….

JPhelps

Hey Karma and Woodman, much thanks for the replies--JP

karma_carpentry

Good point, woodmagman. I forgot about the microstructure. I guess you could try a sample finish on scraped versus sanded scrap wood. If there's a difference, the you could rough up with 100 or 150 grit to get similar finish after scraping flat. It's got to be a high-end floor to do all this under the toe-kicks, right? I've seen some pretty horrible floor refinishes around the edges around here. Massive curves and gouges, etc.

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JPhelps

Nothin really high end about it, but it really bugs me to see a nice job on anything, with some detail left out of it. Basically any job is easy if you don't pay attention to any detail. Like sanding out in the open versus around cabinets or a door jamb. Stuff I always try to point out to customers cause I usually charge more than the "going rate"---I'm a slow worker haha, mostly cause of little detail stuff that most people never notice. Anyhow I'm gonna try out the cabinet scraper--JP

karma_carpentry

I like the attitude, jphelps. Here's some old school knowledge:

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karma_carpentry

continued

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karma_carpentry

It's from this old book, published in 1933.
Anyone use the curved scrapers too? Good for small organically shaped work.

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gusthehonky

Best used on hard, tight grained wood. Woodworking and tool collecting sites often will have a wealth of info.