I just used a cabinet scrapper for the first time. Put a mirror finishon a hard rock maple cabinet door that I am making. This tool may be old news to some but for anyone who hasn't used one and particularly if you don't like sanding, this thing seems great to me. Had the door sanded to 220 grit and in 3-4 minutes it was mirro smooth. Price:$5.95 and the shipping was nearly as much as the tool but couldn't find one anywhere locally. I asked at the BORG and the guy looked at me like I was from URANUS.
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RAGS 
Raggy and Me in San Felipe
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Welcome to less sanding and a smoother finish, Bill. Where'd you get yours? -
Highland Hardware thru Amazon
Its a Bahco (Sandvik), $5.99+ $4.99 shipping. I am looking for one that's 12" wide so I can really do some work. Can't believe how good this simple little tool works. I think its a "must have" tool. RAGS
Raggy and Me in San Felipe
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Bill,
I have the one by Veritas, which has a little more heft than the old Stanley. I haven't used it enough to need to sharpen it yet, but it performed like a champ out of the box.
When setting the blade, I used the "paper trick": lay a sheet of paper (printer, copier, whatever you have) on a flat surface (MDF works), then lay the scraper on its base on the paper so that the blade protrudes off one edge of the sheet. Set the blade so that its entire length just touches the surface of the MDF, and you're all set to make fine shavings!The war against inferior and overpriced furniture continues!
ChrisComment
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Jointer and planer knives make good scrapers also. You can make holders in wood with a saw kerf.Comment
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Now you need a good file and burnishing tool. It never ends..... not a bad thing tho..Comment
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There appear to be two different tools under discussion here ... card scrapers, which are just a thin sheet of metal, usually around 2" wide x 6" long; and cabinet scrapers, which have a blade that is somewhat like a small card scraper set into a holder with wing-like handles.
Both are a revelation the first time you use them -- card scrapers especially. It's difficult to imagine how quickly and how well something so cheap, so simple, works until you actually use one. Quite likely one of the best-kept secrets in the shop.LarryComment
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Card Scraper
I actually got a card scraper. I better look into a cabinet scraper since this little card is so amazing. For Ken: Oh no, you mean I have to sharpen it? I hope I don't screw that up. LOL RAGS
Raggy and Me in San Felipe
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Which is what I thought Bill was talking about per his original post. Thanks for clarifying, Larry. I was intrigued by the price of $5.95 until I realized that he was actually talking about card scrapers.
Anyway, I have both kinds and yes, it's like magic when you use a well-tuned scraper - cabinet or card - for the first time.The war against inferior and overpriced furniture continues!
ChrisComment
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Rags, I should have mentioned that a lot of people do call what you have a "cabinet scraper," so you weren't wrong with your terminology. But many people (myself included) prefer to call the little guys "card scrapers" to help distinguish them from the larger tool with handles.LarryComment
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...and then there's the "scraper plane".
Or, back at the lower end, Veritas makes a scraper holder, that's reasonably useful:
Figuring out how to sharpen these things was nothing short of an epiphany for me. And yet, I haven't actually used one on a finished project, now that I think of it....
Regards,
TomComment
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Actually Bill, you have to dull it! The edge anyway, but you have to make a nice lil sharp burr hang off the edge.
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00007.asp
Tom, I also had an epiphany once. Then Tina smacked me and I have never wanted to have another one! ;-DComment
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Card scrapers are the most for the least $. However, I had difficulty tuning mine until I bought the burnisher and file holder from Lee Valley. Now I get terrific shavings until my fingers get hot and sore. Maybe I'll have to buy the holder that Tom pictured. What's another $33.
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...at=1,310,41070
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...=1,43072,43089
Leave it to me to turn a $5.00 scraper into a $50 item.
SteveI would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong. Bertrand RussellComment
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