Scraper or Sandpaper?

[hermit]

I really like scrapers, but I also sand afterwards. As for the burnishing, I've found the easiest way to do it, is not overthink it. The techniques in the mags are definitely helpful, but I found when I was following them too closely, I ended up rolling my burr to far to give a good curl. Practice is whats important here. I still don't have it down pat, but I'm getting better. And don't press too hard to get the burr. It'll come naturally with light pressure as you angle the burnisher. this is one of those things, that even when you get a good edge, it doesn't last long, and you have to do it again anyway, so don't get too worked up if you don't get it right away. Just vary technique a little here or there, then you'll get the gist of what needs to happen on the edge.

Todd

[dkerfoot]

Great advice Todd and it follows my newbie experience.

I finally got the Stanley cabinet scraper in. The first couple of tries it didn't work well at all. Then the stars aligned and the thing is magic! Super thin and beautiful curly shavings. Best of all though, the surface of the wood glistens - just like in the magazines. Wow, this is really kind of addictive!

I also put my card scraper to good (though menial) use yesterday. I stripped off at least 80 years worth of paint (quite possibly 100) from my front door using stripper and a regular paint scraper, but the last 1/2 layer was really resistant to the stripper - I honestly think it was something similar to being petrified. Either mineral deposits that replaced the paint or perhaps all the paint was gone, leaving nothing but the lead!

Normally I would have reached for the ROS, but I decided to give the card scraper a shot at it. It actually worked really well. At least as fast and smooth as the ROS but much more tranquil.

I have some cleanup to do yet as there are 6 windows and I need to clean up all the dividers. The edge of the card seems to do the trick there as well.