Card Scraper sharpening?

[Woodbloke]

I've been following my pal Andy Pickard on InstaG with his ongoing demos of sharpening a card scraper; I know how I do mine to get excellent results, but what do you chaps do and use? - Rob

 

[AndyT]

Having tried various backs of gouges, screwdriver stems and the smooth bit of a router cutter, a few years ago I stumped up about £16 if I remember right and bought an Arno solid carbide burnisher from Workshop Heaven. I see they now cost £45 but are currently on offer at £39. https://www.workshopheaven.com/arno-car ... burnisher/

I thought I was all set up and was happy with that. Perfectly functional results without a lot of faff.

But now the extra clever Accu-burr tool is convincing other woodworkers that it is the only burnisher they will ever need.

https://www.workshopheaven.com/union-accu-burr-no-ab1/

I'm tempted but have resisted so far. What should I do?!

I'm not on Instagram so I thought I was immune to "influencers" but I can feel their clutching fingers reaching out to me...

 

[Woodbloke]

Having tried various backs of gouges, screwdriver stems and the smooth bit of a router cutter, a few years ago I stumped up about £16 if I remember right and bought an Arno solid carbide burnisher from Workshop Heaven. I see they now cost £45 but are currently on offer at £39. https://www.workshopheaven.com/arno-car ... burnisher/

I thought I was all set up and was happy with that. Perfectly functional results without a lot of faff.

But now the extra clever Accu-burr tool is convincing other woodworkers that it is the only burnisher they will ever need.

https://www.workshopheaven.com/union-accu-burr-no-ab1/

I'm tempted but have resisted so far. What should I do?!

I'm not on Instagram so I thought I was immune to "influencers" but I can feel their clutching fingers reaching out to me...

I use both of them, one after another and very, very good they are too and Andy Pickard would be absolutely mortified to think that anyone regarded him as an 'influencer' :lol: - Rob

Edit - that burnisher will roll off the bench; you need the very Gucci one with the hex brass handle; slightly more spondulicos though.

 

[AndyP]

Hand file and a burnisher given to me by a Cornish saw sharpener rarely seen in these parts recently.

 

[Mike Jordan]

I understand that the stem of an engine exhaust valve is very suitable for making your own burnisher.

 

[fezman]

I followed a video by Matt Estlea a while back. Diamond plates to remove old burr, arno burnisher to add new one. Never failed yet (jinxed that now haven't I) and get very good results.

Here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEE90ZQREno

 

[Blackswanwood]

Mill file and a Clifton Burnisher. I was interested to see Andy P using Camelia oil on the burnisher.

 

[Woodbloke]

Mill file ....

When Andy P was using the file in one of his clips, it was quite evident that it was rocking around all over the place on the edge of the scraper. It's almost impossible to keep it square, unless you use one of these which I also do with a mill file; no need to use any lubrication either especially if a carbide burnisher(s) is used - Rob

 

[Lurker]

Mine is a rod out of a A3 dot matrix printer, one of those that had holes along the paper edges to drive the paper.
So you can guess how long I have had it

 

[SamQ aka Ah! Q!]

It's almost impossible to keep it square, unless you use one of these which I also do with a mill file

Or.....


Edit: I'm not poo-pooing Rob's gorgeous kit; I'm just a tight-wad.

 

[Woodbloke]

It's almost impossible to keep it square, unless you use one of these which I also do with a mill file

Or.....


Edit: I'm not poo-pooing Rob's gorgeous kit; I'm just a tight-wad.

I forgot to mention Sam, that there are other ways of holding the file dead square which are just as good and less speniferioius; your's is one :lol: - Rob

 

[Mike G]

I use an old smooth knife steel from a kitchen clear-out. I also use diamond plates for flattening them first.

My standard fault in turning a burr is to make it too aggressive, leaving it vulnerable to chipping, and requiring the scraper to be used at too shallow an angle (ie lying down too much). I'm hoping that sometime between now and my inevitable decrepitude I'll learn to stop a few strokes earlier.

 

[Pete Maddex]

I make my own burnishers from used 1/8" carbide drill bits.

Burnishers_zpse01da61d by pete maddex, on Flickr

All I do is flatten the burr then rase it again, you can do it loads of times before resoring the edge.

Pete

 

[MattS]

Pete is that just a drill bit pointy end into the handle then? Use a card scraper a fair amount but don't have a proper burnished and my screwdriver approach never really produces a very good burr.

 

[Pete Maddex]

Yep, just pushed into the handle.

Pete

 

[Pedder]

depending on the job I use different methods. For coarse tasks I use the shear....

Take Care
Pedder

 

[Eric the Viking]

All I do is flatten the burr then raise it again, you can do it loads of times before restoring the edge.

Wot Ee said.
Except my burnisher is a relatively cheap hardened steel one from Crown tools (who are somewhat underrated in my opinion).
The 'trick' seems to be only the lightest pressure with the burnisher and almost at 90deg to start with, then several more light strokes to get the angle you want.

I originally tried for a burr I could see, and with much harder initial pressure, but it didn't work well. If I got a burr to stay put it felt rough to use and didn't last, but I've found that something I can only just[/j] feel is quite sufficient and puts me back into Pete's territory, not needing to completely re-grind except occasionally.

A heavy/coarse burr was a lot harder to use in practice, too, and harder to get consistent when re-done. The main reason I use a card scraper is for fine control, and not-digging-into the work. it did cut quicker, but the results defeated the object of using it.

Mine Yew, those French curve ones are a whole other can of old shrimp. I can never get them to behave well... Ideas welcome.

 

[Pete Maddex]

All I do is flatten the burr then raise it again, you can do it loads of times before restoring the edge.

Mine Yew, those French curve ones are a whole other can of old shrimp. I can never get them to behave well... Ideas welcome.

Yep they are hard to do but I flaten and reform them, this one os much better and easer to sharpen.

Spoon and egg shaped scraper by Pete Maddex, on Flickr

Pete

 

[derekcohen]

Try this:

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReview ... isher.html

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Woodbloke]

A bit late to the party Derek :lol: ; I've got a proper one with the über gucci brass handles and very good it is too - Rob

 

[derekcohen]

Hi Rob

Part of my post was to recommend removing one of the handles. Then the burnisher can also be used to draw the steel. That creates a better hook.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Woodbloke]

Hi Rob

Part of my post was to recommend removing one of the handles. Then the burnisher can also be used to draw the steel. That creates a better hook.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I use the Arno carbide burnisher to do that but agreed, the Accu-Burr doesn't really turn a decent hook on it's own - Rob

 

[Lurker]

Interesting post/ tool Derek,
but it sounds like a solution looking for a problem to me.
I spend (waste) hours making myself fancy tools, but wouldn’t contemplate spending money on something like that.

For what it’s worth, have quite a number of scrapers so don’t break off to re sharp. I tend to sharpen all the “ blunt” ones as a batch. The first one I need to get my eye in and technique up to scratch and then the rest are done in minutes.

 

[derekcohen]

Lurker, I've used a simple carbide burnisher for many years, and quite experienced preparing scrapers. I purchased the Accu-Burr out of curiosity. The first part of my review yielded a positive conclusion, but I realised that it did not go far enough, and modified mine. The result is a super-easy preparation tool. It takes all the "expertise" out of the task. Anyone can be a sharpening guru

Not that expensive. Not necessary. Just worth it if you do.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Woodbloke]

I purchased the Accu-Burr out of curiosity. The first part of my review yielded a positive conclusion, but I realised that it did not go far enough, and modified mine. The result is a super-easy preparation tool. It takes all the "expertise" out of the task. Anyone can be a sharpening guru

Not that expensive. Not necessary. Just worth it if you do.

Regards from Perth

Derek

It does; once the two edges have been 'drawn' a couple of passes with the Accu-Burr turns them into a near on perfect hook; very, very simple and very, very easy - Rob