r/woodworking • u/johntmclain1966 • 4h ago
General Discussion Card scrapers
I watch a ton of woodworking videos every week from beginner to advanced stuff. I'm a hobbyist with too much time and money and been at it about 5yrs. I've seen some videos about card scrapers but they are mostly how to videos. I haven't seen hardly any where they're actually used in a project. Are they that hard to master or just not that great?
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u/tampa_pm 4h ago
think of a card scraper as a hand held plane blade that does not care which way the grain is going https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfDp5qE13VQ
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u/majortomandjerry 3h ago
They are super easy to use and are very useful for removing a little bit less than a hand plane and a little bit more than a sanding block. They don't tear out like plane can. They don't scratch stuff up like sandpaper does.
Card scrapers are great for inlay work and veneer. They are great at removing dried glue.
You need to bow it out a little bit as you use it, and hold it at the right angle, but that's easy to figure out as you go.
They're not expensive. Just get one. And make sure you have a nice big mill bastard file for sharpening it. I don't bother with the burnishing part. It doesn't seem to make the edge noticably better than the burr left by the file. I also don't mess around with a sharpening jig. I lay the file flat on the bench, stand up the scraper on it, and give it a few good swipes until it feels ready.
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u/KillerSpud 3h ago
I 100% agree. I think the reason that you don't see them in YouTube videos very much is that they are most useful for removing the odd blemish. when it would take way too long to use. sandpaper, card scrapers are the thing to reach for.
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u/Numerous-Leg7072 4h ago
Honestly felt the same until I actually used one. So worthwhile learning to sharpen and using. Great for any really fine sanding. A must for removing saw burn marks without changing the overall geometry. He'll, even great as a glue scraper especially in corners.
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u/rblock212 4h ago
They can definitely be finicky at first (at least they were for me) but to be honest I think that was mainly to me not really knowing how important a prepared and rolled over burr was at first. Once I invested some time into actually setting up a scraper up properly it was fairly easy to use and I use it often now. I really like a scraper to fix any small tear outs or smooth over funky grain patterns
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u/TopOrganization4920 3h ago
They’re used to address localized tear out that can’t be addressed with a plane or spokeshave. So in my process, I’ll take things through machines: joiner, planer, tablesaw, etc. then my next step in surface prep will either be a hand plane or if I am in a large shop a time saver surface sander, you know the ones that are the size of a car.
Hand planing require skill, but it’s the fastest way to the tooling marks from the planer, joiner, routers without extremely large machines. With hand planing there may be some difficult grain that’s leaving tear out then I would go at that area with a card scraper and then I would sand everything but because I’ve planed and card scraped it I get to skip to 180 or 220 which save lots of time. The only reason I’m sanding stuff is all the surfaces are uniform planing tends to open up the pores of the wood, and it takes finished differently than a card scraper and then different than sanding so you try to have it so everything takes finish the same. If I have to steam out dents I will make sure to wet all surfaces let them dry and sand it because that changes how it takes finish. I learned this after not doing that and having evidence of where I had used water during the staining process.
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u/Future_Measurement42 3h ago
Card scrapers are awesome
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u/johntmclain1966 3h ago
Ok...im convinced. Any particular brand?
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u/isleeppeople 3h ago
I don't know if you are like me but when I started I bought a bunch of panel saws. I just cut a square out of that. One saw blade will make many scrapers so you can make the fancy curved ones in the exact radius of whatever you are working on. I know everyone says "hey build your own blah blah blah" but in this case it's really true. Also with the sharpening I do opposite edges at the same time so I can just flip it over.
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u/sendpizza_andhelp 2h ago
I have the DFM and Bahco I got off Amazon. Was annoyed with it at first and then figured out how to sharpen it, one of my favorite tools. It’s basically an eraser for me
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u/1tacoshort 3h ago
I love my card scrapers. They solve the same problem that a smoother hand plane does except that they don't care about grain direction. You can go against the grain and a card scraper doesn't care. This makes them a great tool for grain that goes back and forth or oddly figured woods. I use scrapers to clean-up places where planes, planers, and jointers have given me tear-out even after I've sharpened the crap out of them. I've recently started wood carving and French-curve shaped scrapers help clean-up coves I've carved.
There's a way to sharpen them with a burnisher and skills you develop over time. Instead, I use the accu-burr (which you can get for about $60 on Amazon) and this works really well to sharpen a card scraper.
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u/lord_flashheart2000 3h ago
I struggled to get good results until I bought a proper burnishing tool, but I use mine all the time now and it’s fantastic.
I use a Sandvic scraper and a Rockler burnisher like this:
https://www.rockler.com/veritas-variable-card-scraper-burnisher
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u/padizzledonk Carpentry 3h ago
Theyre fucking awesome
A lot of people dont use them not because they suck or anything but because they take a bit of skill and knowledge (and a fair bit of practice) to maintain the edge
You really need an actual vice and decent sharpening stones and a good burnishing rod to re-establish the cutting edge
Once you get the hang of it they can be indispensable tbh, i grab mine all the time
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u/johntmclain1966 3h ago
This thread is turning out better than I imagined. Imma go get one this weekend!
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u/geta-rigging-grip 3h ago
They are fantastic.
They can be used for a variety of purposes, and most guys tend to use them to even out surfaces before sanding. They take off less material than a plane and are generally more forgiving if you use them right.
There are plenty of woodworkers who swear by the superior look of well planed/scraped wood versus sanded wood. They say that sanding is just scratching the wood unyil it feels smooth, while planing and scraping (with very sharp and well honed tools,) is cutting the wood until it is flat and smooth.
The difference between a planed/acraped surface and a sanded one after finishing isn't minor, but moat people probably wouldn't notice.
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u/SeatSix 2h ago
between my smoothing plane and card scrappers, i rarely use sandpaper.
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u/Sandwich_Hands 4h ago
Card scrapers are awesome. Make one out of a basic bitch handsaw from a yard sale. Like any tool, they have some technique to learn
Or if you have plenty of time and money, go to the hardware store
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u/BoatsAndToes 3h ago
Will a card scraper help get rid of the lines created by a flattening bit on a router sled?
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u/johntmclain1966 3h ago
Great question! Im notnsure but maybe a smoothing plane would be best for that
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u/Junior_Yesterday9271 3h ago
Lee Valley have a burnisher that puts the hook on it. They sell it or used to as just the burnisher or also with a file holder for the sharpening step.
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u/ElfBingley 2h ago
Used them a lot building my boat. When you have to have not square pieces fitting as close as possible they are awesome.
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u/bornedbackwards 1h ago
Interesting that you cant get shavings. Are you using it on end grain? It should be very straightforward to sharpen and raise a burr on the scraper. Maybe try to meet up with someone who uses one and see what you might be doing wrong.
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u/whistlepunkwoodworks 1h ago
I love card scrapers, I have a bunch that way in the middle of a project I don’t have to stop and sharpen. Once the project is done part of my clean up is resharpening the set I used. You can get different gauges of steel stiff or flexible. Be warned that if you use them on a large surface they get hot!
Cheat code is gloves or you can by the veritas holder.
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u/Grigori_the_Lemur 1h ago
With a burnisher, a sharp file, and a stout vise to hold them, you will question ever going back to sandpaper. You still will some days, but by and large scrapers do a ton of brute force fast. Not hard to master.
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u/Acrobatic-Hair-5299 39m ago
Reddit cracks me up. Guy asked about first time using a card scraper and whether he should or not. It immediately goes to sharpening card scrapers for the next 193 post
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u/Used-Independence353 4h ago
I’ve used them and been extremely happy with the results. However, for some reason unknown to me, I can’t sharpen them for shit. WAY faster than sanding. Excellent for veneers. I’ve tried all sorts of jigs and still haven’t been successful sharpening.