Ernie Conover, Author at Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To

Cabinet/Card Scrapers

Ernie Conover — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 15:00:14 +0000

One of the most useful, versatile and inexpensive items, which should be in every toolbox, is the ordinary cabinet scraper. Few are aware of how to use this workhorse correctly, and even more do not know how to sharpen it. I would like to share how to make this ancient tool perform magic in situations where much more expensive tools struggle.

Scrapers are a whole class of tools used by woodworkers and woodturners. While we strive to bring the edge of planes and chisels to a polished, acute edge, free of burr, we purposely bring the edge of a scraper to a tiny, well-defined burr and then proceed to use the tool by dragging the burr against the wood. It is the burr that does the cutting, and raising this burr along the edge of a steel scraper is a bit of an art.

A file and a round burnishing rod are two tools essential to sharpening a cabinet scraper.

As you can see in the photo at the top of this page, cabinet scrapers come in a variety of shapes. They are often sold in a set of three to cover a variety of scraping tasks. This set, made by Crown Hand Tools in Sheffield England, a rectangular cabinet scraper (often called a card scraper), one with inside and outside radii at each end and a French curve. The card scraper is used on flat surfaces.

The edges of the middle scraper can also be used on flat surfaces while the ends will fair and smooth concave and convex surfaces. Some part of the French curve will generally shape and smooth complex shapes and often saves the day. The set from Rockler costs a mere $21.

Traditional woodworking tools such as this chisel or a plane blade are ground and polished to an acute cutting angle — 25 degrees, in this case. They raise a chip and leave a smooth finish in their wake when cutting clear, straight-grained wood. They do not rely on a burr to provide the cutting action.

While chisels and plane blades are tempered to a hardness on the Rockwell C Scale (HRC) of 58 to 64, a cabinet scraper wants less temper, so they are generally delivered at HRC 50 to 55. The lower temper is necessary to allow burnishing that creates a sharp burr at the edge. Burnishing is both a tool and a process. A burnisher is a round rod with a handle that is a bit like a file without any teeth. In fact, it is delivered with a polished surface and is HRC 64 or higher.

Sharpening a Scraper

Rockler’s unique 3-in-1 Cabinet Scraper Sharpening Tool, integrates a double-cut file, 2,500-grit diamond stone and a hardened-steel burnisher in the same tool to simplify the entire process of sharpening a flat-edged cabinet scraper.

The process of sharpening a scraper in my “More on the Web” video that supports this article. In a nutshell, the process involves filing and honing the scraper’s edge square and smooth, then using the burnisher to distort the steel into a tiny burr that curls over the face of the scraper. It’s not particularly difficult, but it does require practice.

To prepare a scraper for burnishing, the work-hardened area is first removed with a mill file. This will be followed by a whetstone to smooth away file marks.

The result of over-burnishing by pushing down too hard or taking too many strokes is a ragged edge rather than a continuous sharp one.

Once the edge is filed and stoned smooth and square, a burnisher is sloped 5 to 15 degrees downward from the edge and drawn across the corner of the scraper to form a sharp burr. Definite pressure is necessary. Do not make the burr too big or it will split into segments at the burr’s point. You may turn burrs on both corners of an edge.

The process work-hardens the edge, so it cannot be repeated without using a file to remove the workhardened area. The edge is then refined with a fine stone to form perfect corners. Back to the burnisher to create a new burr again.

Cabinet scrapers have a wide variety of uses — removing depressions or torn-out grain, flattening misaligned joints, cleaning off dried glue or removing old finishes. So much utility from a small piece of steel!

Until 1943, Stanley made the #112 Scraping Plane. It’s a scraper on steroids with a much heavier blade that does not cramp your hands.

Using a Cabinet Scraper

While it only removes small amounts of material, it does not tear when going against the grain in figured woods. It will also smooth a low spot that may not be smoothed with a plane or sander without removing a lot of surrounding material.

Once sharp, the scraper is held in both hands with thumbs flexing it into a gentle arch and tilting the tool slightly forward. The burr is engaged against the surface of the wood and pushed to scrape tiny, fine curls. Holders for card scrapers, which put a slight side-to-side bend in them with a handle at each edge, can make using a cabinet scraper much less tiring on your hands.

Card scrapers are burnished to a pronounced burr. The scraper is leaned forward and a slight side-to-side bend is induced into it by the user. It can only cut to the depth of the very sharp burr.

A scraper used with skill can cut through tiny depressions or torn-out grain without leaving marks. It can cut with or against the grain with equal verve and is handy for flattening uneven joints or removing dried glue residue.

Rockler offers an adjustable holder for card scrapers that features soft overmolds to help make using these tools even easier and more comfortable.

When you need to get into areas that planes or sanders will not reach, here’s the tool for the job. It is also the best tool for stripping off an old finish. I use a card scraper every winter to scrape wax from my cross-country skis. You can’t beat the price-to-utility ratio of this simple, handy tool!

The post Cabinet/Card Scrapers appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

VIDEO: Understanding Files and Rasps

Ernie Conover — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 22:01:54 +0000

Ernie Conover overviews common rasps and files for woodworking and other shop tasks.

The post VIDEO: Understanding Files and Rasps appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

Drawknives and Spokeshaves

Ernie Conover — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 15:00:40 +0000

A drawknife as a roughing tool with a spokeshave as a finishing tool are yoked partners that, like a team of oxen, can get an incredible amount of work done. If setting up power tools for a job feels pokey, you might find that this hand tool duo is often just as fast with minimal setup required. These tools were used by a variety of trades for creating round stock (wheel spokes, chair spindles, pegs for post-and-beam building), stripping bark from logs (black ash for basket splint and hickory for seat caning strips), trimming the edges of leather strips and creating curved and radiused edges, to name a few.

Drawknives

Shown from left to right are the Flexcut 5″ drawknife with leather sheath and a 6″ drawknife and scorp made by the author’s company, Conover Woodcraft Specialties, Inc., in the 1980s.

Drawknives consist of a 5″- to 14″-long knife blade with a tang at each end that is bent at slightly less than a right angle to the blade. Handles are attached to both ends. It is almost always pulled (hence the name) with the bevel up, but it can be pushed if needed. Most have a straight blade, but some are arched either upward (mostly for peeling the outer bark off of logs or coopering staves) or downward for hollowing chair seats, shovels and such. The latter, when approaching a segment of a circle, is commonly referred to amongst chairmakers as a scorp. The edge is usually a convex arc.

The drawknife is perfect for bringing a length of wood to a round or oval shape. They were and still are used in the initial phases of hewing the spindles in the backs of Windsor chairs to their unique shape. Wheelmakers and coopers also employed drawknives extensively — the former for wheel spokes and the latter to make the staves a uniform arc on the inside and outside of a barrel.

A younger author using the drawknife in a reenactment of woodworking prior to 1800. He was preparing a blank for turning in a spring pole lathe. Woodturners were another trade that often used drawknives.

In use, the handles allow you to put your upper body and arm strength into slicing thick shavings. One must pay close attention to grain direction, or splitting the workpiece along the grain will result. Avoiding this often entails shaping half the piece in one direction and then reversing the cuts for the other half.

A number of companies still make drawknives today, and serviceable examples in good condition are some of the easiest tools to find on the antique market.

Spokeshaves

Shown from back to front here is a wood spokeshave made by the author’s company in the 1990s with two Benchdog metal spokeshaves ahead of it. This clearly shows the difference between the two types. The wood shave has a very aggressive low angle cut, while the metal shaves have a blade that is bedded at 50 to 55 degrees. The bottom shave is not flat like the two above but rather cylindrical, making it great for curved surfaces such as arches. Wood spokeshaves are generally favored by those working with green wood such as chairmakers and wagon wheel makers. Metal shaves are favored by furnituremakers who are often working with wild grain patterns where the blade’s high attack angle tears less against the grain.

A spokeshave is a finishing tool. It refines a drawknife’s work to its final shape with a smooth surface. Spokeshaves come in two types — those with wood bodies and those made entirely from metal. The former can be thought of as a wooden jig with handles at each side that surrounds a blade and limits the thickness of the shaving it generates. Wood spokeshaves have a very low attack angle and require close attention to grain direction. Metal spokeshaves are like a small plane with the handles at the sides. The blade is secured bevel-down and bedded at about 50 to 55 degrees, making it less likely to run with the grain.

While spokeshaves are more commonly pulled, they may be pushed when necessary. Each type of shave has strong partisans.

Here is a collection of metal spokeshaves made by gunsmith John Oberlies of Xenia, Ohio, in 1925. The author’s father met him when stationed at nearby Right Patterson Airfield during WWII. A superb craftsman, he ma de the wood patterns for these shaves and had them cast in bronze. He used them in shaping the stocks of the match rifles he made. They are 98 years old and still going strong. The bottom shave is actually convex across and from end to end for shaping depressions.

Traditionally, wood spokeshave blades had a square, tapered tang extending upward at each end of the blade. This mated to like holes in the wood stock and got tighter as it was pushed (and often hammered lightly) into place. Since the 19th century, some wood spokeshaves have sported threaded tangs that were secured with a binding post nut. A screw next to the through hole in the shave adjusted where the blade came home, thereby affecting the thickness of the cut.

Here, the author adjusts the blade on one of his wooden spokeshaves. Properly adjusted, the blade is cocked such that it takes a heavier cut on one side and a very light cut on the other. This allows going from heavy material removal to fine with a good finish in the wake.

Most experienced users of wood or metal spokeshaves adjust the blade to take a heavier cut on one end (usually the left) for quick material removal. Sliding the shave steadily sideways as the work proceeds generates progressively finer shavings and a smooth finish.

Modern workers may not need to use a drawknife but may still find a spokeshave useful for an odd rounding job or to refine a roundover made by a router. Making a bullnose on the edge of a board with a roundover bit that is a bit under- or oversized for the thickness of the board comes to mind. Today, a metal spokeshave is the best bet for most woodworkers, unless they are working with green wood.

The post Drawknives and Spokeshaves appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

VIDEO: Burnishing and Using Cabinet Scrapers

Ernie Conover — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 20:53:10 +0000

Ernie Conover provides a comprehensive overview of the classic three-piece cabinet scraper set. He discusses the differences between different scrapers, how to keep and maintain the scraper blades and takes a look at some of their uses in your workshop.

The post VIDEO: Burnishing and Using Cabinet Scrapers appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

Festool “Recharged 2023” Media Event

Ernie Conover — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 18:53:17 +0000

Early last February, I was one of about 35 media guests invited to Festool’s U.S. headquarters in Lebanon, Indiana, to try out recent and yet-to-be-launched tools. Interestingly, only one of them was corded. I am not including pricing here, as this “Recharged 2023” event was a preview, and pricing was not yet determined at that time.

Even though Festool’s new tool releases have been stymied during the pandemic due to supply chain interruptions and computer chip shortages, there are some interesting new offerings, and here are a few of the standouts.

CSC SYS 50 Cordless Table Saw

The CSC SYS 50 Table Saw’s blade is raised, lowered and tilted by electronics. The top button is for elevation and the bottom button is for tilt. Turning the knob gives macro (coarse) adjustment of either blade height or tilt, and pushing it in provides micro adjustment (fine). Imperial or metric is done by software setting, allowing users to work in either measurement system painlessly.

I finally had the chance to lay hands on this much-rumored cordless table saw, which has been out in Germany for some time. I was not disappointed, and in my mind the CSC SYS 50 was tied for the best in show. Running on two 18-volt batteries, this lightweight, portable table saw features electronic blade tilt and height control. It’s an elegant, well-thought-out new saw that would be at home at any construction site or small shop.

TSV 60 Track Saw

Here the TSV 60 Track Saw is cutting melamine (the chippiest of all sheet goods) perfectly. You can see the small counter-scoring blade ahead of the main blade. Note the second motor for powering the small blade.

The second ground-breaking new tool tied for best in show is the TSV 60 Counter Scoring Corded Track Saw. High-end table saws have long sported a small counter-scoring blade ahead of the main blade. It turns in the opposite direction of the main blade and cuts a shallow (about a 1/32″-deep) groove, which then allows the main blade to cut through without any tearing of wood grain or chipping of laminate. The TSV 60 is so configured. As with table saws, the scoring blade on this track saw may be retracted for conventional cutting.

CTC MIDI 1 and SYS 1 Dust Extractors

Here the saw is attached to a CTC MIDI I Dust Extractor, another new cordless option that, like the table saw, takes two 18-volt batteries.

Festool’s current line of industrial HEPA tool-triggered dust extractors only work with corded tools. For cordless models, the existing plug-in dust extractors require manual starting and stopping. The new cordless CTC MIDI 1 and the CTC SYS 1 Cordless Systainer Dust Extractor (which has been on the market for a while) overcome this problem by way of Bluetooth connection to the tool for the stop and start function. It’s a helpful innovation for today’s battery-driven Festool lineup.

KSC 60 Cordless Sliding Compound Miter Saw

The author found the Kapex KSC 60 Cordless Sliding Compound Miter Saw up-to par with his corded version of the tool. The saw includes a dolly-style rolling stand with extension tables for added workpiece support.

Festool’s Kapex KSC 60 Cordless Sliding Compound Miter Saw isn’t brand new, but it was nice to give it a test drive. It worked with the same functionality as my plug-in Kapex 120 miter saw, which I have used for a decade. The KSC 60’s rolling (dolly-like) cart makes for easy transfer from a truck to a work location. Extension tables alongside the saw help ensure fully supported workpieces. For a jobsite where power has yet to be brought in, this saw’s cordless feature will be welcomed.

RCS 18 Recip Saw

Festool’s new RSC 18 Reciprocating Saw made tough cuts without pummeling the user with extra vibration. It also has helpful dust collection.

Reciprocating saws are in most carpenter’s kits, and the new RSC 18 provided some useful innovations. First is dust collection, and the second is a gyroscopic vibration control system that enables the saw to cut more smoothly and transmit much less vibration to the user than other recip saws I’ve used.

GHS 25 Ear Buds

Offering a 25 dB noise-reduction rating, these new GHS 25 Ear Buds should provide ample hearing protection for power tool use, plus the added convenience of Bluetooth connectivity for listening to music or taking a call.

Festool now offers GHS 25 Ear Protection Buds for safer work in noisy environments. I tried a pair on and found them both effective and comfortable, mainly due to a wide range of rubber adapter plugs that should accommodate any ear canal. According to the folks at Festool, these earbuds offer a 25 dB noise reduction and allow Bluetooth connection to your smart phone for music or calls.

The post Festool “Recharged 2023” Media Event appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

VIDEO: Understanding and Using Drawknives and Spokeshaves

Ernie Conover — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 19:55:37 +0000

Two of woodworking’s most venerable tools, drawknives and spokeshaves still have a lot of use in a modern woodworking shop. Ernie Conover explores the history of these tools and their current applications. Learn more about a pair of the most classic pieces in your woodworking arsenal.

The post VIDEO: Understanding and Using Drawknives and Spokeshaves appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

VIDEO: Guide to Router Planes

Ernie Conover — Wed, 01 Mar 2023 21:17:42 +0000

Ernie Conover takes a deep dive into the world of router planes, demonstrating how they are both like and unlike their modern electrical cousins and how they can still find a home in your woodworking shop today.

The post VIDEO: Guide to Router Planes appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

VIDEO: Everything About Backsaws

Ernie Conover — Wed, 04 Jan 2023 16:32:28 +0000

Ernie Conover explores one of woodworking’s most classic tools: the backsaw. He’ll explore the different types of backsaw, their usage in a workshop and how to maintain them to keep them sharp and active long into the future.

The post VIDEO: Everything About Backsaws appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

VIDEO: Spinning Turned Tops

Ernie Conover — Wed, 31 Aug 2022 20:22:15 +0000

Ernie Conover explores two different styles of spinning top toy that you can make on your lathe, including one that’s super powered!

The post VIDEO: Spinning Turned Tops appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

VIDEO: Sawing Through Dovetail Pins

Ernie Conover — Wed, 31 Aug 2022 20:02:40 +0000

Ernie Conover explores how to cut through dovetail pins by hand. You’ll learn how Ernie likes to clamp the work pieces to the bench, how he saws the sides of the pins and how he sets up to chisel out the waste.

Explore more of Ernie’s dovetail making process with his Premium Video Series. This series is free for subscribers of the Woodworker’s Journal print magazine.

The post VIDEO: Sawing Through Dovetail Pins appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.