quistion on using scrapers

The scraper is the one tool that is different from all other woodturning tools. What follows below is my way of using it and may not work for everyone obviously.

I sharpen my scrapers on the rough stone of my grinder at an angle of about 80 to 85 degrees, just off the 90 degree mark. This leaves a nice burr. The bevel on the scraper is not used so if you remember your basics "always rub the bevel", this is the one place where you do not. What cuts in a scraper is the burr. You put the burr on the edge either when sharpenning or using a tool to raise the burr. If you use carbon steel tools, be prepared to touch the tool up a lot.

The other thing to remember is that all tools are used slightly above center point when making cuts, EXCEPT the scraper which is used slightly below center. It took me a long time to learn to hold the tool just right. Most tool rests have a crest of some sort on the top and the tool always rocks a little which makes holding it steady somewhat harder.

If you are getting catches, you are not holding the tool at the right place (below center), or you are trying to be too aggressive in your cut (take wee small cuts), or the tool is sharpened wrong or has no burr. I had a flat tool rest made for me that had greatly improved my use of the scraper. It is a "slab" of steel, 6" long by 1 1/4" wide which I position such that the burr on the scrapper is just below center and I just slide the tool flat on the tool rest. I take very small cuts and I usually tell students that if you can't read through the shavings, you're being too aggressive. It's an exageration, I know, but it gets the point accross.

As you are a beginner, your best friend for the next little while will be "practice". One of the members here (Art Ransom) has a post on his web page where he mentions having to turn 2000 beads using the skew in one project. He is now quite good at using the skew! No kidding! Do the same, mount a small blank on the lathe, round it off with your roughing gouge and then, with a lot of care and patience, turn a small bowl using only the scraper. I did just that a short while ago to show it can be done successfully. You'll get the practice and learn to control the tool properly.

Hope this helps and good luck.

I recommend a somewhat different approach than Mike does. I grind my scrapers at 60 degrees. When using scrapers on the inside of a bowl always cut on or a little above center. Below center is asking for a catch. (Scraping on the outside of a bowl should be a little below center). Get the tool rest as close to the work as you can. Make sure that the tool is flat on the rest. Use the tool with the handle pointing slightly up. Always keep a burr on the tool. That's what does the cutting. Use a light touch. Hogging off too much wood is asking for a catch. Scrapers are user-friendly if properly used.

Well, you need the burnished scraper or a scraper fresh from the wheel with the wire edge to hang a bit nose down, but mostly folks I've seen are pushing the thing into the wood instead of easing it in as they would a regular tool. Anchor your tool firmly on the rest, as you would any other tool. Then, unlike cutting tools, where the next step is get the bevel on the wood, you then tip nose down. From there you start the cut by locking the hands and holding the fulcrum, moving the handle sideways until the tool just begins to bite by shifting your weight and rotating the body. Almost impossible to control the initial contact with hand or arm alone. I follow this successive sweep pattern when I use scrapers, though it is seldom.

Brittle, poorly ductile alloys don't draw burrs well, so people often use the manufacturer's recommendation and sharpen by honing the face of the tool. Then it's used as if you were scraping with a knife blade, not nose down, but pretty much perpendicular to the surface, or rolled over to shear.

Thanks to all who replied,I did try these ideas and it seems to work better.I did sharpen the scraper more and lowerd the tool rest even with the bowl.Was also holdling the tool wrong.Thanks again..Ralph

Ralph... An important guide that I repeat in my head constantly is "If I have to push or apply pressure, the tool isn't sharp enough"... I find this especially true of scrapers, where a very light touch gives a better finish and keeps you out of trouble... (no drama, no trauma)

Mac