I have been watching a lot of videos on youtube. It seems like everybody that uses a Scraper ends up with a lot smoother finish before sanding. Does the Scraper really give you a better finish and less sanding? It is worth getting one? Thanks

Scrapers can give you a good finish although not as good as a skew or sharp bowl gouge with a shear scrape. Negative rack on end grain are unbeatable. There are some caveats on using scrapers. The burr only lasts a very short time so sharpening is a necessity. Secondly if you drop the handle below the tool rest you WILL get a pretty good catch.

   When you buy you will probably end up with several in different configurations and widths . I think I have accumulated seven so far. have two sharpened as neg rake and plan to change a few more.

   Oh one point about negative rake is that it does not take as large of a bite and therefore gets fewer catches.

Reed Gray aka Robo Hippie is big on scrapers.  He has quite a few videos on scraping and here is one of them.  Go to his channel for more to view.

 

 

 

On every bowl I turn it's my goal to not need to use a scraper. Seldom do I achieve that goal. I agree with everything Gerald said. Properly used a bowl just gives a superior finish but it takes much practice and repetition to make that sweet cut every time. I prefer a negative rake scraper as they far less likely to catch.

 

Steve

What they said!

 

Remember, Easy Wood Tools are really scrapers!

Edited November 24, 20187 yr by lew