Scrapers

I now make my scrapers from the cheap hardened teeth disposable type saws.

I used to chop up old Distons or Spear and Jackson's . Then each apprentice I had, needed a few scrapers .

somewhere, about halfway between my first apprentice and my eighth I gave up chopping old saws.

The disposable type blade with the blued teeth cut off is good spring steel , there is no difference in quality that I can detect.

I like to have about 4 rectangle scrapers ,and two with curves.

And a tool I also make from the sawblades is a nail chopper , I have two , they are a good restoration tool , its a square section of sawblade sharpened on the grinder at one end just on one side , a bevel like a chisel, and mushroomed over at the other end from hitting with a hammer.
These tools come in handy for getting backs off cabinets or drawer bottoms out of old drawers when they need to be saved , and when the nails cant be pulled out or punched through because of rust . used the right way the blade slides between the two bits of wood and with a good hit with a hammer chops through the nails. then holding the blade between the two pieces where the nail is and hitting the top with a hammer you can flatten the jagged chopped nail so the drawer bottom slides out whithout the remains of the nail leaving a bad scratch in the drawer bottom .

They are good at chopping and levering off things as well, when there is no better way

Rob

Can you post a photo of this, sounds interesting, and useful.

Cheers
Bevan

Sure . Ill see if I can find them under the pile of tools on my workbench today . If I'm lucky I may have put them in the box where they belong.

Here is my main one .

To chop nails in drawer bottoms you attack from the side . otherwise the drawer back can break out where the nail is .

Rob

Scrapers are a great alternative to sandpaper. I have one I inherited. It's made from an old sawblade set into a wooden handle. They are brilliant for removing varnish and scratches. Just hold it square to a diamond stone to sharpen and then finish with a hone on a piece of hardened polished steel.

http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools...e_Scraper.html
and here is the link to the stewmac video. This guy has taken the scraper much further than anything I have seen before. Think I'll order one. No hang on, piece of tool steel. 90 degrees. I might already have something like this.

Anyone have an idea of how thick his scrapers are?

1/8"

Thanks for that.

I'd like to give it a go as I think that this will give me a greater control over the bent scrapers.

So how do people go about cutting the shapes out of saw blades for straight and curved scrapers?

I'm sure in the old days they didn't have angle grinders.