Burnishers

[Isaac]

I'm trying to learn to use scrapers. I've got this 0.80 scraper from Bahco

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001P0PIG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Assuming it didn't come ready to use from the factory, what do I need to get it ready for use? I sharpen and then burnish it? Just burnish it? Is the burnisher the same thing as that round shaft tool that came with my kitchen knife set? 

And you may ask yourself, how do I work this?

 

 

[Eric.]

Talking Heads, love it.

Google the William Ng video on sharpening a card scraper.  I believe Marc also has one.  There are a bunch but those two should be all you need.

You have to square off and polish the edges with a file and stones, then use a burnisher to roll a burr.  The burnisher only has to be harder than the steel of your scraper, but I recommend buying a decent one, regardless.  Screwdrivers don't work.  A drop of oil while burnishing makes a world of difference.

[Gilgaron]

The thing with your knife set is probably a sharpening steel.  It is a bit different, you want a burnisher to be smooth.  I have a HSS burnisher by Crown I got on Amazon that works fine.  I also made one out of a carbide rod I bought, also on Amazon.  Either work about the same on my card scrapers. 

[BonPacific]

My Bahco scraper came with two decent burrs out of four, so don't assume it's going to work well out of the box.

When I was learning to sharpen a scraper I found Matt Cremona's video most useful. I bought a Hock burnisher for it. It's cheaper than the crown, but doesn't have a handle. A handle isn't that important for a burnisher, and you can always turn one or just put a hole in any piece of stock. I trust Hock's brand more than Crown's, YMMV.

[Pwk5017]

Great topic, because i have a set of card scrapers that sit unused because i never bought a burnisher. What about the magical carbide one the schwarz uses?

[Eric.]

I always default to old reliable for stuff like this.  Yeah they're a little expensive.  But so what.  You'll have it the rest of your life and it looks pretty in your tool cabinet.

https://www.lie-nielsen.com/product/handscrapers-carbide-burnisher-

[bleedinblue]

http://www.leevalley.com/us/hardware/page.aspx?p=32633&cat=1,310,41070&ap=1

 

 

[Isaac]

33 minutes ago, Pwk5017 said:

Great topic, because i have a set of card scrapers that sit unused because i never bought a burnisher. What about the magical carbide one the schwarz uses?

The key is how you use it.

 

[JosephThomas]

I have the Narex burnisher, it works great and is affordable:

https://www.amazon.com/Narex-Cabinet-Burnisher-Hornbeam-872401/dp/B01FCWY614/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478142301&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=nare+burnisher

I agree about the William Ng video, it's the best, stick to his simple process and you can avoid expensive burnishers.

 

[Isaac]

That's the one I'll probably get, I've got some nares chisels and rasps, been quite happy with them so far.

[TerryMcK]

I have the Arno Carbur 2 carbide burnisher. It is awesome and comes in a leather pouch so you can keep it in your pocket. http://www.workshopheaven.com/tools/ARNO-Carbur-2-Solid-Carbide-Burnisher.html - Google for it to find out who stocks it in your country.

I also have the Kirschen round burnisher (Two Cherries) and that too is fantastic but a lot cheaper than the Arno. http://www.kirschen.de/en/Special_Scrapers-and-Burnisher_p21.html - again it will be available from a store in the US.

They are not difficult to use and if you watch the William Ng video or the link to the Youtube video shown on Workshop Heaven's website you can see how to use both. William's video also shows you how to use a scraper. 

 

[gee-dub]

I received the Lee Valley one bleedinblue shows and it does fine.  Provide simple consistant results.  Not all my scrapers are straight-edged so after trying things like olg engine valve shafts, old cheap-o Forstner bit shafts (all would gall due to the soft metal) and so on I tried the Lee Valley Tri-Burnisher at a show and got that. 

I now find I use the Tri-Burnisher on any scraper I'm tuning up but, the LV variable Burnisher still gets used enough to earn its space.  The important thing is that the burnisher be reasonably harder than what you are using it on, you use a bit of lubricant to avoid galling and that you get the result you are after.

I do stone my edges and pretty much do as William Ng does aside from not using so much oil.  Like many simple tasks (once you get the hang of them) there is not so much voo-doo as it seems when starting out.

[Barron]

I got mine from Glen-Drake.  It's also a file, so,it does double duty. 

[Immortan D]

i have this Crown burnisher: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001BZZ0PS/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Been using it for the last three years. So far, works well. I mean, the HSS steel it's made from seems to be hard enough for burnishing card scrapers without loosing its shape.

[Tom Cancelleri]

I have the veritas burnisher, and a timberline burnisher. I threw this video together a while back.

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[bleedinblue]

I've bragged on the Veritas burnisher since I got it a few months back, but I tried to use it yesterday and it wouldn't work.  I don't know if the rod is out or place or what.  I'm pretty bummed.  If I don't figure out what's up I'll contact LV.

[derekcohen]

Here is a link to my short pictorial on setting up a card scraper. There is also a link to the most amazing card scraper, which is super easy to sharpen, which you can make for yourself ...

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/WoodworkTechniques/FoolproofSharpeningOfCard(Cabinet)Scraper.html

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Tony Wilkins]

On 11/3/2016 at 5:31 PM, Barron said:

I got mine from Glen-Drake.  It's also a file, so,it does double duty. 

I got one of those too.  Do you use the file side for card scraper duty?

[Pete Staehling]

I had the Veritas burnisher and it didn't work very well for me.  I used it but the results were not that great. It may have been operator error, so I am not knocking the Veritas since it apparently works well for others.  It got misplaced during a move and I needed something right away so I cut the bend off of a largish allen wrench.  I chucked it in a drill and held it against a running belt sander to grind it to round,  Then I used sheets of finer and finer abrasive until it was nicely polished.  I fitted a handle and am happy with the result.  I have actually found it easier to get a decent burr than with the home made one than I did with the Veritas one.

[Pondhockey]

Piggy backing on this topic:  

Any votes for a good #80 cabinet scraper?  As far as I can tell, the options are Lee Valley/Veritas, Kunz, and Wood River.  Reviews of the Kunz are mixed, but indicate a generally useful tool after (maybe a lot of) tuning.  Similar for the Wood River tool.  I haven't found reviews of the Lee Valley/Veritas tool.

[Eric.]

I'd stick with the Veritas or a vintage Stanley. The Veritas is affordable enough that it's hard to make an argument for anything else. It can be a fairly finicky tool...no point in making it worse.

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[Gilgaron]

They're pretty simple tools, not sure what you'd need to or be able to tune.  I have a Veritas and a vintage Stanley.  They perform about the same, the Veritas is heavier and due to the heavier casting in the handles perhaps more comfortable due to this.  You won't tell the difference on the wood.  If it was between Kunz and Wood River I'd lean to the latter just from Kunz's reputation being poorer than Wood River over all. 

You'll use card scrapers more, the #80s only come out when wood is being very difficult to smooth and the alternative would be reaching for the ROS (the horror!). 

[Pondhockey]

Thanks to both of you.  As Eric implies the only Stanley's are "vintage".  I bought a "vintage" Stanley #5 on Ebay and the sole (mouth actually) was buggered up so the sole could no longer be flattened around it.  I'm a bit shy about eBay now.  

And yes, I'm trying to minimize use of the ROS ;-)

[Eric.]

I've actually been considering selling mine...ever since I bought a drum sander I hardly use it anymore.  I use the card scraper a lot during the final stages of sanding, especially around knots and weird grain, curves, etc...but the #80 I used mostly for leveling panels...which a drum sander does in about ten seconds.

But I suppose I couldn't sell it because that's like selling a child.  It does just sit though...

[Chet]

47 minutes ago, Eric. said:

But I suppose I couldn't sell it because that's like selling a child

And that empty spot in your hand tool cabinet would drive your OCD Coo Coo.