David K

I'm new to scrapers, but I've been trying a lot of stuff. My project involves 30 flat panels of quarter-sawn white oak. The ones that are 5" wide are cut from boards of that width (resawn, so each door has a matched partner on the other side of the center stile). The panels that are wider were made by resawing a board, 'booking' and gluing to make a panel that's planed to 1/4" (with a 12" Delta planer). Because I'm booking, half of these wider panels will always have grain that's facing the 'wrong' direction in the planer, so has little chip-outs that I have to sand or plane out. I've been using a random-orbit sander to hog out most of the work, then using a scraper before staining.

The card scraper gives me little sections that look great, but I left marks perpendicular to the grain where I dug in too deep. After staining, it looked so bad I sanded it out to start over.

I next tried a Lie-Nielsen scraper plane, and the instructions said not to put a burr on the blade. They claim it becomes 'too aggressive'. When I used it as directed I made dust, and didn't see much change in the wood. The Woodcraft Store manager says he puts a burr in that plane, so I tried it. The first burr was way too aggressive, and left a very rough surface. My second effort was a gentle burr, and I get shavings that look they came off a plane. Although the wood looks a lot better than a sanded surface, it feels rough. I went back to the card scraper for the final surface, and it feels better. It looks pretty good after staining, except when I mess up and leave another card-scar. I thought that if I set up the Lie-Nielsen properly (and use it properly) there'd be no need for the hand-card scraper. What am I doing wrong?

woodnthings

But I am really glad you mentioned this: "
"The panels that are wider were made by resawing a board, 'booking' and gluing to make a panel that's planed to 1/4" (with a 12" Delta planer). Because I'm booking, half of these wider panels will always have grain that's facing the 'wrong' direction in the planer, so has little chip-outs that I have to sand or plane out."
I've made a bunch of book matched panels but I run mine thru a dual drum sander and haven't experienced the chip out you have because of that. I didn't even think about the grain direction until you mentioned it, and you are 100% correct. Can you get your panels to a wide belt or drum sander, and avoid this problem? bill

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Never stand directly in front of a horse or tablesaw that's running!
If you're not making dust, you're gathering it. After I reread my own posts, I agree with myself even more.