I’ve converted old Japanese dovetail saw blades into card scrapers, and I’ve loved the results. I prefer the thinner metal, as it’s easier on the knuckles.

 

Scrapers are tools without equal for working difficult woods to precise shape and flawless surface finish. They are a hand skill. I would recommend you start simple. Just buy one or two rectangular card scrapers. Until you get the hang of sharpening and using them, you will probably use up edges quickly. It helps to have more than one so you can keep going longer between sharpenings. I can't remember the brand names of mine; but they are just a piece of hard steel. Highland Woodworking has a nice selection. You will need a file, whetstone, and a burnisher to sharpen them. Many guys use an 8" mill bastard file. I like a Swiss 2nd cut. Polishing the edge will cut grooves in your whetstones if you aren't careful. Diamond plates hold up best, but you can work with a fine India stone with a little practice making slightly circular motions. Read up on burnishing. The turned burr is fragile, and very small burrs hold up best. Again, it helps to have a couple of scrapers when you are learning to turn a burr. If you screw one up, you don't have to go through all the motions of resharpening the edge, losing all the muscle memory from the first try, before you try again.

Shaped scrapers are sometimes set into a handle called a "scratch stock" to cut fine decorative details. The raised bead on the legs and apron of this Ming table in oak was finished by scraping with a shaped scraper.

 

I bought the set from Peachtree at the wood show about 10 years ago. Never looked back. They work great for me. Have since purchased a cabinet scraper which can be used on veneer as well as flat difficult grained wood. I have used the card scrapers more between the two types, and they fit into areas a cabinet scraper can't.

 

For cleaning old glue joints I use a Sandvik scraper
https://www.woodcraft.com/products/carbide-tipped-pocket-scraper
As far as card scrapers I have a variety of makes, Bahco, Crown.

They are a learning curve tool on now to use and sharpen them. I have two groups dull and sharp, just because when I run low on sharp I prefer to sharpen in batches, kinda dumb but that is my routine.

 

I took an old hand saw and cut it into rectangular 3 x 5 pieces and made card scrapers. You can get 5-8 out one saw. Thinner saws I can see will work better but a regular thickness is fine.

 

I bought the 3 piece set over 10 years ago. ($11 or so.) I think that the scrapers are the same brand. I also bought the burnisher. The burnisher is far more important than the card scrapers themselves.

The only one that I use is the card (Square).

This was not intended to be a lecture on sharpening but that is the way it will turn out. The card scraper is the easiest woodworking tool to sharpen in 3 steps.
1 ~ Use a file to straighten the edge.
2 ~ Use a file to remove any existing burr on the edge.
3 ~ Use a burnisher to re-establish the burr along the edge.
You're done.

A burnisher can be a automotive valve stem, the shank of a Philips head screwdriver, etc. However a purpose made burnisher is the best choice. With the scraper in a woodworking vise, run the burnisher over the edge of the scraper holding the burnisher at about 75° angle (or 15° from horizontal) to the card scraper. Usually 3 or 4 passes with the burnisher are all that is required. Turn the scraper L to R and do it again. You now have two scraping edges. Eventually flip the card and do the other edge the same way.

It is the hook that you burnish into the scraper that does all the work and smoothing. The bigger the hook, the more aggressive the scraping and smoothing. The more effort or pressure that you apply, burnishing, the more aggressive the hook. Which brings us to the purpose made burnisher.

Almost all burnishers are just a round hardened steel rod. There are a few burnishers out there that when looking at the end are almost the shape of an egg. They are shaped like three spherical triangles. The narrowest triangle side will yield the most aggressive hook while the widest triangle side will give the smallest hook.

Why the three spherical triangles? As you are burnishing the edges of your scraper, you build up something called muscle memory. With the same effort and same downward pressure you can create low, medium and full hook angles. More importantly all the hook angles become consistent from sharpening to sharpening.

The edge of a scraper is similar to a capital letter "P". As you drag the the scraper across the wood, it is the hook that does all the work. The full hook is the most aggressive while the low hook yields the finest surface.

OK, go for it and let us know about your results.

 

Rich, you nailed it. Excellent post on the scraper and burnisher. The only thing I do different is too run the scraper edge over a diamond stone after draw filing.
mike

 

I recommend you to use DFM Blue Curved Cabinet Scraper Card Set. I am also using it.