Richard I've been turning for a few years and still consider myself a beginner, I love your videos, no rambling introductions just right down to business with clear and easy to follow content, thank you !
Ever since you've been posting masterclasses on RU-vid, I've converted two of my hefty skews into scrapers! After watching this, I'll make a spear point chisel 😊
I really enjoy your videos very much! Great info from a true woodturning legend, put forth concisely and without distractions and annoying music. Please keep up the great work!!!!!
Hello mr. Raffan and thanks for this video. I am in Italy: scraping here is very frown upon. Basically a second grade way of working compared to gauge cutting, being cutting with a gauge is sharper and cleaner… I started woodturning about one year ago, so I am way too at the beginning to have whatever strong opinion… sometimes it seems to me a bit of a fad. To me scraping seems a whole world of opportunities, your pieces seems extremely well and fastly done, with a well refined finishing. This is why I am eager to understand better how you use scrapers.
A properly sharpened scraper is in fact a cutting tool and makes shavings instead of dust. You can see very fine shavings being produced at 6:12 in this video, and the surface produced is very good. Tomislav Tomasic has an excellent video on sharpening a shear scraper, which I highly recommend. -Doc Green NC/USA
I have a set of cheap skews and I’ve really got to liking the skew for spindle work, so once I upgrade the current ones will be my shear scrapers! They double as negative take scrapers now quite often 🤣
Hello from France. I watch your videos with great interest. I learn a lot of things thanks to you. can you tell me your sharpening angle? and the tip angle of your tools? Thank you very much and good day. Yves.
Hi Richard. I don't have any shear scrapers but I'm about to make me a couple after watching Mike Peace's video on making your own scrapers. Mike said he cut his nose angle at 45 deg. but that looks to be a sharper angle than on your standard shear scraper. Could I ask what the approximate nose angle is on yours? I realize it has a slight radius so just approximate would be great. Thank you, Tim
I'd start with the edge skewed about 15°-20° and a bevel of 45°. Ongoing grinding tends to increase the skewed angle and every few months I find myself taking it back towards 20°. You can shear scrape with any scraper, but my preferred size is a 1"x ¼".
Richard, I like they way you include things such as catches in you videos. They emphasis what not to do as well as why they happen. Thank you for sharing 11:03 these great videos.
Probably the most watched and appreciated use of any turning tool, the ‘dreaded’ scraper, the skew possibly runs a close second. Thank you for this demonstration, well worth watching. Greetings from Tasmania Australia 👍😁🇦🇺🦘
Perfect! Thank you. My only problem now is that as I progressed through the video I went back and forth from "definitely making a skewed shear scraper!" to "nope, definitely making a spear point". So now I guess I'll have to go root out a couple of semi-retired tools from their attic slumber and make one of each.
You answered my question about drying difficult wood about a week ago. I just wanted to say thanks again for taking the time to answer me. After I got your reply, I looked at the rough turnings, and the ones with thicker bottoms were the ones with splits. I will be taking more care when rough turning from now on.
I use tilted shear scrapers a lot now since I watched your first video on them. I don't have a spear point though. I will in a few mins tho. Thanks. Debs
For shear scraping the tool is tilted up and on edge, so the handle is usually below horizontal. Whereas if you're scraping with a scraper flat on the rest, the important thing is to keep the angle between the surface you're scraping and the top of the tool (or upper bevel with negative rake scrapers) at less than 90 degrees. On a flat surface this means the tool blade is usually tilted down below horizontal.
Excellent demonstration and info. I've got a couple of cheap skews from when I first started, and no longer use, I'm going to take your advice and turn them into scrapers and make use of them, I like the idea of your usual scraper, and also the spear point.
Great info, I remember when I did my post trade woodturning course "real woodturners did not use scrapers" how things have changed, ( for the better ) Henry Taylor still list Richard Raffin signature scrapers
Finally got to it after watching this video last week. I ground a decent cryo m2 steel 1" scraper this morning into a shear scraper and I find it very easy to use now, since shear scraping is a very light touch technique. Great suggestion!
Thanks Richard for this overview. I too have been using scrapers a lot more since watching your videos. I know you freehand sharpen these but would you mention the bevel angles once again for us new people. Also does lathe speed come into play when using these tools in shear scraping? Thanks again.
Thank you so much Richard! A great demonstration and close look at your scrapers and how/when to use which one. I am actually looking to do exactly what you suggested and turn an old skew into a scraper. Thank you!
Thank-you. This was very helpful. To date, I've only used the square and rounded scrapers; this really shows how a spearpoint scraper could be quite useful.
I was able to secure a brand new Henry Talyor Richard Raffan radiused scraper and it has become my go to for shaping and refining those surfaces! Really appreciate you and all you have done for our craft!
A negative rake scraper has two bevels, rather like a skew chisel. I regard them as a waste of a good scraper (which has a single bevel). To obtain a negative rake, simply ensure the scraper blade is tilted below horizontal. The angle between the top of the tool and the surface you're turning needs to be less than 90°.
Typically I use tools straight off my 80 CBN wheel and hone with a coarse hone unless the wood is particuarly hard like cocobolo, Arican blackwood or gidgee or Cooktown ironwood.
