I got one of these well over 50 years ago after the first day of hand scraping a maple floor that was about 1000 sq feet. I was bemoaning my lot in the pub that night and displayed the state of my burned thumbs when a fellow at the bar left, only to return a few minutes later with a #80. It cost me a pint of beer and I use it to this day! A contact at the pub also came up with about 50 lbs of hardened tempered spring steel which I have put to all sorts of uses over the years, but mainly for replacing back saw blades and scrapers. I have always known the burnishing rod as a 'Ticketer' .... from the sound it makes in use
I've watched alot of vids on this topic and struggled with turning the edge. Finally you told us that 60 degees + - is the sweet spot. I ran out to my bench and followed your method and I ht it the first time. Your explanation is reduced to perfection. Finally, I know how !! Thank you Frank !! Would love to see your method for a fox wedged mortice and tenon by hand and a machined sliding tapered dovetail. You rock SIr .
Awesome! Glad it worked! I don't know of this machine tapered sliding dovetail you speak of, this is foreign! LOL actually it's so easy to do it by hand it would take me longer to set up a machine to do it!
Excellent video. I learned a lot I noticed you picked up the rear of the scraper on your return then you explained way things like that really helps out . Looking forward to more videos
Frank, your videos are so valuable. After all these years, I still pick up new details and nuances in technique by watching your demonstrations. I’m off to my shop now to try to master (or at least to improve) my cabinet scraper skills. Todd
Frank, waited til I had time to sit down and watch. I think I asked for this one a few years ago. Didn't disappoint! LOL! Learned some new stuff along the way. Explaining the why of the process definitely a win! Will rewatch after setting up my bench. Would like to see how this works on Maple with figured grain? Thanks!
@@strazzafurniture I practiced it about two dozen times on some scrap wood then I made a beautiful little tea table using that joint to join bloodwood legs to a quartersawn white oak table top. I used 6 tapered sliding dovetail joints and 4 through mortise and tenons. I sold that for 60 dollars which I very much regret. Last winter I built an entire work bench using the same joints but with much cheaper lumber. I only started working with wood in fall of 2017 and by fall of 2019 I built the tea table using the joint you taught me. I'm incredibly grateful for the videos you post.
Thank you for all you do to educate us. I have been struggling to get an old cabinet scraper working and this video was spot on what I need. Can't wait to go through the setup.
Thank you! I will be teaching at different venues across the country this year, here is a link to see where I will be teaching, www.strazzafurniture.com/teaching-schedule-2024.html
Thanks for this! I have one of the newer models. What makes the older models more preferable other than aesthetics? Are they easier to set up because of the difference in thumbscrews?
HI Jim, honestly I just prefer the sweetheart models because the thumb screws are easier to tighten as opposed to the slotted screws in the back for holding the blade in place. I also find that the steel tends to be a bit more substantial on the older ones and also the tensioning screw is a bit thicker if I recall. however the newer one is going to work just fine.
@@strazzafurniture sharpened them up. They work as advertised. Showed them off to my woodworker neighbor. Now I have 3 more to sharpen! Sometimes show & tell backfires.
Frank, better than the 'ruler trick' is simply to apply one layer of electrical tape the the back face of the scraper blade about and inch and half up from the edge. That provides a very small angle, much lower than the ruler trick and also it is much more manageable because the angle is going to be exactly the same no matter how many times you lift the scraper blade up to check it. Using the ruler is cumbersome and inconsistent. Works well on plane blades too. The electrical tape slides over the diamond stone without breaking up or clogging etc.
Ahh this is a great tip, I haven't thought of that but it makes sense. I personally don't like to use the ruler because of your reasons, I only use it as a last ditch effort. I did find tho that using the .0025 shim stock enables me to not have to use the shim stock once I get the back flat. It's just enough raise it up to flatten the back but then subsequent work on the back can be done with pressure alone and not the use of the .0025 shim stock.
@@strazzafurniture Yes, the electrical tape is just the right thickness to create that microscopic back bevel. And it stays in place as it's on the blade itself. I often mark a line for it with a sharpie so next time I can stick fresh tape in the exact spot again. Thanks so much for your great videos. I just found a Stanley #80 here in Australia and snapped it up. Looking forward to tuning and using it. My 71 year old fingers don't like card scrapers at all any more.
Alright! At 10:20 you start yanking water . No fair. Bringing your son into the equation, training him to follow you in this excellence you teach; its over the top... it wouldn't have been so bad, but he is LOVING IT! Look at his face! He is energetic! Exultant! as he polishes that blade. What father wouldn't dream of his own son to follow his Dad in his footsteps like this? I guess this will need downloading and make an album labeled" This is how woodworking should be taught" Thank you for preserving the correct method of creating heirloom pieces of furniture even if there is no electricity!
Thank you so much for the kind words. I hope he sticks with it. He is really good at cutting marquetry on the frame saw, I should post a video of him doing that. His eyes are so much better then mine!
Thank you for this! I've been curious about this tool and how to best use it. Now I not only understand it, but I have a good idea how to tune it, sharpen it and use it! Thank you for your clear and understandable delivery of all this information.
Thanks for writing and glad the video was helpful, best of luck getting your scraper perfectly sharp but more importantly getting a beautiful surface and lovely shavings!
Hello Frank, thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. I found the video very helpful. Hope to see more videos from you regarding traditional hand tool woodworking. Thankfully new comers have masters like you and Mr. Sellers to teach the old ways so that this knowledge and art are not lost. Looking forward to more videos. New subscriber.
Excellent tutorial, as usual.Learned some things I was not aware of. The one thing you didn't explain was whether that piece of wood could be turned around to scrape the other end. Also I was informed that skewing scraper at start of stroke helps to engage edge. Am I ill informed?
Ahh yes, I intentionally don't go off the end because you don't get as good a surface, So I do just simply turn the board around to finish the other end. I should have mentioned that in the video. Also skewing it at the start of the stroke is excellent as well. Looks like I need to do a follow up video to cover these subtleties! Thanks for pointing that out!
Thanks for the video. Great content. When you use the ruler trick to flatten the back, don’t you need to use the shim for all subsequent steps?. It looked like you used the shim with the first grit and left it out for the final polish. Seems like the angle would be off.
Good catch! typically you would have to if you were using a thicker ruler, in this case I am using a shim stock that is .0025 its so subtle that after I get the back where I need it, I can simply apply pressure without the shim stock and I've found it works just fine.
What are the specific differences between the old cabinet scrapers and the new cabinet scrapers? Usually innovation makes things better while cost cutting destroys them, but as you mentioned with the screws, is it a functional issue (like the screws, but those can be remedied easily) or an ergonomic issue, or something else?
Hey Frank. Since you’re stopping before the end of the board as you’re taking shaving do you then go from your stopping point and off the board completely to smooth the entire surface of the board?
Frank, or anyone else for that matter, I tried to burnish my finished edge and the edge began to break off! Is the blade too hard? What might be the issue?
Ok so the only thing I would suspect is that you are putting too much pressure as you go up to 60 degrees. you can put a fair amount of pressure when you are at 45 degrees but as you increase the angle of the burnisher, lighten up the pressure significantly as you approach 60, don't go past 60 if anything go less, it doesn't take much if the edge has been prepared properly prior. hope that helps, You will have to go back to the file probably to rehone the edge now.
@@druggedoutpennokio9699 thank you so much for the kind words. A friend actually did start a go fund me, but ended up turning it off, because we exceeded the goal. Thank you for your support.
@@johnnykempo I can put an edge on the ool in about three minutes, the video is long because I’m explaining the entire process. The tool works amazing once you develop the skill to be able to sharpen and use it.
