Sunday, September 4, 2011

When All Else Fails

Reach for a cabinet scraper.

Because I rarely work with ornery wood, this tool does not see much action in my shop. But when you're working with a species that won't play nice, the cabinet scraper is your best friend.

A neighbor asked if I would make some striped discs of wood for a jewelry project she's working on. So I glued up a bunch of exotic wood strips and planned to plane the laminated board to thickness once the glue dried.

Sometimes even a well-tuned and sharp handplane can't handle the likes of Chakte Viga.

You can use a card scraper for small projects like this, but a cabinet scraper keeps your work flat and prevents your thumbs from being set ablaze.

And it can save you from some frustrating scrapes.

9 comments:

Mark Hunt said...

I like the contrasting stripes, what are the other woods used?

Kari Hultman said...

Mark, the woods are from top to bottom: chakte viga (difficult to work with, but an absolute stunner), ziricote, yellowheart, bloodwood, holly, and cocobolo.

Mark Hunt said...

Thanks.

Anonymous said...

That first photo has to be one of the best adverts for using a scraper I've seen!! And, the shavings are so colourful they're almost as beautiful as the finished disc!

Come here Stanley #80, you and I are going to get better acquainted we are.

Cheers,
Stephen Ruddock
New Zealand

Marilyn in Seattle said...

I've had a tuff time figuring out how use this tool (being a beginner is so fun sometime .. NOT!) But on my latest project I've started to have some success with it. It seems like such a simple tool, but for me its been a struggle.

Kari Hultman said...

Stephen, thanks for the chuckle. :D I hope you and your #80 have a nice date night.

Marilyn, if you go to Lee Valley's site and search cabinet scraper, there is "Instr" listed beside the item number (before the price). These are the instructions I follow when I set mine up. To seat the blade, I lay the tool on a flat surface and tighten the knurled screws so the blade is flush with the sole. When you tighten the thumbscrew, it deflects the blade and it drops a little bit beneath the sole.

RONW said...

btw, do you sign your work.

Kari Hultman said...

Ron, the only thing I've signed is my tool cabinet.

Elise Lowerison said...
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