There are two kinds: the hand scraper, which you hold directly in your hand and the cabinet scraper, which is held in a cast iron body that has a flat sole and two handles. Both scrapers are misnamed because they don't scrape the wood at all but rather slice very thin shavings.
These scrapers fit a category of hand tools that almost totally disappeared from use in the United States as a result of our love affair with power machinery. Recently, scrapers have begun returning to favor. When I was introduced to the scraper in the mid-1970s, I was taught to use the hand scraper to remove cured runs and sags in wood finish and to cut back and level a finish rapidly in order to create a mirror-flat surface. The hand scraper cuts off ribbons of finish far faster than sandpaper can scratch the finish off. It doesn't gum up the way sandpaper does and it's more economical.
A scraper is to sandpaper what a word processor is to a typewriter. I've never known a woodworker who learned to use a scraper, or a writer a word processor, who wanted to go back. Scrapers and word processors both increase efficiency many times over. True woodworkers would rather make shavings than sawdust anyway.
To use the hand scraper, hold it between the thumb and forefingers of both hands at an angle of about 50 to 70 degrees above the wood surface or until you feel the burr on the scraper edge catch. Then push it away from you or pull it toward you, cutting a ribbonlike shaving as you go. You can also shift one hand to the reverse position and scrape sideways, perpendicular to your body. If dust is your only product, the scraper is dull.
When you push the scraper, it will tend to bow out slightly in the middle from the pressure of your thumbs. This will create a slightly convex edge and almost imperceptible hollows in the surface you're scraping. This unevenness could show up under a finish. You should sand out these hollows or scrape them flat using one of the other hand positions, scraping toward you or sideways. But pushing the scraper is the most effective way to remove the most wood. To keep the scraper from heating up, turn it often to another edge. If the scraper gets too hot to hold, set it aside and let it cool for a moment.
The cabinet scraper cuts the same way as the hand scraper. However, the cabinet scraper has a flat sole, which makes it easier to maintain a level surface. It's particularly useful when you want to even the raised edges of glued-up boards that didn't come together flat. Begin by scraping off the greater part of the raised edge. Next scrape diagonally across the grain, alternating from a left diagonal to a right diagonal until the top is flat. Then scrape a few passes with the grain. A light sanding and the panel is ready to finish.
Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Tools