My daughter Katherine and I have just completed shooting and editing a short and free video on how I sharpen a card scraper. This technique works for both curved and rectangular scrapers.
This video shows a slightly easier way to deal with the faces of the card scraper. Several years ago when I started studying the burnishing of wood and other organic materials, I started wondering if a carbide burnisher was able to smooth and polish steel to the degree that fine sharpening stones do.
After a few years of experimentation with this technique, I have concluded that it works. And it works really well. I have stopped stoning the faces of my scrapers. So now my technique is to:
- Burnish the faces of the scraper to fold any hook or burr up onto the edge of the scraper.
- Stone the edge with a #1,000-grit waterstone to remove the fatigued metal and to cut a square and sharp arris (aka a corner). Then polish the edge with a #5,000-grit waterstone.
- Burnish the faces of the scraper to polish the steel faces and start deforming the metal up to the edge to make the cutting hook easier to turn.
- Burnish the edge with the burnisher parallel to the floor and edge of the tool.
- Tilt the burnisher 7° to 10° to turn the cutting hook.
After sharpening hundreds of edges, I can report that the burnisher polishes the steel like a mirror. And the edge continues to improve with every sharpening as the polish improves on the faces of the tool.
I haven’t tried this with high-speed steel (HSS) burnishers, only the carbide ones. So feel free to experiment yourself. I suspect the HSS burnishers will work fine, as long as they are harder than the steel in the scraper.
If you want to see still photos of the process, visit this page we created.
If you want to make your own card scraper with a curved edge, visit this page.
You can buy the Crucible Curved Card Scraper here in our store.
You can buy the ARNO burnisher we use here.
— Christopher Schwarz
Nice video. Seems like I remember a video or article of yours from years ago where you recommended applying pressure to the burnisher ‘as if you were buttering toast’. I thought was crazy but when I tried it it resulted in a fine hook that lasted quite a while longer than I was used to.
You seem to be pressing harder this time around. Is that a change of tactics? Perhaps a harder card scraper? Just wondering.
When I am burnishing the faces, yes. I press hard. When turning the hook, then “butter on bread” is about right.
Awesome! I’ve been waiting for this video. I was planning on brining my Crucible scraper and burnisher to Handworks and asking you there.
This is very kind of you.
Excellent!
I have always used my saw jointer to flatten the edge. I will be tiring the stone thing cause I can see the benefit. I did not know about the (butter the bread) thing. I always press the hell out of it. This is why I look to you for stuff I didn’t know I needed to know. Thanks for that.
I’ve always used a file, with pretty inconsistent results, sometimes nice sometimes not. I’m pretty stoked to leave the file in the toolbox and go to the stones. Thanks Chris and Katherine.
I’ve been using this technique since I saw you demonstrate it in London last year, and have been in equal measure astounded and delighted with how easy it is and how well it works. Previous attempts at turning a hopok on scrapers were always hit-and-miss, and even when successful were not as consistently good as the results I now get.
And the Crucible scraper is very much the cherry on that cake – I love it so much that I’ve since bought two spares! Not that I expect to ever wear out my first one, but tools can be mislaid or otherwise lost, and should that ever happen, I want to be able to just reach down and get another one out of a drawer …
Mattias
The presentation and content are great, looking forward to any additional videos you care to put out. The information as per usual saves a lot of headaches.
Random question: what kind of watch is that?
Regular old Timex Scout Expedition.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Timex-Men-s-Expedition-Scout-Green-Watch-Nylon-Strap/34971383?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&&adid=22222222227025050693&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=40879619912&wl4=pla-78808436072&wl5=9014423&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=34971383&veh=sem&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIj6T5ma_16gIVgZ-zCh1YlAsbEAQYAiABEgL3tPD_BwE
The Arris…….great name for a pub! ……provided that it’s on a, well…you know….an arris.
As a woodworker with Rheumatoid Arthritis, let me say I love my Crucible card scraper. It is the only scraper I’ve ever had any success with. It’s great to finally be able to use a card scraper with my crooked hands. Thanks, Chris.
Chris, I have struggled with card scrapers for years and had pretty much given up on them. I had bought jigs and watched everything on YouTube without any luck.
I watched your video yesterday and decided to give it a try. In ten minutes I had polished the edges, turned the hooks and finally got to experience how useful a card scraper is.
Thank you!
The burnisher you use has two edges – a rounded edge and a more pointed edge.
You use only the the rounded edge…. what’s the other side for and when do you use it?
The pointed one is used rarely for super-hard scrapers.