[Woodcarver] cleaner cuts.

[Joe Dillett]

I have seen those "furniture scrapers" listed on ebay and elsewhere.  Could
those work in the burnishing/rubbing/cutting until smooth method?  I have
never even held them but I was wondering if these would work to smooth out
the course areas.

Arnie
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Hi Arnie,

Scraping is very different than burnishing. Burnishing you are compressing 
the fibers down into the wood, smashing them until they are even. Scraping 
is exactly like it says, actually removing wood by scraping/planning over 
the surface. A scraper is sharpened to a nice burnished edge or for heavy 
scraping ground to leave a heavy burr. One pass with a scraper will raise a 
nice bunch of shavings.

My 'Ask Joe' column of Carving Magazine, Issue 12, pages 38 & 39, I write 
about scrapers made from putty knives. A putty knife only costs about a buck 
and has decent steel to grind scrapers. I show several different profiles 
that I use and how to use them. Scrapers are very handy when doing patterns 
where all tool marks must be removed. Scraping is much faster than sanding 
and can get into those hard to get at places.

I never do any burnishing. One demonstration I do for my students is take 
several species of wood and burnish half of each piece until it is nice and 
shiny. Than I dampen the pieces with a cloth and quickly dry them. The 
burnished areas are gone, no shine and no longer smooth. All those 
compressed fibers are no longer compressed. On a finished piece the sealer 
protects those compressed fibers somewhat from moisture but not 100%. In 
time all the effects of burnishing will be gone.


Joe Dillett
The Carving Shop
645 E. LaSalle St. Suite 3
Somonauk, IL. 60552
(815) 498-9290 phone
(815) 498-9249 fax
http://www.thecarvingshop.com
jdillett at thecarvingshop.com
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