There was a FWW article or video on making custom molding, using a thin piece of steel with the profile cut into the edge.
Where do you get the steel for the scraper, I mean, what’s it called? What’s the best tool for cutting the profile into the steel?
Janet
Replies
You can cut up an old sawblade, or any similar piece of steel, such as an old card scraper. It's also possible to buy some precut shapes, and blanks, like these from LV: http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=32679&cat=1,41182 . Personally I prefer steel slightly thicker than the LV Veritas, but they do work. I shape the homemade ones with files, so as not to overheat the metal. Lie-Nielsen sells a thicker, more expensive set with more elaborate instructions as to using them: http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?grp=1224
Jim
You need a tool steel that can hold an edge. An ordinary card scraper would be fine. You can shape it with a grinder, sander and/or files.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
I've forgotten the name of the tool that looks like a comb, but the teeth move, and you push it against a form to duplicate its shape. Is that what you use to determine how to cut the scraper?Janet
It's called a profile gauge. Most of them, even the metal ones, aren't fine enough for the purpose. You typically use a beading tool to scrape out shallow, small coves, beads etc. for which a profile gauge would be overkill. It's quite easy to trace out a design freehand, or to use something like a drillbit shaft to outline part of a circle, or even just to trust the shape of the file to give you the profile. For larger, more elaborate profiles in wood, you would normally use a molding plane rather than a beading tool.
Jim
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