I am buiding shelves and Cabinets for my library and I will have several large solid cherry counter tops. When I get ready to finish the tops I had planned to use regular hand held cabinet scrapers. As I get older and the arthritis in my hands gets worse it becomes harder and harder to use a hand held scraper.
This has gotten me thinking about using a scraper plane either Lie Nielsen or Veritas. My assumption is that it will be a lot easier on my hands but I am wondering about the results. Is there a difference in the results between the two kinds of scrapers. I am interested in the quality of the finish as well as the amount of time and effort.
Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated as well as recommendations on the choice between LN and LV Scraper Planes.
Thanks
Carl B.
Replies
The Veritas scraper plane is definitely easier on your hands than a card scraper. It can leave a very consistent surface, as long as you have it adjusted properly. The quickest way to adjust is to take out the blade, scrape by hand to see which angle works best, and reinstall at that angle. Minor tweaks from there will make it sing.
It keeps the curlies coming long after I'd have needed to resharpen my card scrapers. I can't compare with L-N.
Edited 3/7/2009 3:25 pm by AlanWS
Carl,
The hand held scraper will leave a better surface, but not one as flat as that left by the scraper plane. The scraper plane can remove a lot of material in a short time, so it easily wins the speed contest. The scraper plane is quite demanding as to technique, or it will chatter. I find I need to use almost no downward pressure and little slower stroke than I would use with a bench plane. I have owned several scraper planes by different makers and the only one worth anything is the Lee Valley (at least for me).
Rob Millard
http://www.americanfederalperiod.com
Rob
Have you tried any of the Lie Nielsen scraper planes?Greg
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Greg,
I bought the No. 85 when it first came out. I did not like it and sold it on Ebay, for only $7.00 less than I paid for it.
I found the very thick blade unsuited for scraping, but others have good results with them.
Rob Millardhttp://www.americanfederalperiod.com
I've used only card and cabinet scrapers -- the LV cabinet scraper doesn't trouble my arthritis much -- so I can't really comment on scraper planes. However, you might be interested in the new LV small scraper plane with adjustable grip due out soon:
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/showthread.php?t=25752&highlight=veritas+scraper
Jim
Interesting plane. Would like to see more detail on the blade itself. It may be just right for stringing but require a lot of re-hone for general, which, for me makes a card scraper more useful.Nice drawbore - for those who have everything.Boiler
Hi Boiler
I think that you will love this one for stringing. It fits snugly intio your hand and feels like an extension. It is perfect for fine, small scale finishing.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Hi Derek,Thanks and I'll put it on my want list. Hate the LN Plane scraper and seem to have a lot more trouble with the LN card scrapers relative to some old Sandviks. Maybe they are too hard. I tend to use the Sandviks more. The LNs end up in the drawer.Boiler
It occurs to me that I might have been talking at cross purposes since "cabinet scraper" means different things to different people. I have fairly painful arthritis, and now use a LV holder when using what I call a card scraper -- the basic rectangular piece of metal that some call a cabinet scraper. The LV cabinet scraper http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&cat=1,310&p=46266 has handles that make it much easier to hold, and I find it relatively painless. It should be possible to pad the handles for even greater comfort and a better grip. It produces comparable results to a card scraper, though it can be adjusted to take a bigger bite. My apologies if you already knew all this.
Jim
I use both, and I like both (I have the LV plane), but you will find that the scraper plane is a different beast at first, so get some experience with it on a test piece of the wood you are building with. In my case, the plane is much more aggressive than the hand-held (or holder-held) scraper, and chatter was an early problem for me as well.I learned to tame mine by (1) rounding the corners of the blade to eliminate the tracks that I was leaving at the edge (the blade isn't as bent or curved as much in the plane, as in your hand), and (2) setting that initial "depth" of the blade while resting the plane on a sheet of glass. (I THINK that I got that tip from Derrick (Derec? Derick?) Cohen. Anyway, it works for me), and 3) leaning the blade a bit forward before setting the depth of cut. I find that leaning the blade forward seems to me to increase the depth of cut (I'll probably get some correction on this point.Mike D
Edited 3/8/2009 4:20 pm ET by Mike_D
I owned the LN 112. It was the only tool I own from LN (I have most of them) that I didn't like. In fact, I sold it last year. It was too finnicky for me, and difficult to keep working at optimum performance for any extended period of time.
I have the Lee Valley version of the #80 cabinet scraper, and use it frequently. It is a good tool, and has a larger bed surface than the original #80, which helps it work well at the end of the board without leaving track marks. I paid around $50 for it, and it has been worth every penny.
Jeff
I have a L-N cabinet maker's scraper plane. But I still prefer the card scrapers or, as a second choice, an old Stanley 80. The L-N's differ from the card scraper and the Stanley 80 in that they have thick blades that are generally used to literally scrape the surface as opposed to the thin-bladed variety that cut the surface with a burnished hook. There's definately a learning curve with the thick iron scraper planes. I find I like the thin-bladed, burnished edge versions better. YMMV.
You may want to consider something like a Stanley 12 or a card scraper holder like the one at Lee Valley as an option to the L-N. IMHO, these give you the benefits of a card scraper while reducing or eliminating the sore thumb issues.
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
Hi Mike
You may be interested in this comparison I did of thick and thin blades for the #112.
http://www.inthewoodshop.com/WoodworkTechniques/Thick%20verses%20thin%20112%20Scraper%20Plane%20blades.html
Regards from Perth
Derek
Thanks. I think you posted that link some time ago and I read it then.
The L-N cab scraper is fashioned so that the bed angle of the blade is set, and not adjustable. So you have to turn the hook to exactly the proper angle or the thing is simply hopeless. I assume the #112 makes things a bit easier since you can adjust the blade to work with the hook you wind up with. For some reason, the #80 with the thin, hooked blade, seems to work better for me despite the lack of adjustability.
Maybe it's just a matter of taking more time to learn how to turn the hook for the L-N so it works well at the set angle.
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
I own the large Lie-Neilsen scraper plane. Took awhile to get the hang of getting shavings rather than sawdust with it. I still get better results from my old Stanley #80 using the thin Stanley blade that came with it. I got to take the LV scraper plane for a test drive a couple of months ago. Worked really well. Both the LN and LV allow for adjusting the angle the blade is held at to get the best result possible from the plane. Like the Stanley #80, the LV scraper plane also allows you to flex the blade within the plane which results in a better cut. If I had it to do over, I would buy the LV scraper plane over the LN.
gdblake
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