Glass. That’s right, glass. I use a piece of fresh cut glass as a scraper. When one “edge” gets dull, I either flip the piece over, or just cut a new edge. You can go to your local Glass Shop and ask for their “scraps”, and they would probally give them away. You can also “profile” the edge to match the shape that you are scraping. Push or pull the piece, whichever works the best on what you are working on.
Discussion Forum
Get It All!
UNLIMITED Membership is like taking a master class in woodworking for less than $10 a month.
Start Your Free TrialCategories
Discussion Forum
Digital Plans Library
Member exclusive! – Plans for everyone – from beginners to experts – right at your fingertips.
Highlights
-
Shape Your Skills
when you sign up for our emails
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. -
Shop Talk Live Podcast -
Our favorite articles and videos -
E-Learning Courses from Fine Woodworking
-
-
Replies
white dog ,
Yup , been using it for years .
Learned about it when restoring , repairing furniture .
The glass can and does crumble and break out in little pieces so ,
Eye protection is a must other then that you can shave minute amounts as needed with easy control unlike steel scrapers .
regards dusty
Yep. And if you cut the glass right, coves are easy to scrape smooth. I used wide pieces to smooth oak table tops. When one side got "dull", I just flip it around ( or over) and had a "fresh" sharp edge ready to go.
Yep.
Also, I read in one of the woodworking magazines "tips" (this one?) that a freshly cut 3" square of glass, hot glued to a small block of wood in the center, makes a great tool for shaving off varnish drips and sags without ruining the surrounding finish. Just lay the glass square on the surface, grab the "handle" and shave the drip or sag away - darned thing actually works!
Mike D
p.s. When I was a boy, my Dad or an uncle showed me that broken glass makes a great shaping tool when you are doing any sort of wood carving. I wanted to modify a rifle stock to have a slimmer pistol grip and was making a mess of it with chisels and blades. The broken glass was way slower, but far more controlled, and I ended up with a good end result.
It sounds way too crude, but in fact there are places where it is just the ticket. Wear gloves and glasses, by the way - it's sharp and it does spall off little sharp pieces on occasion.
Buy a box of glass "slides" for lab microscope use. Cheap, sharp and disposable I have been using them on and off for years.
the old shomakers would use glass as a scraper to smooth the edges of leather soles and heels. They would slightly dampen the leather and scrape away till you got a glass smooth finish. Shoe makin and woodworking do share some techniques.
"...or just cut a new edge..."
So let me get this straight - obtaining a fresh cutting edge from the pieces of glass you're using as a scraper entails cutting the glass to obtain said fresh edge?
And you find this more efficient and effective than a regular metallic scraper?
eh-yep.
Oddly enough, "zip......snap....use" is slightly faster than "clamp, file, unclamp, hone, face burnish, reclamp, edge burnish & set hook, unclamp....use"
:)
Oh, and just to be a wise-**s, it uses two fewer tools, too.
:))
Can you sharpen a glass scraper with a diamond stone?Chris @ http://www.flairwoodworks.com and http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)
- Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
You could I guess but why bother when a fresh broken edge is sharper? There are lots of references to old timers using glass to smooth wood. My grandfather told me his father made all manner of tool handles and implements on their farm and always shaved them with a bit of broken glass to finish them.<!----><!----><!---->
I guess it proves yet again you don’t need a shop full of expensive tools to make anything. (I just never did understand how those Hall brothers built all that great furniture and interiors for the Greene and Greene houses without carbide bits, A2 steel or diamond hones…)<!----><!---->
Hi Napie ,
You know , when HS tool Steel cutters are sharp and honed they cut every bit as well if not smoother than Carbide.
They don't stay sharp as long as Carbide in most cases but steel can give great results .
regards dusty
picture of a few old steel collar knives
No doubt! I have some HS steel cutters and knives (with collars) for my little ½” shaper that are still going strong. And just look at all that beautiful work the Townsends and Goddard’s did and all they had was “cast” steel often backed with wrought iron. How did they ever get by…. <!----><!----><!---->
I guess they got by because they didn't know any other way.
I can relate
Dusty,That's a heck of a neat little grinder ya got there. Would seem just the thing for cutters. Looks like one of those Ace hardware key cutter thingies. Your design?Boiler
Boiler ,
The neat little grinder is a scissors sharpener , my wife uses many pairs in the fabric side of our business . They charge 4 or 5 bucks a pair to sharpen.I only use the wheel on the right side , then the handle hangs off the right end for clearance.The scissors slides on the angled rod assembly .
Picked it up used for $20 , dressing the thinner stones still is a challenge .
I'm not an expert at it but every now and then I get them just right .
Did you know , or care that scissors usually have a different angle on each side?
I use several normal grinders with mostly White or Pink stones 4" - 8" for grinding cutters and shaping the steel , certainly not a very efficient way of making knives , but I can .
regards dusty , and cooler , so far
Dusty,A. Cool!
B. I didn't know that. Are there standards on the angles and which go where -- top or bottom, right or left handed?
Very enlightening.BoilerSaw the sawyer today and I'll email you on the spruce info.
boiler man ,
I'm sure there must be some rhyme and reasons for which angles when and where but dang if I know why .
Some do use the same angle but usually not .
I've seen guy's lap and hone scissors to keep them sharp using a flat stone by rubbing the stone against the blades , not the way you sharpen a knife .
regards dusty , boxmaker and sharpener of things
can you sharpen glass with a diamond stone? I think you could try, but you would actually I think be dulling it, cause if memory serves me right, the edge is only a molecule or two thick when sharp,
Eric
Napie & Eric,All good points. Perhaps I was just being silly.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodworks.com and http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)
- Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Can you sharpen a glass scraper with a diamond stone? Yes but why bother. Just cut off another hunk!
But with a metal scraper I can very easily adjust the hook to my liking - the barest of hooks for scraping veneers and inlays, a more aggressive hook on a thicker scraper for more aggressive removal.
How do you adjust the hook with glass? Does the glass break the same way every time or do you get what you get? How do you control the process?
Edited 8/4/2009 6:59 am ET by CStanford
Well, I agree that hook adjustment with glass does require another tool (well, two more tools). For hook adjustment in glass, I fire up the bunsen burner that I keep on my bench (I multi-task, after all), soften the edge slightly with a reducing flame, and then give it one stroke with an oak dowel wrapped in wet newsprint:)Seriously, glass does not replace my metal scrapers, but there are times when it really is just the ticket for the task at hand. Experiment - you may find you have another very sharp tool in your arsenal.Regards,
Mike D
This just goes to prove that there are many, many ways to get a job done and you do not have to spend a lot of money or buy fancy sharpening gear to get along. <!----><!----><!---->
I may be perceived as the uber-Luddite (I'm not actually) but I think steel is a vast improvement over glass which seems to me to be nothing more than a proxy for a piece of flint or a similar mineral.I appreciate you're inventiveness and I don't doubt the glass cuts but I'm not seeing it as additive to an operation that either already or should include a modest collection of steel scrapers - easily the cheapest cutting tool in a woodworker's arsenal.For me, it's just not a capability in need of revisiting.
Edited 8/4/2009 5:17 pm ET by CStanford
I do understand when you say you really have no need .
For some reason tuning up a scraper and getting it to make thin shavings like I get with glass has never been easy for me to replicate a burr or an edge .
I think the piece of steel has 1/2 to do with it , but I have never become proficient at scraper sharpening . The nicest scrapers I have seen were made from old saw blades and some were very flexible and could take the smallest whisper off .
regards dusty
Try the L-N scraper sets. They have a thin and a thick one and each corresponds to the saw plate they use for certain saws they make.I use the thinner more flexible one way more than the thicker iteration.
"I may be perceived as the uber-Luddite (I'm not actually) but I think steel is a vast improvement over glass which seems to me to be nothing more than a proxy for a piece of flint or a similar mineral."
Excellent, so by the same token we should assume that certain commonly available steels would be an improvement over existing steels traditionally used for making scrapers. By "commonly available" I mean inexpensive non-exotic steels that can often be had for free ; the attraction being their improved working characteristics when used for scrapers.I don't include old saws or hand saw steels.Philip Marcou
I guess.
I have some L-N scrapers, some Clifton scrapers and an old Sandvik. I don't have a frickin' clue what kind of steel they're made of and don't really care. I do know they're not made of glass.
I'm not a blacksmith and I don't harvest and dry my own lumber either. I couldn't tell you what the kiln protocol for drying Ash is,,, or Red Oak,,,, or Cherry,,, or even She-Oak. Lots of stuff I don't know but strangely don't seem to affect me either.
If any of the above three companies made their scrapers out of some super-duper steel than I guess I'm using a scraper with super-duper steel. If you have some scrapers you think will do a better job than the three brands I mentioned you're welcome to contact me offline and I'll provide my address so you can send me some. I'd be happy to give them a whirl. Throw in one of your smoothers while you're at it.
The chance that I'm going to stand at the grinder and grind some arbitrary piece of metal into a scraper is zilch. I have put a profile on a scraper more than once, but I started with a scraper provided by one of the above companies.
I guess that makes me some sort of panty-waist. Oh well, the teapot is whistling and it's time to take the scones out of the oven.
Toodles.
Edited 8/5/2009 10:25 am ET by CStanford
Instead of mailing a piece of glass to you, I suggest a little trip down to your local Glass shop. Ask them for their scraps. The pieces they cut off to make window panes fit into windows would work quite nicely. Also, ask them what glass cutter THEY use. You can then take home some FREE pieces of "scrap" glass ( 0 cash, got to love that) and get to smoothing out any hardwood you want. When that nice, sharp edge gets a little dull, cut a new edge ( about 3 minutes of your time) and get back to smoothing. The price of a good glass cutter is well worth it. Plus, you can also cut any shape you might need to smooth mouldings with. What do you say, Laddie-buck?
For me, the whole exercise you've suggested would be beyond an absurd waste of time.
One does not get out much, do they? Happens when one gets old and set in their ways. Too many of us got attached to a potato crop and died because they didn't want to "move on". Oh,well then, stay where you are then.
Now, with THAT out of the way, glass will do wonders on hardwoods, but not much on softwoods. Just lean the piece of glass back towards you and pull, or lean it away and push. Use both directions as you go and the edges will stay just as sharp as a steel one. Hey, it works!
I have found that metal scrapers actually do a fine job on some softwoods (coniferous) such as yew or Douglas fir, to name a couple which I am more familiar with. I would suspect that glass would work equally well. Some coniferous woods do not scrape well though.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodworks.com and http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)
- Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
I don't spend a lot of time at glass shops. Guilty as charged.
If glass scrapers have set you free in your woodworking then more power to you.
Tell the folks at the glass shop I said hello.
Edited 8/6/2009 6:01 pm ET by CStanford
I got it ,,,,
Instead of arm wrestling how bout we show pictures and try and guess if it was scraped with a proper steel scraper with registration pedigree and all er only a scraper fashioned of free glass from the dumpster of the local glazer er for that matter if it was merely sanded .
dusty , who is more concerned with the finished product than the road traveled . It seems to some that tools and tradition come first , prolly to each his own , I suppose , regards
I just use another piece of glass , personally I don't cut them , no just use them up . The glass shop has so much broken glass that they are happy to give away for free .
I know it is not a traditional method ,but hey neither is the scary sharp sandpaper sharpening methods but it sure works out nice as does the glass scrapers. try it you may very well like it or find some other advantages .
regards dusty
"I know it is not a traditional method "
Actually, it is. I learned the method 20 years ago from the cabinet maker at Williamsburg who said that's how it was done in the 1700s.Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PAEverything fits, until you put glue on it.
" 'I know it is not a traditional method' "Maybe conventional is a better word than traditional.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodworks.com and http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)
- Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Thanks Chris , maybe you worded it better .
It's just that somehow when I think of the masters feverishly creating , I don't hear , " hey get me some more broken glass " o.k. Mr. Hepplewhite. May be it's just me . I did not learn it when I apprenticed , it came later from a furniture refinisher / repairer .
regards dusty , next week I will go look at the Black Walnut
I like to use old broken lead glass that were broken.. It 'sings as you scrape!
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled