re: card scraper sharpening

My new dear friend, Jack, came through with his offer to send me his card scrapers, for which I am incredibly grateful. It’s a beautiful set that includes the sharpener shown above.

I couldn’t wait to try it out. I started by sharpening one of them. Then I grabbed a scrap with some burn marks from the saw blade. I figured that would make an excellent test, which it was.

The scraper makes nice fine shavings. It took about 3 minutes to scrape it clean of saw and burn marks.

Then I sharpened the scraper using the sharpener on it’s 45° side, putting an edge on the scraper before rolling the burr. They call this “aggressive”. Then I flipped the piece over and did the other side, which was less burned but had deeper saw marks.

This took about the same amount of time because I gouged it with the aggressive edge, requiring further scraping to fix my mistake. But it was faster, that’s for sure.

Overall, it worked out very well. I learned a few things. The sharpener seems to work well. I’m still having a little trouble with the burr on the non-aggressive sharpening, but I’m sure it will come together soon. And it will come in handy and get used often – especially when the baby is sleeping. :-)

Again, thank you, Jack, for this wonderful gift. I will definitely return the favor somehow after I figure out something that can match your standard. I saw those chairs you made. Incredible and a tough act to follow. Thanks again, buddy!