This article was written by VitalBodies, a Wood Whisperer community member. If you like music, you’ll enjoy his story. Here’s a short bio:
From countless wood shop classes to contractor to fixer to starting to create a home shop. For the fixer I have been doing everything from fences to architectural planter boxes to refinishing furniture and more.

It all started by attempting to write a comment on TWW site to thank Marc for his scraper articles I found so handy while working on an antique writing desk. Meanwhile, I had also been asking folks of all ages for at least a week “what songs really lift you up and get you moving?” I told the folks I asked, “it does not matter what decade, era, genre or whatever, but WHAT GETS YOU DANCING?” I was testing dancing to some of the songs in between writing the comment. Does not matter if you are in the kitchen, shop, club or on the dance floor, what is the song(s) that sets you to flight?

Today I started working on an antique writing table. Not knowing antiques all that well I thought “U can’t touch this” but since it was only the top that needed work, I thought, “well maybe I should”? I mean, this is not the Antique road show is it?

I needed to refinish the top. It could have been hickory or oak, I was not really sure. I used a Dewalt Random Orbital Sander (ROS) with a VERY aggressive Bosch 40 grit disk, connected to a full blown HEPA vac. Even then, the wood was so hard I realized it would take hours and hours of sanding, in Uggs in a cold shop.

I then remembered I bought a card (cabinet) scraper and a burnisher! I heard about them from The Wood Whisperer and used his Amazon Store (you can too!) to buy them to support the show. Thanks Marc and all, even Mateo!

But, was the scraper sharp? And how to sharpen it? Although I did not have the sharpening, grinding or polishing stones, I did have the burnisher mentioned, ya! And it was not hard to get that baby lookin sharp, Like can you handle this? I feel like dancing on the table like a superstar!

Wow, when that scraper is sharp, it is nice and it moves! Like drop everything and check it out! Even then, it took quite a while as the scratches in that top were, what, Rolling In The Deep? Oddly enough they looked like someone put “Black or White” ink (mostly deep black) in the deepest parts – Old English or perhaps they were painting the town, or burning the place down?

There were small stains, large stains, other major artifacts plus the wood was so so hard. The stains were like Blood On The Dance Floor. Like, how do you get those deep scratches out, a 7″ knife?

There were artifacts that looked like they could have been from a “Fire Burning” or perhaps Dynamite, like they were trying to rock this club? I can tell you, with knee deep shavings, I was the last one standing.

It took hours of scraping, but at least that might help me be a bit more bootylicious and in better shape. I noticed it also took rhythm to get into the groove, like as in “Rhythm Is A Dancer”, I mean, you had to work it. As you know, Rhythm is a dancer, it’s a soul companion, people feel it everywhere, lift your hands and voices, free your mind and join us, you can feel it in the air, it’s a passion…

Every now and then the the whole writing table would jump forward with a Boom Boom Pow kind of sound, when the scraper would grab, and ya, it would grab like you never felt before.

But I Gotta Feeling that I will get this top right, although not sure what century that will happen!

The other way of doing this, you know, with the ROS, dust collection, ear protection, and dust mask could Make Me Want To Scream.

The wood, even still, was so hard that sharping the card scraper needed to happen about every 5 minutes! But that was easy with the burnisher. As you know, if you get dull, you have to sharpen up, like Bust A Move when the time calls for it!

During the Greene & Greene coffee table class I attended a few weeks ago, William Ng gave us an impromptu lesson in scraper sharpening. Fortunately I had my Flip Cam at the ready and captured this tutorial for your enjoyment.

William uses Takenoko 4,000 and 8,000 grit sharpening stones and you can pick those up in his store. How do you like that fancy water bath?

Looking for a small set of card scrapers? Check this out:

Cabinet Scraper Set, Scraper and Mill File Cabinet Scraper Set Set contains a 2-3/4” x 4-3/4” gooseneck, 2” x 5-3/4” round end and 2-3/8” x 5-7/8” straight scraper for concave, convex and flat areas.Scraper Great for removing milling mar.. Cabinet Scraper Set, Scraper and Mill File

And this was my response: “Well to put it bluntly, I never use a scraper for final finish preparation. My scrapers are tuned so that they take a pretty aggressive cut, which makes them useful for leveling. But I don’t really like the surface they leave behind when compared to a nice 180 grit sanding. That’s not to say you can’t get a killer finish prep with a well-tuned scraper, its just not my preferred way of doing it. Call me lazy, but I would much rather sit there and let the sander do all the work while I daze off into space and think about whats for dinner.” :) But, I know people that swear by the scrapers and as a result, save money on sandpaper. So there is definitely some merit to it. To each his own I suppose.”

Does anyone out there use scrapers before finishing?

In this episode, I start by gluing the leg blanks to the aprons. I then cut the rough shape out on the bandsaw. And finally, I use the template and a flush trim bit in the router table to get the exact shape we’re after. I also spend a good deal of time discussing the dangers involved with this routing operation. And finally, an nice treat for everyone: a Nicole Break!

End Table (Pt. 1)
End Table (Pt. 2)
End Table (Pt. 3)
End Table (Pt. 4)
End Table (Pt. 5)
End Table (Pt. 6)

In this episode, I review my 3-step method for sharpening card scrapers. The card scraper is a great time-saving and money-saving tool. But one thing that baffles many woodworkers is how to sharpen them. Fortunately, its really not as hard as it seems. Check out the video and you’ll see what I mean. Now if you need more information on how to use a card scraper, check out this helpful video on FineWoodworking.com by Brian Boggs.