# Scraper choices - "traditional" scraper or Easy Wood tool



## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

I'm wondering if a traditional type scraper gives a better finish than an EZ Wood tool. From what I've read, an Easy Wood tool is essentially a scraper. I've noticed that although the Easy Wood tools are very forgiving, they can leave a fairly rough finish on many woods. Wondering if a regular scraper would leave a smoother finish.


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## Tman1 (Jan 14, 2013)

I can't speak to the EZ wood tool. But, every thing I have used a traditional scraper on has come out as smooth as glass. (Except when I dropped it on the concrete floor, one corner kept gouging the wood, even though it looked fine. I had to abandon using that side until I got it fixed.)


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## Jerry Maske (Dec 29, 2013)

EWTs aren't meant to provide a smooth finish. The round one does, however, if you are gentle with it. Where they shine are in getting to spots where your power head is in the way, for example. Since the EWT is round, the handle doesn't have to be in a straight line as with most scrapers.

However, your question is a good one. Remember this, Scrapers Scrape. Gouges Cut. You can sharpen your scraper to do a final cut that's as good as a shearing cut with a gouge, but don't expect that when your still taking out wood or crafting the shape. And some shapes are easier to do all that with than others. Sometimes you simply can't get to the surface with a gouge, so a scraper has to do the trick. 

Keep it sharp at the end and you'll do as well as any. EWT or the Hunter equivalent are great for specialized work, but nothing puts a finish on wood like time spent with a lot of different grades of sand paper.


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

revjerry said:


> EWTs aren't meant to provide a smooth finish. The round one does, however, if you are gentle with it. Where they shine are in getting to spots where your power head is in the way, for example. Since the EWT is round, the handle doesn't have to be in a straight line as with most scrapers.
> 
> However, your question is a good one. Remember this, Scrapers Scrape. Gouges Cut. You can sharpen your scraper to do a final cut that's as good as a shearing cut with a gouge, but don't expect that when your still taking out wood or crafting the shape. And some shapes are easier to do all that with than others. Sometimes you simply can't get to the surface with a gouge, so a scraper has to do the trick.
> 
> Keep it sharp at the end and you'll do as well as any. EWT or the Hunter equivalent are great for specialized work, but nothing puts a finish on wood like time spent with a lot of different grades of sand paper.


 
Thanks for that perspective. I love the EasyWood Tools for hogging out large volumes of wood, but it takes a LOT of sanding to get the surface smooth after using the EWT. The gouge leaves a smooth cut, but sometimes it can be hard to get a perfect taper because the gouge is round and leaves ridges. I've been itching to get a new tool. 

Any recommendations on which scraper(s) to get?


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## saculnhoj (May 18, 2015)

I traditional HSS tool with a fresh burr will put a better finish on wood than EZ wood tools. EZ wood tools dull surprisingly fast. Burr's dissappear on HSS tols really fast and need to be refreshed often. Your much better off learning to use a bevel rubbing tool. I can remove wood just as fast of faster using a bowl gouge than you can with an EZ wood tool and my technique will leave a better finish.
I am a fan of the Hunter tools as far as leaving a fine finish. The Hunter Hercules is a good example. Used as a scraper it leaves a torn surface like any scraper although on very hard woods it leaves a very good finish in the flat scraper mode. Tilt it on it's side so the top of the tool faces the work and use it like a shear scraper and you get a finish that is very smooth. Then use it as a bevel rubbing tool for an even better finish. You can't do that with the EZ wood tools. Here is a shot showing the finish quality on some really cheap 2x4 stock using the Hunter Hercules in those 3 different modes.


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## NCPaladin (Aug 7, 2010)

1"


Quickstep said:


> Any recommendations on which scraper(s) to get?


I like Packard (made by Hamlet). I would suggest the 3/8 thick stock; width depending on your usage. Note some are a lot less and only need to be reground to the profile you want. For Bowls I think you will want at least 1" wide, 1.25 or 1.5 is better.
http://www.packardwoodworks.com/Mer...Y&Store_Code=packard&Category_Code=tools-pkrd

If you look up robohippy on you tube he is very good with scrapers.

If you make your own, for boxes and the like I use WTtools bit stock.
HSS with 5% cobalt is only $15 for the 8" length (giving you the same 6" exposed as most other tools).
http://www.wttool.com/index/page/ca...ITER_custom_size=1/2"+x+1/2"+x+8"&search=true


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## NCPaladin (Aug 7, 2010)

Quickstep said:


> hogging out large volumes of wood, ... sometimes it can be hard to get a perfect taper because the gouge is round and leaves ridges. QUOTE]
> 
> I went back and re-read...
> Hogging out I think of bowls; a taper I think of spindles.
> ...


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## saculnhoj (May 18, 2015)

If your getting ridges your feeding the tool to fast or you don't have good enough control of the tool. This is true with both scrapers and gouges but really try with round scrapers with a small radius. For example the Hunter Hercules has a 3/8" cutter. If you feed it fast it will leave a spiral screw thread. For scraping the inside of bowls I have a huge scraper about 1 1/2" wide and the radius is very blunt, like maybe a section of a 6" circle or something like that.


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

When I talked about hogging out material, I was talking about spindle work. Specifically pepper mills. They're made out of 3" x 3" stock - some areas have half of the wood removed. 

I can cut coves and beads reasonably well, it's cutting straight tapers or long gradual curves where I tend to get some ridges. That's why I'm looking for something to do some final clean up.


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## Bill Boehme (Feb 9, 2014)

Quickstep said:


> I'm wondering if a traditional type scraper gives a better finish than an EZ Wood tool. From what I've read, an Easy Wood tool is essentially a scraper. I've noticed that although the Easy Wood tools are very forgiving, they can leave a fairly rough finish on many woods. Wondering if a regular scraper would leave a smoother finish.


While they're both scrapers, they are really different tools with different purposes. The EWT scrapers are mostly an easy to use substitute for gouges. Traditional scrapers are primarily finishing tools.

There is some overlap when you are talking about the interior of hollowforms. Primarily we remove the interior of hollowforms using scrapers and the scrapers can be either HSS or carbide. The EWT scrapers are limited to about eight inches deep for hollowing, but there are other carbide tipped hollowing tools that can go deeper. One is the Rolly Munro hollower. I think that Hunter also makes some deeper hollowing tools.


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## saculnhoj (May 18, 2015)

Hunter doesn't make any deep hollowing tools that I know of other than a small tool that fits in the Jamieson style boring bars. It's called a #1 cutter. I belleve he makes them to fit into some of the John Jordan and Ellsworth hollowing systems as well but would have to check on that.


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## NCPaladin (Aug 7, 2010)

I still think a skew would be your best bet but for a scraper here is a new take on a bowl scraper / bowl skew by Brian Havens. The standard is made to cut in only one direction so you have to have two or a double ended one like John Jordan sells. Brian ground his skewed from both sides so you can just flip the tool over.
You can skip to about the 12 minute mark as the first half is on bowls.
If the ridges are very deep it will take several passes since you are removing very little wood with each pass.
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ0utpU9Aik


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## firehawkmph (Apr 26, 2008)

Quickstep said:


> When I talked about hogging out material, I was talking about spindle work. Specifically pepper mills. They're made out of 3" x 3" stock - some areas have half of the wood removed.
> 
> I can cut coves and beads reasonably well, it's cutting straight tapers or long gradual curves where I tend to get some ridges. That's why I'm looking for something to do some final clean up.


I make a lot of peppermills. Try using a 3/4" roughing gouge. It will leave you with a good surface and is far easier to use on long flats and slight curves. I don't use a scraper at all when doing peppermills. 
I do have some of the EW tools. They are good for specific tasks. I might use one when undercutting a wide rim on a bowl or getting down inside a goblet. I resharpen the cutters on a 600 grit diamond stone with a little bit of water. I don't rely on the EW tools for a finish cut, although they will do pretty good on wood that is a little on the green side. They also work well for turning corian. 
Mike Hawkins


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## 9thousandfeet (Dec 28, 2014)

Quickstep said:


> When I talked about hogging out material, I was talking about spindle work. Specifically pepper mills. They're made out of 3" x 3" stock - some areas have half of the wood removed.
> 
> I can cut coves and beads reasonably well, it's cutting straight tapers or long gradual curves where I tend to get some ridges. That's why I'm looking for something to do some final clean up.


 Like Firehawk I make a fair few peppermills too, and don't use scrapers at all on them.

If there's a cutting tool which can leave a better surface on long gentle curves or straight runs than a sharp skew, I have no clue what it might be.
On many woods a skew can leave a surface good enough to start sanding at 220 or even 320 grit. 
On tool handles and things like that no sanding is needed at all.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

In my experience the EWT tools used as EWT suggests cut terrible. Some carbide tools used with more traditional methods work pretty good. Good old steel tools can't be beat for the best finish. Carbide tools have their place, but can't replace regular tools.


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## Bill Boehme (Feb 9, 2014)

Quickstep said:


> When I talked about hogging out material, I was talking about spindle work. Specifically pepper mills. They're made out of 3" x 3" stock - some areas have half of the wood removed.
> 
> I can cut coves and beads reasonably well, it's cutting straight tapers or long gradual curves where I tend to get some ridges.* That's why I'm looking for something to do some final clean up.*


The "something" that you need is something that you probably already have ... it just needs to be fine tuned. It is called "dancing with the lathe" and requires practice to hone your technique. I agree with the others who have said that a skew will give you the best finish that you could possibly want. Glide the tool by gliding your body and keeping your hands and arms fixed in place ... no moving of arms, elbows, shoulders, or hands allowed. Tuck the back of the tool handle into your side and move your body. They call it dancing with the lathe because that is what it looks like you are doing. If you're Baptist, this might take some extra work. :laughing:


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## saculnhoj (May 18, 2015)

Well I have to mildly dissagree on a few points and agree on others. Bill's comment about dancing with the lathe is dead on. I have turned long tapers using narrow spindle gouges, spindle roughing gouges, and skews. It's just a matter of tool control to get that long smooth surface. By using your body to control the movement of the handle you can learn to do this.
The skew doesn't always give the best surface on spindles. It does most of the time but I've found that when you get a less than perfect cut sometimes a spindle gouge will clean up that area. I'm not sure why. At first glance it would seem that the slight curve at the cutting edge might be the culprit but when you make a light pass you are probably only removing a 1/8" or less shaving so I'm not sure there's much curve there. However I've repeated that technique several times and it works. Usually around knots where you have a lot of grain running all directions.
If you want one of the cleanest cuts possible try the Hunter Osprey or Hercules in a bevel rubbing push cut. If I take the extra time to hone a HSS or Particle metal tool it will give an equal or maybe better cut but the Hunter works right out of the box. I believe most of the reason is the cutting tip angle which is somewhere between 27and 32 degrees. More acute than just about any regular turning tool. All other carbides I've played with don't compete.
Nothing beats a bevel rubbing tool for spindle turning.


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

Thanks. This may sound odd, but I never thought of the skew; perhaps because it doesn't always produce good results in the hands of a relative beginner. I know, I know, practice. The thing is when trying to finish a piece, a catch with a skew can ruin the piece just as I thought I was almost done! I guess that's why I was looking for something that will let me "sneak up" a little, especially around things like knots or wild grain. Perhaps I was also looking to use the gift card I just got.


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## saculnhoj (May 18, 2015)

I make practice pieces regularly. If I haven't been at the lathe in a whiile I'll just stick a piece of wood on there and then whittle it down to nothing practicing various cuts with the skew, spindle gouge or whatever tool I feel like playing with. Just for fun one day I turned a chair leg using nothing but the parting tool. Coves and the long straight sections were tough but it was an interesting lesson.


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## Bill Boehme (Feb 9, 2014)

Never practice on the real deal. Find scrap wood or green tree limbs. A catch with the skew can be unnerving so when you get one, take a break and try to figure out why.


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## Jerry Maske (Dec 29, 2013)

Practicing with a skew is kind of a basic requirement, especially if you've been away from it. I sharpen my skews on a belt sander to keep the hollow grind off. Pay particular attention to staying on the bottom one half of the cutting edge. And, I've learned, there's a certain speed at which I can knock out TWO bulbs in my overhead light from a catch. 

Just thought you'd like to know that.


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