Axminster Workshop No. 80 Cabinet Scraper

The No.80 Cabinet Scraper is used for the final smoothing it can produce a clean even finish that may not require any further work. Use the No.80 scraper to remove slight ridges left by your smoothing plane. It is ideal when used to smooth large areas of difficult or curly grain. Tightening the thumb screw behind the blade causes a slight bow in the blade. This bow increases the bite and hence the thickness of shaving. The body of the No.80 is a fine, grey iron casting with a flat, machined base. The base measures 90mm wide and the blade is 70mm. Sharpening a No.80 scraper blade. 1. Place the blade in a vice and with a smooth flat file, remove the old burr from the back of the blade. 2. Holding the file at 45°, use long continuous strokes to produce a straight and even 45° bevel. Tip: make a simple wooden guide out of scrap; cut with a 45° angle as a helpful guide. 3. Place the blade, (bevel side up) flat onto a fine bench stone. Rub the blade up and down along the length of the stone a few times to remove the burr from the filing and polish the back. 4. Place the blade (bevel side down) onto your bench and using a scraper burnisher held flat on the back of the blade, make a couple of dozen passes up and down the blade to draw the edge. A drop of oil on the burnisher helps. 5. Either place the blade back in your vice or hold it vertically on the bench top. Rub the burnisher a dozen or so times over the bevelled edge, keeping it a 45°. 6. Finally gradually increase the angle of the burnisher and make strokes along the full length finishing at approximately 75° to turn the edge and create the all important burr. Tip: Sharpen both top and bottom edges of the blade, then you can simply flip the blade over when one edge becomes dull. 7. With the scraper on a flat surface, loosen the adjusting thumb screw and the clamp screws. Drop the blade into the body with the bevel side towards the adjusting thumb screw. Tighten the blade clamp screws. 8. Run a test cut, gradually tightening the adjustment thumb screw until the scraper cuts a fine shaving. The Cabinet Scraper is usually pushed but it can be pulled. When it begins to produce dust rather than a shaving it is time to re-sharpen.-bg