Re: Scraper Survey

Posted by CLC on Feb 13, 2005

I used to treat the decks of kayaks with a sharp cabinet scraper prior to applying epoxy. It's a little laborious, but the work is so much more elegant than the tuneless hum of a random-orbital sander.

My observation was that the scraper treatment lifted particles of dust out of the grain of the wood. The result was a sharply resolved grain pattern beneath epoxy.

Then, before varnish, I'd scrape the epoxy, too. This would remove the microscopic swirls cut into the epoxy surface by the sander. It may have been my imagination, but I think there was a much deeper gloss as a result. Certainly when you put a "scraped" boat next to a merely sanded one you could see the difference.

Your wish is our command. Scrapers are inexpensive, and they'll be here in a few days. If anyone with lots of scraper experience wants to write a 500-word cabinet scraper how-to piece for the Shop Tips section, drop me a line. We'll trade you a few scrapers for it....

In Response to: Scraper Survey by Laszlo on Feb 13, 2005

Replies:

• Re: Scraper Survey by terry on Feb 14, 2005
• Re: Scraper Survey by Paul Van Benschoten on Feb 14, 2005
• Re: Scraper Survey by Laszlo on Feb 14, 2005