27-06-2015, 11:04 AM
(This post was last modified: 27-06-2015, 11:07 AM by frankmcvey.)
Further to Joe's post re cabinet scrapers. If you've never used a cabinet scraper before, you'll find it a revelation. Pay attention to the method of sharpening it - the better the burr you can raise, the sharper the scraper will be, allowing you to use a much lighter touch. With practice, you'll be able to shave off a surface finish while barely touching the veneer underneath; it's a lot easier to control than abrasive paper. There's a good vid on sharpening a scraper here.
What the vid doesn't mention is the technique for using it - you grip it as he demonstrates, but the secret is to exert a slight forward pressure with your thumbs to bow the scraper into a slightly convex curve as you're using it - this again increases your control of the area you're scraping.
For an even lighter touch, allowing you to level the smallest blemishes, see this guy, who uses an old-fashioned single-edge razor blade (cheap as chips on Ebay) as a miniature scraper to remove small blemishes on the guitars he makes. His technique for using masking tape as a gauge works brilliantly for removing "pimples" in the finish.
Since the finishes and gluing methods he uses on his instruments are very akin to those found on old radios etc, you'll find his techniques and tips to be relevant to a lot of what we do.
See the index here.
Cheers,
Frank
What the vid doesn't mention is the technique for using it - you grip it as he demonstrates, but the secret is to exert a slight forward pressure with your thumbs to bow the scraper into a slightly convex curve as you're using it - this again increases your control of the area you're scraping.
For an even lighter touch, allowing you to level the smallest blemishes, see this guy, who uses an old-fashioned single-edge razor blade (cheap as chips on Ebay) as a miniature scraper to remove small blemishes on the guitars he makes. His technique for using masking tape as a gauge works brilliantly for removing "pimples" in the finish.
Since the finishes and gluing methods he uses on his instruments are very akin to those found on old radios etc, you'll find his techniques and tips to be relevant to a lot of what we do.
See the index here.
Cheers,
Frank
