Paint scrapers

[TexasRed]

>> Gibson & Jade - I bet you two have the most experience with different scrapers amongst all of us. Your advice had been invaluable as I begin this project.

>> Jade & Casey - appreciate the sharpener recommendations too! If I don't sharpen as I go, we're likely to fly through a ton of blades before we are done.

I am especially thankful for the tip to add the small and special shaped scrapers to my tool bag. In my novice eye I'm seeing a sea of pink peeling clapboards - hadn't yet thought about those nooks and crannies.

>> Phil thank you for all the info about the cabinet scrapers. I'm intrigued to try out your suggestion for making custom shapes of them. DH does love his dremmel. As you likely remember, I also have a lot of fancy millwork and carvings to scrape. Might even adapt your idea to aid with my porch balusters. There are at least 120 of them to work on. Prior painters didn't scrape, sand or smooth before another coat went on.

As daunting as this project seems, I'm rather excited!! I find tedious labor intensive work to be quite relaxing. It is like meditation for me. Guess I'll be pretty darn relaxed & centered by the time I get through this task.

[GibsonGM]

Thanks for the info, Phil, that was nice of you to put that all out there! I have a table saw, and might find time one day to try out (make) a sharpening rig. Soon, tho, I think I'll attempt to "hone" these things with the diamond sharpener. Even getting a bit more life out of them would be useful. As one side of my scraper blades is totally flat, grinding the point off might be good, too! Like you, I hate to tear wood, that's not what we're here for.

It is frustrating spending $5 to $10 a pop on a blade, for sure!! We're a captive market, there are few alternatives for us to remove paint fast and cleanly. The triangles are very useful for crevices! Luckily mine stay sharp for a good while, as I don't use them for 'reefing' on things, that's what the 2 1/2" is for. Same with teardrops.

[Casey]

Cabinet scrapers are pretty useless for paint removal; the paint dulls them instantly. You can do a guerilla sharpening on cabinet scrapers with just a fine file and burnisher, and renew it constantly, but that will wear it down really fast. You are only using one narrow zone towards the middle of the cabinet scraper, but you need to dress the whole thing flat when sharpening, so frequent sharpenings remove a lot of metal.
I have used cabinet scrapers so hard and so long I have calluses on my burned thumbs (not to mention arthritis from the over-use!)
They can't make cabinet scrapers from carbide, because you wouldn't be able to bend them for use.
Casey

[phil]

we have those 'keychain' sharpeners too casey...unless things have changed in the last year or so, they are made right here in Massachusetts...

I hold the scraper in my left hand and steady it on my thigh with sharp end down...I hold the sharpener in my right hand and sharpen the blade with a circular motion at the same angle as the blade....works like a charm....what does a charm work like?

...jade

I looked it up and verified that "works like a charm" refers directly to knife sharpeners.

the blow quote is from here : http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/work+like+a+charm


work like a charm
Function very well, have a good effect or outcome, as in That knife-sharpener works like a charm, or Her deferential manner worked like a charm; he agreed to everything they'd asked for. This expression uses charm in the sense of "a magic spell." [Mid-1800s]

Phil

[phil]

I agree the cabinet scrapers arent' the tool to strip the outside of your house. the metal is to soft to take the constant abuse of the hard paint. They are a very useful tool though. great for picking away in corners, easy to shape, sometimes they will fit in places nothing else fits. easy to carry. especially on finer work I find mine so handy. getting a bit of tape off, scraping a run out of paint that's hardened without hurting the surface. when I use wood filler I like to put masking tape on either side then fill, then after it's hard I can take the putty down to level without chipping it or scratching up the surface. they are easier to manupulate. they are more for finishing work but if you have one handy they are good for lots of uses. I went into depth a bit because I think it's one tool people dont' learn to take advantage of.

the one thing I dont' like about the triangular ones is they are quite dangerous if you happen to lean on them or step on them the points are nasty. I keep spanking myself when i catch myself leaving it in the middle of the floor when im working because I know one day Ill step on it without shoes or something stupid.

I love this forum I had never seen or heard of the hollow scraper with vacuum attachment. Neat !

[Casey]

The triangle scrapers are particularly good for filing into a shape to scrape out bead moldings. And yeah, I have cut my hand by putting it down alongside a sharp one. After that incident, I remembered to stow it in the top pipe of a pipe-staging buck. I spent several hot weeks in the summer of 1991 scraping 1600 sq ft of beaded porch ceiling, in place overhead from a scaffold.

[heartwood]

ok, my necks is stiff just from reading your post casey...hot and sweaty and paint landing on you...oh the things we would take on when we were young...