# Nice scraper but difficult sweet spot



## AaronK

im curious about scraper planes, but have always heard good things about them. are you sure that you're setting up the blade correctly? i was under the impression that they're supposed to be sharpened differently from card scrapers… if you're used to card scrapers maybe you're defaulting into the wrong setup?


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## Chelios

I have tried both ways (secondary bevel on the 45 deg, just like a plane and with a burnished burr) and been using it now for about 8 months so I am not saying it isn't me but it is not an easy one to set up. To clarify, I have been successful using it but it takes so much fiddling with it that it is not a fun time for me.


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## AaronK

interesting. you might like to check out rob porcaro's blog. He has a big writeup about his scraper plane and made it seem pretty effortless.


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## Chelios

Thanks for the link. It is really interesting with good insight. He points out something that is key that I missed is the ability to bow the blade on the veritas, which is a tool I will look into.

He also makes the point regarding the LN. Here I quote some of his text

"The folks at Veritas have, fortunately for us, a healthy obsession with scraping, and one product of this is their superb Scraping Plane which has a variable blade angle and the ability to bow the .055″ blade. I once owned a Kunz version but it lacked the ability to bow the blade. *Lie-Nielsen makes a similarly large scraper plane, an excellent tool, but its much thicker blade is a different working approach which I found too fastidious to deal with."*


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## Dennisgrosen

thank´s for a realy good rewiew
even thow its not a tool for you 
I think its very nice of you to share the negative thought´s on the plane
instead of only positive reactions
on Veitas and Lie - Nielsen all the time after all they both are factery made and not
made one at a time so of course they will have some minor things too or a big flop from 
time to time 
thank´s 
Dennis


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## AaronK

wow didn't realize there could be such a variety in scraping planes. interesting. thanks for the review :_)


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## Chelios

Thanks guys, I always learn something new on here.


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## richgreer

Thank you for the excellent review. I appreciate your candor.

I recently acquired a used Stanley 112 scraper plane. It seems like a good deal and I was curious about scraper planes. I have not sharpened up the blade or tested it out yet.

I'm pretty comfortable with card scrapers and I thought (what do I know) that the scraper plane would be easier to use than a card scraper and better suited to bigger jobs. In the next few weeks I will find out.


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## Marc5

Thanks for the post as I had wondered how good these planes are to work with. I will stick with my #80 and card scraper.


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## jsheaney

I bought the Lee Valley scraper plane because it is more adjustable (the bowing adjustment is very useful). Having said that, it too is pretty finicky. I think it is the nature of the beast. I generally don't take the time to fuss with it because it's easier to just set up a card scraper. The blade on the scraper plane does seem to last longer than a card scraper, but you it faster to set up a card scraper and you can use more of it. I've actually found myself pulling the blade out of the plane and just using the blade like a card scraper.


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## Ken90712

Great review! They can be pricey but nice when they work


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## racerglen

I'll second the dificulty in setting up-keeping the plane in adjustment. I also have the big Veritas model and while it does it's job and the bowing is a help it realy looks good on my shelf.
Better for me is their small scraper plane, out of the box it has been a joy.
I also have their card scraper holder and that REALY shines, weither (who deleted my spell check ?) with their card scraper in it or an old Stanley or one of my home mades from a discarded saw blade.


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## rareair

I got the LN version after trying each at a wookorking show. I havent used it yet, i read an article in popular woodworking by David Charlesworth who advocates the burr. Deneb Puchalski at LN says no burr works better. Thaks for the input you all give here. I weigh it and may sell mine if it dosent work out.
- Steve


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## pate

I was up at LN last week with my scraper. They took my plane, sharpened the blade, 45 degree etc, then put it in the body at about 15 degrees. They simply set it on a flat surface, pushed the blade to meet the flat surface and tighted the screw to hold the blade. Then used a small hammer to lightly tap the blade to the adjust the blade to take a thin cut. 
I played around with it for an hour at the LN showroom and had good success.


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## AaronK

that's kind of how I set up my recently handmade wooden plane


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## something_vague

This LN scraper plane I have had amazing success with. But it took me a LN event for someone to teach me the way to get this success. And this plane is not at its' best taking thickish shavings and does better just creating dusty shavings. Some people mistake that getting dust is not scraping when in fact this produces a much better finish than the more aggressive shaving.

Just like was pointed out, hone the bevel at exactly 45*. Set it in the plane and adjust till you are at 15*. Set plane on a flat surface and put pressure on the top of the blade downward and tighten the mechanism. Typically this is all the depth of cut you will want with this plane as it is for a final finish on some troubling grain. Light hammer taps will center the cutting and may want to advance the blade ever so slightly. If you are getting any chatter at all then you are taking too HEAVY of a cut. Start the blade setup process over until you find the sweet spot. Turns out to be a very easy plane to use and produces fantastic results. Just have to learn the way, just like using any other plane.


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