Official Luthiers Forum!

I’m currently working on my first set of flamed Koa and, after feeding the Wagner, ran it through my Jet 10-20 where it proceeded to burn faster than an Oscar Mayer at a Forth of July picnic even at the fastest feed rate and a light sanding cut. Is this typical of Koa by the way?
Well, I grabbed my Stanly no. 80 cabinet scraper and it reminded me what it did best. No doubt a card scraper is the weapon of choice for curves, rosettes and fine work but the no. 80 really excels at flat work once the sole is lapped flat and the tool is fitted with a Hock replacement iron. The burn marks and last few thou of excess thickness disappeared with a few dozen strokes. My only caution when using these is they seem to want to chatter occasionally when the iron begins to dull or when you try to push the tool too quickly. You can usually pick these up pretty cheaply on eBay too. So, you ought to try one out the next time you need to do some heavy scraping. Your thumbs will thank you.

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Doug Mills
Chicago, Illinois

Koa tends to get a burned look as it gets sanded through a thickness sander but the last few passes with minimal removal will take away that burned look. I always thickness sand mine quite aggressively up until the last 10 to 15 thou and it always turns fine.
BTW, clean sandpaper is recommended.

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

For years I have had a Stanley #80scraper body, but no blade. (missing the blade holder screws also, but common 3/16" screws)

Hock is $26. Stanley is $4. Wow. Recommendations?

Try that blue paper from Klingspor. Also get a 12x2x2 inch eraser to clean the paper (and use it often)

Mike

The No. 80 is one of my favorite tools. That Koa is looking mighty fine, Doug.

You push, Doug? I almost always pull a scraper. A little poll here: Who pushes? Pulls?

BTW the Veritas version of the #80 is a nice tool.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Howard: I do both depending on a lot of factors. But I have better control pushing and do so about 90% of the time.

Generally, I push when I want to remove a lot of material and pull when approching final scraping. But sometimes it's just a question of where I am according to the position of the guitar and what I want to scrape. Grain orientation will also affect pulling or pushing in that situation.

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Alain Moisan
Former full time builder of Acoustics, Classicals and Flamencos.
(Now building just for fun!)

+1 pull

I do one till the hands get tired and then the other for a while.
Depends a lot on how the grain is acting also.

Quote John Kay 1967 " But I never done nothing my spirit could kill. I said ____ ____ the pusher man"

I am a puller for the most part just the way I feel I have the best control

One of the most under rated tools on the shop. I both pull and push.
Link

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Cut to size.....Beat to fit.....Paint to match.

I do both but pushing combines weight with arm strength and seems to allow greater force to be applied without loss of control.

Are you cabinet scraper pullers also usually card scraper pullers?

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Doug Mills
Chicago, Illinois

Push mostly, but let the wood decide.

A Hock would be nice, but my Stanley stays sharp a long time, and why defer the pleasure of using a freshly prepped blade?

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Dan
http://www.acme-archtops.com

I pull and push my vintage Stanley #12

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Nice Thumb Screws, Arnt!

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Pull

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Both push and pull. Pull for long smoothing strokes and push for small areas that just need a little more cleanup.

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"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong"
- Joseph Chilton Pearce

This is the first thing that I thought of also. I tend to pull about 90% of the time as I think I can feel what is happening better this way. Thanks for the tip on the No 80. I am also a fan of Hock steel -- they're a good companion to the old Stanley tools.

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

Thanks for noticing!

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin