Power tool for sanding toe rail

[BELLATRIX1965]

Sabreman: Any chance that you would enlighten us with some scraper tips/hints? I agree - nothing beats a sharp scraper; the problem is that few people own (or properly use) a good, sharp file with which to dress it!

Your recommendations for where to buy scrapers and how to tune them, please?? What size/cut of file is your favorite? Thanks!

Originally Posted by Sabreman

Yup. That's how it's supposed to work. I tend to make specialty scrapers in whatever profile that I need. Sometimes, it's a concave 1" scraper or 1" convex. The variations are infinite. I tend to use a convex blade for 80% of what I scrape, rotating it toward the edge if I need a fine line.



If you stick at it, you will be able to set the hook reliably. It's just a matter of practice and I had the same problem at first and nearly abandoned the tool.

The old woodworkers like my grandfather could fly through a job like a toerail. Both my father and grandfather warned me away from exclusive power tool use - many jobs are wrecked by power tools in inexperienced hands. The quiet and efficiency of a well tuned scraper, like a well tuned plane, is a thing of beauty. And you have total control.

[Sabreman]

The following link shows the process for sharpening a scraper. This is pretty easy stuff. In the tutorial, they say that you can't get a good hook with a screwdriver. I disagree in that while I don't have a burnisher, a screwdriver with a chrome shank works well for me. You only need a metal file to square & flatten the edge. Nothing exotic. Available at Lowes.

Using and burnishing a cabinet scraper

Scraper stock can be purchased almost anywhere from Lowes (pretty sure) to the online stores like Rockler and Woodcraft. Sandvik is a good brand.

[dvuyxx]

I used a B&D mouse sander on my toe rail. It doesn't take it down too fast. Easy to control pace. One of those belt sanders would scare me ... too fast.

[lancelot9898]

Good info Sabreman, however I do my maintenance coat with Cetrol gloss rather than the natural. I too thought that the natural had better UV protection than the gloss and started using the natural for the annual maintenance only to find out that a neighbor was using the gloss and it was holding up better than my teak. I'm now using the gloss for the maintenance coating.

[dvuyxx]

Lancelot, do you mean that you just put the Cetol gloss directly on the bare wood from the start or as the maintenance coat? What is the color like?

[lancelot9898]

No, I put three coats of natural when first doing the teak. It's the annual maintenance coat that I was talking about.