Five Scrapers

There are old scrapers and there are bold scrapers but there are no old bold scrapers.

Sometimes, in guitar repair work, you need a really stout effective scraper. Here are some images of a few of the many scraper tools floating around the shop. The last is by far the best.

This scraper is pretty close to useless. Problem is, the little carbide blade is backwards. And it is not reversible. Too bad because I really could use a small handled tool like this.

This is an old paint scraper. The blade is very effective. Too effective for most guitar work. The working angle is too restrictive because you have to hold the handle very low. So I don't use it. At least not on guitars. Works OK on my house, but not on my Rolls Royce.

Side view of old paint scraper.

This is a high capacity cleanup scraper. Pretty good for hard glue removal in corners but not so good on finished materials. It can easily dig in where you don't want it to. Also, the blade is carbide so can't roll in a hook. The handle requires a very low angle to use, and there is no handle over the blade which makes it harder to use. This is rarely used during guitar repairs.

I really tried to like the next scraper. Changing the angle is very easy. It has a fairly friendly handle over the blade. And it is a Veritas. They make great tools, right? There are four problems. The blade is a major hassle to change. You have to fuss with those tiny set screws. One of the guys already lost one. Worse, it gunks up very fast and is hard to clean. The blade is solid carbide so can't roll in a hook.

See the little screw?

The last scraper is the clear winner: BIG BERTHA

Rating: ***** (out of five stars possible)

This is a modified Stanley No. 82 production scraper. You might not think this is useful in guitar work. But this thing can scrape very gently removing glue left over from brace removal on a spruce top. (We do not use any power sander on spruce.) And because of the nice big knob and long handle, you can scrape a battleship, or effectively remove glue squeeze out on side crack repairs. The blade angle is easily and quickly changed. And the blade is high carbon steel which makes rolling a hook very easy. Note the black plastic three wing knob. The original thumb screw was completely unable to tighten enough to keep the blade carrying head from flopping around. This is to say, it could not hold the desired angle, which is changed frequently depending on surface and clean up requirements. One of the guys changed the original threads to 1/4 x 20 and installed a bolt, added 5 washers and the little black knob. That changed this tool from unusable to excellent. The easy angle variability is very handy because different materials require different angles. And the hook in the blade edge does the trick. And, best of all, the blade is easy to remove and re-install. And you can install a variety of different shop made shapes. I like rounded corners. You just loosen that lovely knurled brass finger friendly screw on the back. The two little silver colored screws keep the blade from sliding up into the blade griper holder castings. Nice!

Scaping a fret board