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Woe is the poor glue scraper. There are no toolmakers crafting these tools with rosewood handles and German silver accents. No annoying forum threads that debate the merits of the different handle angles and blade widths. The glue scraper is the squirrel exhibit at the zoo.
Once you get a Benchcrafted Skraper, however, the heavens will open up, you will hear birds singing and true craftsmanship will be revealed through the power of this simple piece of metal on a stick. Well, not really. It’s still just a scraper, but it is the best one I’ve ever used.
The cutting edge is a piece of 1/8”-thick x 1-1/4” wide carbide that means you will never have to sharpen your scraper. The carbide is tough enough that you can use the scraper in surprising ways (I scrape rust off cast iron with ease).
The angled handle gets you into corners so you don’t bust your knuckles. And the edge is keen enough that you can scrape woods with it – like a mini card scraper. Even remove runs and sags in film finishes.
I’ve had mine since they first came out and have treated it like a rented mule. It has been dunked in water repeatedly and used inappropriately in many cases. It still looks and works like new. No rust.
Highly recommended.
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. All of the gift guide entries (including last year’s) are here.
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I received one as a Christmas gift today. The two screws which hold the steel on are a little (teensy weeny skoatch) proud of the surface of the steel-the aft one more than the fore. Will that be a problem using this tool or am I over thinking this little tool? TIA
Mark
Oh thank you, thank you, thank you. This has been such a source of frustration for me for as long as I’ve been woodworking.
A little pricey for a scraper but may try it out. Keep the list coming, thanks.
BTW, get ready for the zoo squirrel and rented mule fans to rant.
I’ll second this one – it’s one of my favorite tools (and for more than just furniture making):
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/editors-blog/hegemonists-gift-guide
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/in-a-bit-of-a-skrape