Here are some of the current projects: the truck in the first picture isn’t mine, it belongs to my son Sean. What’s neat is how he gets involved in bigger more powerful things than I ever had.The next picture isn’t really about restoration, but I just wanted to show what a good problem looks like. In the right of the picture is a 1945 dump truck that I’ve been asked to put lettering on (after covering the existing lettering.) In the left of the picture is my own 1951 2 ton truck, which I was trying to back into a parking space. I couldn’t make the turn, so I had to first move the dump truck. Highlight of the working day.In the picture below, you can see the back end of a “Mustang” three wheeled motorcycle made in 1947. It was owned by a gulf station, and used for parts delivery. We put the original phone number, address, and cartoon back on it. That’s when work is rewarding. In the last two pictures is the 1930 railroad coach that I’m finishing up. I wanted to show why I clean the windows and brush the aluminum window frames before I mask them off. That way, when the masking paper is pulled off, it all looks neat and clean. There are a couple of Bible verses that come to mind. The first is from the book of Jude; chapter 1, verses 23, 24, & 25:

And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. 24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

The second is from 1st Corinthians chapter 13, verse 12:

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

I guess it was about 26 years ago that I was at a piano repair shop, and saw a man using what he called a card scraper. I filed the memory into the “investigate this someday” folder, where it stayed until now. I finally started using the tool.

It’s very simple, it’s the only tool I know that uses a burr deliberately, instead of eliminating the burr. I’ll try to explain what a burr is: imagine seeing a microscopic view of a knife edge as it’s being sharpened. If one is not careful, as one rubs the edge against a stone, the edge won’t get finer and finer. It will get thin, like a very thin piece of paper or foil. As one continues to push this this edge of metal against the stone, it will curl over to one side. That is a burr.

The card scraper is a rectangle piece of steel, that one holds in the hand. There is a tool that forms the burr off one of the flat edges. That’s how it’s sharpened. I don’t have the tool, or the method, and my first scraper was just a piece of circular saw blade. My second one (with the holes) ids made from a leaf spring. I just run the edge along a bench grinder, which forms a burr, and use it that way. Not sophisticated, might not stay sharp as long as the other way, but if the grinder is handy, so what.

That said, I am finding all kinds of uses for these. Jobs that would be very difficult with other tools are easy with this. When I first saw it being used, it was to knock off imbeded dust and imperfections in a fresh piano finish. That was probably the first thing I did with it, dressing a fresh coat of shellac. It does the same thing as wet sanding, maybe better. Did you know that shellac was made from bugs? It’s really a handy old school finish. I use the unwaxed type as a first coat on bare wood. It dries quickly, and is said to bring out natural wood color better.

Since then, I’ve used the scrapers on a lot of projects. Here are some ways: shaping fresh body filler on the concave little pocket just in front of the rear fender of a 1980’s Toyota truck.  Shaping wood panels prior to finishing (The Tolstoy sign). removing deteriorated vinyl and carved initials from the interior panels (sandpaper didn’t work) of a 1995 Ford truck. (On those vinyl truck pieces, the bundled blanket lets me bend the piece convex to make the work easier. It’s the opposite of a bowl in a log stump for hammering sheet metal.) Fitting a new axe handle. distressing the red and blue letters of the “What Happened…” sign. That’s a partial list.

I made an impromptu third one, on the end of a dull little file. It worked great, and then I started using the side edge corner. I suppose that one’s mind starts to grasp the use of sharpened square edges in numerous ways.

A VERY handy tool, worth adding to your box and abilities.