Powerful wood scraper?

[H Rhodes]

My favorite tool lately has become a Glock field knife....  I had the thing for years laying in my junk drawer.  It really was an odd sort of a knife and I never found much use for it.  A while back I put a burr on it with my belt sander and started using it as a scraper.  It works great and holds an edge through several bows.  Since that time, I have started using it in place of a hatchet for some of the finer roughing out stages.  That works good for me, especially with seasoned osage, which loves handtools more than any other wood.  I have also used it to make belly splits on osage staves, hammering the blade down through a stave from end to end.  The doggone knife is really proving to be a pretty good bow building tool for me and tougher than i expected.  I have beat on the back of the blade with a 1 1/8th lb Ball peen hammer splitting out belly splits and it is no worse for the wear.  Glock ought to be proud!   Osage bows usually only see four tools used by me - hatchet, knife, farrier's rasp and a rat tailed file for the string nocks.   

[arachnid]

I made a "bowyering scraper" from a putty knife. Very easy to make and very efficient. But, as the guys here said, you have to have the right edge and burr.

I posted a build a long on youtube. It's in hebrew, but it's easy to understand what to do.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LRWylnSawGQ

[Badger]

My favorite tool lately has become a Glock field knife....  I had the thing for years laying in my junk drawer.  It really was an odd sort of a knife and I never found much use for it.  A while back I put a burr on it with my belt sander and started using it as a scraper.  It works great and holds an edge through several bows.  Since that time, I have started using it in place of a hatchet for some of the finer roughing out stages.  That works good for me, especially with seasoned osage, which loves handtools more than any other wood.  I have also used it to make belly splits on osage staves, hammering the blade down through a stave from end to end.  The doggone knife is really proving to be a pretty good bow building tool for me and tougher than i expected.  I have beat on the back of the blade with a 1 1/8th lb Ball peen hammer splitting out belly splits and it is no worse for the wear.  Glock ought to be proud!   Osage bows usually only see four tools used by me - hatchet, knife, farrier's rasp and a rat tailed file for the string nocks.   

  Someone gifted me a glock knife and I have been considering doing the same thing, I would feel awful embarrassed if I got caught though.

[H Rhodes]

What else are you gonna use it for?  The blade on mine is a quarter inch thick!  Start scraping and chopping with that bad boy and you will find something it is good for.    I don't do a lot of knife fighting, so a "fighting knife" just doesn't get too much use around the Rhodes' place (and that's a good thing).  Badger, if yours is like mine, you can misuse it all you want to and it will be fine.   Chopping out the side profiles and prying off little chunks of wood to get down to following the grain on character bows is one chore where the glock knife really shines.  It is just barely heavy enough to chop with and light weight enough to where you have a lot of control with how much wood you remove, and the blade is heavy enough that you can pry with it.   

[AH]

Skissors have done real well for me. That's basically all I use for fine tillering.

[Pappy]

Probably just need to sharpen the one you have,they do get dull over time. 
   Pappy

[PAHunter]

@Bowman: That’s what I’m doing but I was looking for a tool somewhere in between for those tillering nights when I stay up a bit too late and want something a tad less risky than the rasp that doesn’t leave many tool marks
@Huisme: hmm that was my first tillering tool ever actually.  I may have to give it another try.
@Onebow: I think I used one of those at blackhawk’s place.  I might pick one up.
@PatB/Weylin/Pappy: Yes I dress it about once a bow.  The metal is just flexible and thin.  The shavings are super thin.  Perhaps I’m not dressing it properly. 
@spc: I had a cheap block plane and it was very difficult to get it set to cut consistently thick shavings.  I like the look of the Mora Woodcarver's Draw Knife though.
@Jawge: that’s pretty much what I do.  Just when I’m down to those last 8’’ of tiller I’d like to leave the rasp behind and go with a decent scraper, that makes a difference but is still relatively low risk.  Something between my farrier’s rasp and too thin scraper.   
@DarkSoul: I like it!  This might be the winner.
@NewIndian/toomanyknots/hrodes: I’ll try a few knives.  Yes that card scraper gets hotter than heck! 
@osageoutlaw: that seems to be a theme with great scrapers I see people using; that they are homemade. 
@PatB/livefortheoutdoors: I like the cheap scissors idea! 
@arachnid:    cool thanks for the link!  I see he set the burr with a file and screwdriver. 

All: How do you recommend setting burr on a scraper?    I have a tool that looks like a screwdriver without the head that I use.  Do any of you use a belt sander or file to get a good burr?

Thanks for all the input, this gives me a lot of great options!

[PAHunter]

Here is my scraper and a large knife that I have that I used to debark my first stave ever but have not used since (since I got a draw knife). I'm thinking I may be able to make a good scraper out of the knife if I can give it a burr.

[TRACY]

Put your scraper in a vice with edge up and use a metal file and file the edge flat working the file at a 45 for the length of the edge. Once new metal is exposed, use your burnishing tool and apply pressure too the new edge flat first and then angled left and right create a sharp edge for both sides. You will feel the edges roll over. May take some practice but not too hard to do.

I recently started using big band saw blade segment and they work great for scraping.


Tracy

[osage outlaw]

Here is the how-to I followed to put a burr on my scraper

https://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,1237.0.html

[PAHunter]

Here is the how-to I followed to put a burr on my scraper

https://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,1237.0.html

Perfect, thanks!!  Should have searched first.    You know if this works I'm gonna kick myself for doing it the "wrong" way so many times. 

[George Tsoukalas]

I use a Swedish push knife as a scraper. For years I used an old mead cleaver. Jawge

[George Tsoukalas]

Torges has a nice tutorial in TBB1 on sharpening scrapers. Jawge

[Little John]

For my powerful scrapers I use worn out chain saw blades. They are free, hefty to get a good hold  of with both hands and not flex under pressure, have the burr already in place, made of tough steel. You also need small scrapers but for me I also like the powerful ones. Old planner blades from a saw mill are also excellent.     Kenneth

[Badger]

Ken, do you mean a bandsaw blade?