Scraping

[DC]

How faithfully will a scraper follow a surface? In the picture you can see a dip in the limb. It's about 4" long, belly at the bottom. If I just take even scrapes along the length of the limb will it follow the shape or will it eventually flatten the dip and possibly make a hinge in that spot. I've been avoiding long scrapes and kind of doing the limb in three sections to maintain the shape but I wondered if the scraper would do that on it's own?

[Badger]

  DC, the simple answer is when removing wood you have to monitor the bend. A scraper will remove wood wherever you scrape th most. I can't think of anyother answer besides keeping an eye on the thickess and checking the bend regularly.

[Drewster]

I agree with Badger.  A scraper will follow the contour or remove wood where you use it.  It's not like a hand plane or jointer that will flatten the surface by removing the dips and valleys.

[Dakota Kid]

Throw a straight edge on there and strike a line. Use whatever cutting tool you get the best control out of and stay within the line. A scraper will smooth a surface(tool mark removal), but it won't flatten/level one.

[Pat B]

The scraper will follow the contour of the area scraped. You are better off with long scrapes than a few shorter ones. You'll get a more even wood removal with long scrapes.

[DC]

OK Long scrapes but keep my eye on it. That reminded me of an old movie line "Trust in Allah, but tie up your camel"