Plane and Simple Woodworking: Why Scrapers?
For many woodworkers, a sander was among the first power tools we bought, but sanding is a messy, odious job. There IS an old-fashioned alternative: scrapers.
A scraper is a piece of mild steel that is used to smooth a wood surface. The edge is filed smooth and square, then a "hook" is burnished into the edge that effectively forms a very small cutting edge. When burnished and used properly, a scraper should create tiny curls that look like miniature plane shavings.
