I have a couple of Sandvik Coromant way scrapers, they look like this:
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The stuff under the red plastic tip is a big carbide insert.
I am trying to decide if I should keep one or sell both. Are they only useful for high end precision way scraping (which is something that I probably will never do)? Or do they have some more mundane uses?
One mundane use would be to mount the ends securely to a block of wood and keep it on the verandah. It'd do a fine job of cleaning the dog crap from my boots after a walk in the park.
If you you drop something on your machine way or table, this is a good tool to scrape off the raised ding it made.
You might find precision scraping is fun. It is one of those mindless concentration tasks similar to meditation, only instead of just staring at your navel, you end up with a beautiful flat surface. If your kids like making stuff, it might even be something they could do on a small scale.
I've been reading a series on scraping in one of the home shop magazines. Apparently if you start playing with that, you'll probably be making a lot of your own scrapers. Doubt I'll do that, to many projects, not enough time.
On the other hand, I've rarely seen anybody get as much accomplished as you, so who knows? Besides, remember that first lathe and sweet Clausing mill you sold? Bet you wish you hadn't at least once, would have made good tools for your boys some day. Plus those don't take up much room, just keep them in your personal tools.
Pete, thanks a lot for the compliment. I am, actually, happy that I sold my busted Clausing lathe and replaced it with a much better clausing, glad that I sold two mills and got the Interact, also.
I will probably keep one of these Sandvik scrapers./
Ignoramus21764 fired this volley in news:LPidnRipE6q-p1DTnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:
Iggy, I've only met two people who actually knew how to scrape the ways on a machine. Both were OLD, and both made their own tools from HSS blanks.
Although I'm sure the carbide will last longer between replacements than a hand-honed edge, these guys both "tuned" their tools about every ten minutes. I think the attention to the "instantaneous" condition of the edge made a big difference in how their work turned out.
My question with a carbide scraper would be, "How do you tell when it's not quite keen enough to do the quality job I want?" And then, of course, how fast can I get new inserts?
I learned rather quickly that indexable inserts get dull, too!
HSS dulls so quickly even on soft cast iron, that it is a major pain. Carbide stays sharp enough for 15 - 30 minutes.
I made inserts for an Anderson Bros. handle from pieces of scrap steel brazed to 3/4 x 1.5" x 1/8" carbide blanks that I got on sale for a couple $ each. They work VERY well, and are easy to sharpen on a diamond wheel.
I scraped in a Michael Morgan straightedge, then did a set of 3 right angle plates. My Sheldon Lathe was too hard to scrape, had to spot-grind that using the same techniques of spotting but used a die grinder for the removal of material.
Ignoramus21764 fired this volley in news:LPidnRipE6q-p1DTnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:
Iggy, I've only met two people who actually knew how to scrape the ways on a machine. Both were OLD, and both made their own tools from HSS blanks.
Although I'm sure the carbide will last longer between replacements than a hand-honed edge, these guys both "tuned" their tools about every ten minutes. I think the attention to the "instantaneous" condition of the edge made a big difference in how their work turned out.
My question with a carbide scraper would be, "How do you tell when it's not quite keen enough to do the quality job I want?"
============================================================== Ah, if you're like me, you'll know right away. I can barely push the darned thing when it gets dull.
All but one of mine are made out of old files. The one that isn't is a Nicholson, which looks exactly like one of their files with no teeth, but with a flared tip. That one has a thigh brace for pushing it.
Jon Elson fired this volley in news:YZOdnTYy1NLbzlDTnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:
Yeah, that's probably the "old guy" vs. the "new guy" thing. They did pay a LOT of attention to their edges. One guy used a stone, but the other one had a nice diamond lap. Both checked their edges for a blackout on a small surface plate.
"Ed Huntress" fired this volley in news:4ecd58a8$0$13511$ snipped-for-privacy@cv.net:
Sounds reasonable! I've never attempted a scraping job myself. I probably will in a while, when I completely re-build the old R2E4... if for nothing else, just to check how it is.
Lloyd, I can guarantee 100% that I will never scrape any machine ways that are worn, as a restoration project. I will keep this scraper for some minor jobs, like repairing dings.
Lloyd, I can guarantee 100% that I will never scrape any machine ways that are worn, as a restoration project. I will keep this scraper for some minor jobs, like repairing dings.
Also, if you ever end up owning a vintage British motorcycle that doesn't leak oil, this will rectify that situation in short order. Couple quick swipes across the bottom face of any gasketed surface will restore the bike's original ability to leave puddles of oil on the floor.
Yeah, the iron-pan purists would drum me out of the corps. But I do what you do, only outdoors, getting some oil in the pan smoking over a propane stove.
Back in the 1960s or so, Univac 9400s had a hydraulically actuated disk drive. When it worked, it worked well. But not for long. I never knew the reason, but these drives were famous for breaking and spraying oil everywhere. Puddles were normal. These drives didn't last long in the market.
IBM had (and probably invented) hydraulically actuated disk drives, but I don't recall that they tended to spray oil.
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