Scraper

“ CI, fig 2.
Scrapers have also been found in both hemispheres and in all ages. There are the same differences in material, form, and appearance as in the polished stone hatchet. There is one difference to be mentioned of this utensil—i. e., in America the scraper has been sometimes made with a stem and with notches near the base, after the manner of arrow- [Pg 979] and spear-heads, evidently intended to aid, as in the arrow- and spear-head, in fastening the tool in its handle. This peculiarity is not found in Europe, or, if found, is extremely rare. ”

“ If the scraper is of wood, the leather will suffer less, but there will be caused grooves in the scraper that must be planed out again, because otherwise each following impression will show a more or less plain streak. If the scraper is of metal, the leather may tear or the stone itself may be injured if the foreign substance in the paper is very hard. Therefore it is well to hold the paper to the light before dampening or printing and to remove any apparent defect of magnitude with a little knife. ”

“ He said he wouldn’t stay, as he didn’t care much for the smell of the paint, and fell over the scraper as he went out. Must get the scraper removed, or else I shall get into a scrape. I don’t often make jokes. ”

“ A Scraper is about the best appliance that can be had for cleaning snow from the steps, especially when the snow [Pg 171] has turned to slush. For the making of one of these, prepare a seven-eighths inch board sixteen inches long by four inches wide. Bevel the lower edge and nail a two inch strip below the top, as at A in Fig. 180. Bore a hole through both thicknesses of wood at B and fit a broom-handle in it, bracing the handle with a piece of wire run from a small hole bored in the handle at C to the ends of the scraper. ”

“ The workman must press his body tightly to the table of the press to get proper leverage. Standing free, a man of moderate strength could not move the scraper at all when the pressure is on, but a man standing in correct position can do it without difficulty.
(4) Under very heavy pressure the inker-in, who stands on the other side of the press, can help by pushing.
The scraper is a piece of pear wood as long as the size of the plate demands. Its height is about four inches, its thickness one inch. The end that rests on the leather is trimmed down so that it has a thickness of only one line. ”

“ The scraper is on a strong lever that is held up by a counterpoise. When everything is ready for printing, the scraper is forced down. By means of a strong iron hook it engages the treadle and thus can be pulled down with the utmost tension. Then the cylinder is turned by means of two levers affixed to the crank, and this draws the stone and printing-frame through under the scraper. One workman alone can do this under ordinary pressure, but an appliance at the other end of the press enables a second workman to help. ”

“ If the scraper has been made properly, it will adjust itself to the stone, even if the scraper arm is not quite plumb on the stone, a condition that often occurs with small work, such as titles and other things that are at the end of a stone.
(5) For every press a number of scrapers of different dimensions must be in stock. Generally a lever press is so made that the printing-frame can be raised or lowered according to the thickness of the stone. ”

“ In most scrapers the bulb of percussion of the flake from which they have been made is, as has already been said, at the opposite end to that which has been trimmed to form the curved edge; but this is by no means universally the case, for sometimes the bulb is at the side of the scraper, and sometimes, though more rarely, it has been at the end which has been worked to the scraper edge. ”

“ At b is shown the wooden rest or fulcrum; and at c the lever scraper operating on the ridge at the closed end of the cylinder. The lever c is worked on the pulling stroke only, and is so held that the edge presents a keen scraping tool which will cut very freely. The fulcrum b should be adjusted as closely as convenient to the work, so as to obtain good leverage for the scraper. It should be moved in its position, so that during the roughing out only the lower notches in the fulcrum are used. ”

“ The end scrapers are divisible into three categories. The first form is a flat scraper, generally triangular to oval in outline. The working end is often thin. There are a few true snub-nosed scrapers in this category. The second type is generally fan-shaped with a wide thin bit. The opposite end usually tapers to a sharp edge which could have had secondary use as a cutting tool. The third variety includes rougher forms, though there are a few well made specimens. All have a distinct keel. There are 31 of the first type, the smallest 1⁄2 × 7/16; the largest 11⁄4 × 11⁄2 inches. ”

“ These implements were probably used as knives or scrapers, being set into the end of a piece of antler, which may in turn have been set into a larger handle of wood. That some were knives is shown by the edge which is dulled to a flat polished surface extending from side to side; and that many were scrapers is shown by their celt-scraper shape, a half elliptical section, or by the scraper-form edge, seen in the largest specimen. Some, however, have the edge symmetrical, as in the hatchet-celts. One has incurved sides, and is roughened on the sides and on the faces near the top. ”

“ With the fine feed and quick speed the pores of the iron do not show; with a coarse feed the pores show very plainly and are exposed for quite a depth.
After the lathe-tool comes a well oil-stoned hand-scraper, with a piece of leather between it and the tool rest to prevent the scraper from chattering. The scraper not only smooths the surface, but it cuts without opening the pores. It is used at a quick speed, as quick indeed as it will stand, which varies with the hardness of the metal, but is always greater than is possible with a slide-rest tool. ”

“ When properly sharpened they take off not dust but fine shavings. Scrapers are particularly useful in smoothing cross-grained pieces of wood, and in cleaning off glue, old varnish, etc.
Fig. 150. Molding-Scrapers.
There are various devices for holding scrapers in frames or handles, such as the scraper-plane, Fig. 111, p. 79, the veneer-scraper, and box-scrapers. The veneer-scraper, Fig. 151, has the advantage that the blade may be sprung to a slight curve by a thumb-screw in [page 92] the middle of the back, just as an ordinary scraper is when held in the hands. ”

“ In smoothing hard wood surfaces, a scraper will be found helpful. If the grain should happen to be crossed or curled, a scraper will become a necessity. The plane-iron may be made ever so sharp and the cap-iron set ever so close to the cutting edge, still the surface of some woods will tear. Sandpaper must not be depended upon to smooth a torn surface. ”

“ Nippers (Fig. 74) are made to cut wire, but not to pull nails. Being tempered for cutting, those of good quality are hard and brittle, [Pg 96] lacking the toughness necessary to pull nails, for which work a cheap pair of nippers may be purchased.
55. The scraper is one of the most useful tools in the kit of the carpenter who works upon hard wood. This tool may be purchased, or made of a very hard saw; it must be of hard, tough steel, or the edge will not last. A scraper should be about 3” × 5”, which is a convenient size for grasping with the hand. ”

“ He put his hand into the pouch of his cloak and found only the flint skin scraper, the scraper with which he had improved the arrow's notch, though it was not originally intended for such use. It was all that remained to him of weapon or utensil. But it would cut or tear, though with infinite effort, and the man, to reassure the woman, laughed, and assailed the brown haunch before him. ”

“ If either the scraper or the burnisher is not of the right texture, throw it away, as it is worthless. If the burnisher is rough, it may be made smooth upon an oilstone. If the edge of the scraper is rough, it may be turned back again by laying the scraper flat upon the bench, the rough side up, and the burnisher passed over it several times ”

“ If the paper has impurities, it injures the scraper readily. A groove scratched into the scraper will prevent any further good impression if the injury is considerable, because it will leave a streak. The only remedy is to take the scraper off and plane it, fashioning it accurately to the surface of the stone. ”

“ There are a variety of mechanical scrapers on the market, and the output of goods per hour is perhaps the guide in selecting a scraper for a large output. All things considered, a vertical type barrel equipment, with scraping arms, delivering the hog into a horizontal beater type would appear as the most efficient and the less expensive for up-keep. ”

“ It is made of a segment of a flake, one edge and the sides of which have been trimmed to a scraper-like edge, and the other merely made straight. The resemblance between this and some of the ancient "scrapers" is manifest. Another strike-a-light flint, which I bought at a stall in Trier, is about 2 inches long by 13/8 inches broad, and is made from a flat flake, trimmed to a nearly square edge at the butt-end, and to a very flat arc at the point, both the trimmed edges being of precisely the same character as those of scrapers. ”

“ The tension of the press must be more powerful with hard printing-color and carefully graduated with soft color. Besides this, it depends—
(4) On the structure of the scraper. If it is not absolutely uniform and well fitted to the stone, more power is needed. Thus the defect often is corrected; but this may make the color squash and spread in other spots, therefore it always is better to correct any defects in the scraper. The sharper the scraper is, the clearer are the impressions, because then the whole force of the pressure concentrates on the smallest area. ”

“ These implements hardly could be used without handles. Fig. 5 represents, in natural size, one of my specimens, which was found on the surface near West Belleville, Saint Clair County, Illinois. The material is a yellowish-brown flint. The edge, it will be seen, is perfectly scraper-like. Inserted into a stout handle, this object would make an excellent scraper. The edge of this specimen is not polished, but it seems as if small particles of the edge had been scaled off by the pressure exerted in the use of the implement. ”

“ When the scrapers were ready, they found a smooth spot where they stretched out Sabre-tooth’s skin.
Then they made little slits all around the edge and drove little pegs through them.
They scraped off thin shavings from the inner side, but they were careful not to spoil the skin by cutting through it.
One side of scraper
Opposite side of scraper
[57]
When they had a smooth surface, they rubbed it with fat so as to make it soft.
Sometimes they chewed the hard parts to make them soft.
When the skin was smooth and soft, they dried it in the sun. ”

“ Scraper never had guests. Altogether, there was little attraction in the kitchen, and the Skipper seemed curiously displeased with its aspect.
"There is no other room?" he asked, after completing his survey. "No better room than this, Colorado? Surely, there must be one other; yes, of course!" he added, as if struck by a sudden thought. "His shells? Mr. Scraper has shells. They are—where?"
He paused and looked sharply at the boy. Little John coloured high. "The—the shells?" he stammered. "Yes, of course, sir, the shells are in another room, in the parlour ”

“ If the scraper is quite straight and sharp, it will with gentle handling bring the surfaces very flat, no movement or wriggling being perceptible when placed together, or there may be in very good work a slight kind of suction by the air being driven out from between them. ”

“ But the Best of all is the Knife of Heat, which is the Scraper; for when he is Hot, Scraping of him gets all the Sweat and Moysture out of him, so that he is Dry presently after, and all that Wett would turn to Dust, so there is so much Labour saved. ”

“ Among modern artificers in wood, bone, ivory, or metal, scraping tools play a far more important part than would at first sight appear probable, looking at the abundance and perfection of our cutting tools and files. The latter, indeed, are merely compound forms of "scrapers."
Fig. 226a.—North of Ireland.
A less symmetrical hollow scraper from the Culbin Sands [78] has been engraved; as has been another which Dr. Joseph Anderson [79] used in the production of an arrow-shaft, and which he found to be a very efficient tool. ”

“ A man sits on a board with his feet on a treadle, from which a rope is passed over, and works to and fro a cylindrical block, in the end of which is fixed an iron scraper. He picks up the half-nuts one at a time, and on applying them to the scraper in motion, the white fruit, or pith, falls out into a vessel underneath. ”

“ Cabinet scrapers for plane and convex surface work are rectangular pieces of saw steel. Fig. 118 shows a swan-neck scraper suitable for smoothing concave surfaces.
Beginners frequently mistake surfaces which have been planed at a mill for smooth surfaces. They are not; and, unless the “hills and hollows” which extend across the surface of every mill-planed piece of lumber are removed before the finish of stain or filler is applied, the result will be very unsatisfactory. ”

“ Among some hundreds of scrapers, principally from the Yorkshire Wolds, I have met with between twenty and thirty which show decided marks of being worn away along the circular edge, by friction. In some, the edge is only worn away sufficiently to remove all keenness or asperity, and to make it feel smooth to the touch, and this perhaps along one part only of the arc. In others, the whole edge is completely rounded, and many of the small facets by which it was originally surrounded, entirely effaced. ”