SCRAPING

Why and How

By Ron Gerlach
For SCHSM

Why Scrape?
Elegantly simple technique that provides results that are
difficult to match
Still used today on high end machines to fit sliding members to
way surfaces
Scraped surfaces retain oil in the fine scrape marks in a way that
ground surfaces cannot

A must, on large new and rebuilt machine tools

Take the tool to the work
A straight edge can be a fraction of the weight of the tool

Inexpensive Tools

Example, Finely Scraped Straight Edge

Reflection off of a fine scraped surface

Applications
Machine Tool Rebuilding
Any slide way surface
Precision mating surfaces

Easy way to true up two mating surfaces if a surface

grinder is not available or practical
Cylinder head to block
Bearing block halves
Flattening parts that are impractical to clamp or hold for milling

Quick way to accurately correct damage to flat surfaces

Dings
Edge Impacts
Gouges

Basic Procedure for Scraping

Start with a known flat surface
Surface plate
Ground bed way

Apply a spotting compound to flat reference surface

Apply work piece surface to be scraped to the inked/dyed
surface (or vice versa) and move slightly back and forth
Separate and observe spots transferred to work piece
Scrape off metal from any locations with spots
Repeat until spotting produces a uniformly distributed set
of spots through out the work piece surface

Flat Plate, Early Stage

Flat Plate, After Several Cycles

Flat Plate After More Cycles

Lathe Cross Slide, Early Stage

Lathe Cross Slide, Later Stage

Types of Surfaces to be Scraped

Any flat surface
Size constrained by size of reference surface or straight edge
Long surfaces can be successfully scraped with a shorter straight edge

Requires careful attention to spotting indications

Start at one end and scrape until level
Progress towards opposite end while overlapping portion of previous section
Scrape new section until contact on previous section is restored

Metals as well as some specialty plastics such as Rulon and Turcite

Dovetails
Usually requires some method to measure distance between
opposing dovetails
Precision ground rod in dovetail opening provides an easy and
repeatable measurement point

Challenges, Spotting
Spotting Compound Application
Heavier during initial aggressive scraping
Lighter and thinner as surface progresses closer to final condition

Accurate Spotting
Consistent and even application of compound
Consistent and even application of pressure between work piece
and reference surface
Gravity is always best when possible, can be augmented with weights
Must be aware of how center of gravity acts on work or straight edge
Manually applied pressure can work but must be consistent

Reading the spots

For heavy scraping; if its blue, scrape it
For light scraping; scrape light areas surrounded by blue

Fine Spotting

Challenges, Scraping
Basic technique is to apply pushing & downward force on
scrapers
Careful scraping
Avoid gouges by controlling scraper angle and pressure
Developing an ability to scrape with required aggressiveness
Heavy metal removal when surface is far from desired flatness
Light metal removal when surface is close to desired flatness

Avoid damage to edges

Patience
The results can be slow but the reward is worth it

Control
Scraping Straight Down removes metal in a homogenous
manner anywhere across entire surface
Work piece progresses as angle remains fixed as surface becomes
True

Techniques can be applied to actually tilt or skew a surface

as need
Two surfaces on different planes can be worked to be parallel
Commonly done when working with dovetails and flat ways to
compensate for uneven wear
Leaving one end un-scraped while continuing to spot and scrape
all other sections will rotate work piece down from theunscraped edge or point

Tools Needed

Flat Reference
Surface plate
Straight Edge

Spotting Compound
Prussian Blue
Water based Compound, Canode #2243 from Dapra
Almost any substance that will leave a fine film and that will transfer
Lipstick
Paint pigment

Ink Roller

Scrapers
Carbide (best over all)
Commercial units available
Inexpensive inserts can be brazed to handles and sharpened as required

Old files (will work but requires frequent sharpening)

Tools, Continued

Clean flat file to debur surface before each spotting

More critical when doing heavy metal removal

Paint brush to clean away scraping residue

Sturdy holding device
Keep work piece from moving when applying heavy scraping action
Flexibility to move work piece around for best light and tool access

Gloves

Camel Back Straight Edge

SCRAPERS

More Commercial Hand Scrapers

Home Made HandScrapers

Scraping Links

Yahoo Groups-Scraping
Wikipedia-Hand Scraping
Straight Talk on Ways: Andrew Devitt, Devitt Machinery
http://www.moglice.com/newsite/frames/straightframe.html
Turcite: Machine Tool Specialty Components
http://www.mtsandtg.com/specialty/turcite
BIAX Scrapers: Dapra Corporation
http://www.dapra.com/biax/scrapers/accessories.htm
Practical Machinist
http://www.practicalmachinist.com

Machine Repair: books, videos, tools

http://www.machinerepair.com/

Machine Tool Reconditioning by Edward Connelly