How to use a triangular engineer’s scraper?

29th February 2020


How to use a triangular engineer’s scraper


	Shop for Engineer’s Scrapers


		The technique used with a triangular blade scraper depends on if you are scraping a flat surface or a cylinder.

		Triangular scraper on cylinder technique
		Hold the triangular blade scraper with your dominant hand at the top of the handle and the other at the base of the handle, as you would a large pepper grinder.

		You should stand with your feet shoulders width apart with one foot in front of the other facing the workpiece so you are able to look down the cylinder you will be scraping. You need to be able to see down the cylinder to see the spotting ink marks that have to be scraped.

		The triangular scraper should rest on the workpiece with one of the cutting edges in contact with the workpiece surface. Push the scraper away from you with your dominant hand whilst rotating the scraper blade with the other hand.

		The scraper edge in contact with the workpiece should be rotated in the direction (green arrow) away from the centre line of the scraper (red line).



		Triangular scraper on a flat surface
		Stand just to the side of, but facing the workpiece with your feet shoulder-width apart and one foot slightly in front of the other. You should be stood at a distance where you can comfortably reach the workpiece.

		If you are using a small triangular blade scraper for working in confined spaces then you may only be able to hold it with one hand. This should be using your dominant hand as you would hold one side of the handlebars on a bike. If the scraper is larger and you are able to hold it with both hands, then you should hold it as you would the oar of a boat but with both hands close together.

		When using a triangular scraper on a flat surface, you want as much of the scraper blade’s cutting edge (highlighted in green) in contact with the workpiece as possible. This will speed up the scraping process as the scraper will remove more high spots with each stroke.

		When using a triangular scraper to scrape into tight spaces such as corners, it may be necessary to increase the angle of the scraper on the workpiece so that only the tip of the blade is in contact with the workpiece.

		The scraper should be pulled towards you whilst being twisted in the same direction. This should give a scooping motion that will scrape away the high spots on the workpiece.