Among the treasure trove of information and tips and tricks at Frank Ford’s website Frets.com there’s a description of how to turn a single-edge razor blade into a miniature cabinet scraper for repairs of guitar finishes. Click here to read it.
I thought that this was a really clever idea and immediately ordered a box of blades to try it out. Ford says that he draws the edge of the blade across a round piece of hard steel such as a screwdriver shank to create a fine hook just as one might finish a full size cabinet scraper.
I’m not sure why, but I couldn’t make it work. Maybe it was my technique or perhaps the steel of the blade had hardened during the sharpening process but despite repeated trials all I could produce was a ragged edge that scraped less well than a blade straight from the box.
The solution was first to grind off the bevelled edge of the blade;
then to make the blade edge straight and square on a diamond stone;
and finally to turn a hook with a burnisher in the usual way.
These little scrapers work extremely well if you need to remove polish or varnish and they’re easy to re-sharpen.
Finely Strung 