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On scraping/ scraping training from the guy in Minnesota

Dabbler

ersatz engineer
I know it has been a long time since I proposed it, but I finally have an update --

The scraping guy I know through a friend is called Dennis Danich, a machinery rebuilder with 50 years experience with scraping. When I first contacted him in September (wow- was it really that long ago??) He didn't respond for a long time, and then I found out he was ill. Fortunately he is all better now, as so my friend sent him another email yesterday and he responded with an interest in helping us to learn scraping.

Of course we need scrapers and scraping projects. Cast iron is the best to learn on and is the gold standard for accurate surfaces - perhaps an angle plate project or straight edge? Should we try to do a combined purchase of durabar for making straight edges? I'm open to all suggestions! Should we have a 'lets make us some scrapers bee' - or would everyone want to make their own in their own shop? I'm thinking of purchasing a scraper with replaceable blades as well as making a fixed scraper.

Is it to early to propose a seminar this summer, or should we be targetting next summer?
 

PeterT

Ultra Member
Premium Member
Thanks for the nudge John. If you are looking for expression of interest for attending a noob scraping workshop along the lines of what you described tonight, I'll put my name in the ring. As you formulate cost, project scope, tools provided timing etc. let us know.

I guess speaking very loosely for myself, I don't have any machines that I'm eyeing to scrape/rebuild, but maybe one day. The more immediate goal would be foundation scraping skills - granite plate & dye work, scraping tools & methods... whereby I could make accurate smallish stuff like tooling plates, squares, blocks etc. and ideally apply this to say recondition an Ebay find or dial in a so-so offshore casting/tool into something quite accurate like what I see Stefan & others do.
 

Dabbler

ersatz engineer
Richard King is unlikely to come to Canada. Besides being super busy (just look at his website), word has it that he had a very bad border experience a few years ago. So retiring or not, we likely won't see him come to Calgary.

Dennis was a Machinery rebuilder with lots of machines rebuilt. He is a certified Millwright and Welding Instructor. He taught Millwright apprentices at one of the Ohio trade schools for many years as well.

We are discussing a 4 day get together in the late spring: $400-500 per person plus sharing the expenses to bring him here. They are working on a syllabus right now; I expect to get it this week. How about the May long weekend plus a day?

The idea is that they will bring the scrapers and all the necessaries, everyone will do a project that should be essentially complete at the end of the course. How about the May long weekend plus a day??? The project they are proposing is a triangular cross section straight edge, which are handy in checking lathe saddle ways and Y axis mill ways. Hopefully every one who participates will have a great straight edge at the end of the proceedings!

That all I have today. As soon as I get the outline, I'll post it here!

If that goes well, could have him back for the September long weekend for a 5 day session covering Machine Geometry and scraping an angle plate or something to do with scraping inside dovetails... (yet to be figured out)

So I'm working on finding a space - If we have 8 people, it will need an empty garage sized place with 4 workbenches and a good surface plate.
 

Janger

(John)
Administrator
Vendor
I think a shorter session would be more practical for us working stiffs. Friday night, sat, sun maybe?
 

Dabbler

ersatz engineer
I'm trying for the (3 day) May long weekend, with an optional extra day for those who can swing it. That would cover all the planar scraping questions and measuring using the triangle.

The second session is still being worked on, so the duration is unknown at this time. Machine Geometry is a broad sublect, so I'm hoping he can make another 3/4 day out of it...
 
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