Why would anyone in the21st-century be interestedin using a dull, old

fashioned piece of woodworking kit,like a scratch-stock?

As some of my students say, if it hasn’t got a plug on it, complexelectronics controlling a mightymotor, or something tungsten-tipped hanging out of it, it’s notgoing to be anywhere near excitingenough to use. Well, if students

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F U R N I T U R E & C A B I N E T M A K I N G 41

Like any relationship,

your ability with a

scratch-stock will take

time to flourish. But stick

with it, says John Lloyd,

and you’ll never want to

be parted from your

hardwood lump again.

knew everything they wouldn’t bestudents would they?

On the face of it however, I’mafraid I have to agree. A scratch-stock is not likely to induceanything approaching anadrenaline rush, but take amoment to consider theproperties of this odd shapedlump of hardwood, and you mightcome to realise that it’s actually avery cunning, versatile, little tool.

from scratchAbove

Using an oldjigsaw blade tomake an inlaycutter

1 Applyingdental mouldingcompound tomake a cutterprofile

2 Cutting the mouldingsquare

3 Scribing theprofile on to thecutter blank

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Starting

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Low-tech routerIf you haven’t come across ascratch-stock before it’s sort oflow-tech router which, I suspect, isused mainly by furniture restorers.I’m not saying that a scratch-stockis a viable alternative to the router,as I have to admit to being theproud owner of three routers ofvarious sizes. However, I suggestthat it’s a piece of kit that wouldalso be useful for a furniture-maker.It does require a degree of skill touse and a bit of practice to master.

A scratch-stock is, in essence,just a piece of hardwood which isshaped to form a fence and thensplit in two, allowing a shapedmetal cutter to be sandwichedbetween the two halves. The twosides are held together with acouple of screws. I have always

42 F U R N I T U R E & C A B I N E T M A K I N G

stuck with my basic model – whyovercomplicate thingsunnecessarily?

Home-madeHistorically, cabinetmakers wouldmake some of their own tools as amatter of course, and the scratch-stock or ‘scratch router’ would havebeen one of the simplest home-made tools for them to create.

The shape would have beenlargely a matter of personalpreference, depending, I suspect,on a combination of how muchtime they had on their hands andhow much they wanted toimpress visitors. They were usedto run beads and mouldingsaround straight or curved edges,and also to run grooves forstringing and bandings.

4 Hacksawingthe cutterprofile out

5 Finalshaping withfiles

6 Using apencil line as aguide for thedepth

7 Making astart

8 Mouldingnearly finished,notedisappearingpencil line

9 The finishedmoulding

10 Hacksawinga groove tocreate inlaycutiing ‘wings’

11 Rounding offwith a file

12 Cutting aninlay groove

BenefitsThe stock itself is made from anoffcut of hardwood, and the bladecan be made from a bit of old sawblade or cabinet scraper whichhas the desired profile cut into itusing a hacksaw and files.

There are several majorbenefits in having a scratch-stockfor furniture restorers. For instance,if there’s a bit of moulding missingon an antique, what are thechances of there being a routercutter that would be exactly thesame shape? Realistically, nil. Theshapes of modern router cuttersare usually a bit bland and lifelessas well, compared to, for example, a Georgian moulding. And even ifan exact match could be found,the end result would probably betoo straight and perfect to match

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F U R N I T U R E & C A B I N E T M A K I N G 43

cabinet scrapers, or even old stylespindle moulder cutters work wellfor mouldings, and old jigsawblades are good for grooves.When copying an existingmoulding, an accurate copy of theoriginal profile is required. One ofthe few benefits of having childrenis that there is likely to be someplasticine in the house. It can beused to transfer the profile, but thedownside is that plasticine stayspliable and is, therefore, liable tochange shape during thetransferring process. A better bet is dental mouldingcompound. However, that too hasa snag – a visit to the dentist isrequired! Dental mouldingcompound is thermoplastic, sosoften it in hot water and thenpress it against your originalmoulding and leave to harden.Care should be taken when usingthis stuff on original surfacesthough. If it’s applied too hot, it willdamage the polish. I generally puta little paste wax on the surface ofthe moulding to dissuade thecompound from trying to attachitself permanently.

The shape of the moulding isthen transferred to the piece ofsteel being used as the cutter.Colour the cutter with a markerpen to make the shape morevisible before scribing the shapeonto the steel. To shape the cutter,

the hand-cut original.It probably wouldn’t makecommercial sense to buy a newrouter cutter to make 6ins (150mm)of missing moulding. For cutting agroove for a stringing repair, ascratch-stock is a much lessterrifying prospect than using arouter. One slip on an original 250year-old surface with a screamingrouter is guaranteed to ruin yourday!

When I’m making furniture I willoften use a scratch-stock instead ofa router, partly because I alreadyown one, but also because they aremuch less anti-social.

CutterHaving made your scratch-stock(see panel) constructing a cutter isthe next hurdle. Old saw blades,

Making a scratch-stockMaking a scratch stock is not very taxing.It takes just a couple of minutes using aband saw. For a general purpose scratch-stock with a single fence, a piece of beechabout 200 x 55 x 35mm (8in x 21⁄8in x 13⁄8in)will do the job. Create the fence bymaking two cuts on the band saw. Oneshould be across the grain, about 80mm(31⁄8in) in from one end, and extendhalfway across the width. The second cutshould again be to half the width but thistime should run along the length of thepiece to meet up with the first cut, thuscreating a sort of lumpy ‘L’ shape. Whilst still in one piece, drill andcountersink the pilot holes for the screws.It’s a good idea to fit the screws into thedrilled holes, although moving straight onto the next stage without removing themagain is likely to have a nasty effect on theband-saw blade.

Next stageThe next stage involves splitting thescratch-stock in two, right down themiddle. The two halves can then bescrewed together again with a couple offairly meaty screws. Having created thebasic shape, it needs to be slightlyenhanced to make it work properly. Theunderside, adjacent to the fence, needs tobe rounded-over along its length. All thesharp edges on the top and ends need tobe softened to prevent drawing blood orcreating blisters, which will make youthink that scratch-stocks aren’t such abrilliant idea after all!

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use a combination of hacksawand various shapes of files –warding or needle files work wellfor this. The cutting edge shouldbe cut square so that it cuts fromeither direction when mounted inthe scratch-stock. Havingcompleted the profiling, flattenboth faces of the cutter on abench stone to give a really sharpcutting edge.

Using a scratch-stockAs mentioned earlier, using ascratch-stock requires a sensitivetouch, particularly when it’s beingused for letting in fine lines. Cradlethe thick end of the stock in onehand, and support the thin endwith the other. With the piecesecurely restrained, hold the fenceagainst the edge of your work.Then, in an action similar to thatused with a spoke shave, hold theblade away from the surface androtate the stock so that the blademakes contact with the piece as itgains momentum.

It’s almost impossible to getthe cutter cutting from a standingstart. At the end of the cut rotatethe blade back out of the groove,and bring the stock back to thestart point. Repeat the processuntil the cut is complete.

The skill lies in keepingeverything aligned whilst twistingand moving the scratch-stockback and forth.

Inner glowWith a bit of practice you’ll form astrong bond with your odd shapedbit of hardwood. You’ll also get thatnice warm inner glow of the truecraftsman every time you use it –possibly after thinking it might bemore use in the wood burner!F&C

44 F U R N I T U R E & C A B I N E T M A K I N G

Narrower, parallel-sided cuttersfor cutting grooves and forletting in lines and bandings canbe made from old jigsawblades. Remove the teeth andget close to the required widthwith a bench grinder, andundertake a bit of fine tuningwith files. A cutter with a squareend is going to be fine forgetting into surfaces along thegrain, but if it was used acrossthe grain, or perhaps on a crossbanding, the edges will tear outgiving a less than crisp result.

Use the same sort of theory aswith drill bits – to get a nice cleanedge to the groove requiressome spurs on the cutter.

Spurs can be successfullyadded to very narrow cutters.To get the spurs started, makea shallow cut in the middle ofthe cutter with a junior hacksaw

and use this cut to locate a fine,round, needle file used tocreate a concave shape which,if extended right to the edges,will result in two spurs.

The spurs can be filed offwhile the cutter is still in thestock, and then running thecutter in the groove again givesa square-bottomed groove.

Controlling the depth of cut is sometimes just a case ofhanging the right amount ofcutter out of the stock. Whilstthis can be effective for cuttinggrooves, I find that mouldingcutters don’t work effectivelyunless they are hanging out abit. So to control depth of cutfor mouldings I run a pencilline along the top edge of thework piece. When the penciljust disappears, the mouldingis done.

Parallel-sided cutters

13 14 15

1613 The stockblank cut out

14 Splitting thestock

15 Shaping thelong face to giveclearance

16 Finishedscratch stockalong some oldfavourites