Hi Paul,

Be careful not to confuse a cabinet scraper with paint scraper - they are two different tools.

A cabinet scraper is a thin piece of high quality steel that has a small "burr" (or hook) burnished on it's edge. Cabinet scrapers are typically rectangular but also come in different shapes for doing curved surfaces. A cabinet scraper is a "finesse" tool used for smoothing surfaces - it takes off very fine (controlled) shavings. I have made my cabinet scrapers out of an old handsaw blade. One scraper I made is 12" long - I use it on semi-cured epoxy to remove any little bumps on the surface before going to the next coat - being so large, I can go over the whole kayak's surface in a couple of minutes. There is a bit of a knack to "sharpening" cabinet scrapers because the edge is formed by burnishing rather than grinding.

A paint scraper has a blade with a handle, the better scrapers have carbide blades. I bought a Sandvik scraper from Home Depot for about $14.00 CNDN and I am really pleased with it - still using the original blade and it has done a pile of work. You can be more aggressive with a paint scraper and they do a great job of removing seams and drips of epoxy. With a bit of practice, you can do some real fine work with a paint scraper but until you get a feel for using them be careful - they can get away from you and gouge the surface.

Both are great tools.

Hope this helps.

Hank