Remove Dried Glue with Wood Finishing Scrapers
YouTube Video on Using Razor Blades as Wood Finishing Scrapers
Use Razor or Utility Knife Blades to Scrape Dried Glue and Runs in the Finish
We’ve all had times when we find a run in the finish, or maybe a blob of dried glue on a project that we’re working on. We want to remove either of these without damaging the surrounding area. Ideally, we want to remove just that small bit of finish that formed into a run or that bit of excess glue that’s formed into a lump, and nothing else.
Sanding them out will probably make it worse and increase the size of the defect. A better way to do this is with a small scraper. But, not just any scraper, a regular card scraper is too big and too aggressive for this. We need something small and easy to handle for such delicate work.
Ordinary Utility Blades
It’s easy to make ordinary utility blades into small wood finishing scrapers for removing dried glue. A utility razor blade, or a utility knife blade are perfect for this type of work. I add a burr one side of the blade similar to how you would add a burr on a card scraper. It requires nothing fancy, difficult, or expensive. You don’t have to sharpen or polish the edge and you don’t need a special burnisher either.
Use a screwdriver to add a burr
Scraping Glue with a Utility Knife
I lightly rub a screwdriver along the edge of the blade a few times and it’s ready to go. It’s important to hold the screwdriver at a shallow angle to the blade, but that’s it. That’s all there is to it!
Utility knife blades thicker than razor knives, so you can be more aggressive with them.
Razor blades can flex for more precision
Razor blades are thinner and you can flex them for more precision, but either will do the job.
Adding tape can protect the surrounding area
Adding a bit of masking tape on each end of the blade will help to make sure that you don’t scratch the surrounding area.
Whether you’re removing a run in the finish or a blob of dried glue, utility blades make excellent scrapers for wood finishing. Give it a try, and let me know how it worked out for you!
Final thought
I hope that you are enjoying this Free Wood Finishing Class. I put a lot of time and effort into this, but I don’t mind as long as people are enjoying it. I have so much wood finishing content that it will take me a while to post all of it here on my website. Please let me know what you would like to see next!
