> pontificating projectile prattle:
>> That scraping business will tear up the grain on flat side-grain
>> boards and any made from soft woods.


>No, it won't. Woodworkers have known for centuries that using a
scraper
>will produce a *smoother* finish than sanding, especially on hardwood.


Absolutely. Centuries, try many millennia... man has been finish
smoothing woods with scrapers since well before he had metal.... many
crafts requiring highly skilled woodworkers are still plied with
scrapers of stone and bone. Btw, the bits of grit composing sand paper
are in fact nothing more than miniature scrapers, which of course tear
up wood surfaces far more than do broad edge blade scrapers. Man has
always had sand, and used sand, for rough finishing... but for final
smoothing (and precision dimensioning) scraping is and always has been
the preferred method.... is how the stones comprising pyramids were
made to such exacting standards.

>I regularly scrape my rock maple cutting board with the *back* edge of

>my chef's knife, especially after the board's gotten wet. You'd be
>amazed at the amount of greasy "gunk" that shows up on the knife. And
>the board is *smooth* and much lighter in color, too.

Exactly what's recommended at johnboos.com

>I do the same thing with my plastic cutting sheets, too. The amount of

>gunk is even more amazing, considering that I clean those with hot
soapy
>water and a green "scrubber".

That's because many plastics are actually porous and absorb fats just
like woods.

>I have heard that professional butchers scrape their carving blocks.
>Isaac

Of course they do, those who still use wood... more and more butchering
is turning towards plastic... then the cleaning tool of choice is steam
and high pressure washers, same way the entire butchering facility is
cleaned.... no chemical disinfectants are permitted, no bleach, no
peroxide, not even salt or citrus... just H2O... ever you visit your
local stupidmarket after hours, when meat cutting is done for the day
and the cleaning crew is doing it's thing peer through the customer
service window.... drive around back and you'll see the truck with the
high pressure steam generator.... set up is pretty much like mobile
carpet cleaners use, only the hose goes in to do the business. Some
stupid market chains hire their own crew, some contract the job.. the
cleaning crew goes from butcher shop to butcher shop all night. Anyone
one tells you commercial food handling facilities are cleaned by some
putz with a spritz bottle and a schmatah, is a friggin' liar, a really
dumb schmuck, both.

Scrapers have always been and are still the primary wood smoothing
tools of highly skilled professional wood workers... all the proof
anyone needs is to observe musical instrument cabinetry makers and wood
boat builders plying their crafts. Even metal and stone are smoothed
with scrapers; that's how precision machine beds are finished, and
ultra precision granite surface plates recieve final dimensioning by
hand scraping... the journal bearing surfaces of blue printed internal
combustion engines, such as used in racing cars, are fitted and
smoothed by hand scraping. There are also scraping machines, but final
scraping is done by hand.

Don't believe, go to leevalley.com and search <scrapers>

http://www.leevalley.com/home/Search.aspx?c=2&action=n