Plastic Scraper

Rating: **** (out of five stars possible)

Our specialty is vintage guitar restoration.

In this line of work, you inevitably run into using adhesive next to a finished surface. Two examples of this work are replacing or re-attaching binding on a finished guitar neck. Another is replacing or re-attaching binding on top or back next to a finished side. There is always (always!) a tiny bit of squeeze out next to the binding somewhere along the work. We use Stewmac Bind All #1976. That adhesive requires careful masking of nearby finished surfaces. We use 3M #2060 green tape for masking. This tape is specifically recommended for lacquer.

Occasionally, the adhesive glues down a little sliver of green tape next to the binding right on top of the finished surface. Seems to be no way to keep the adhesive from creeping under the tape in some spots. It can be very difficult to remove the little bits of green tape that stick to the finished surface. Scraping with any sharp metal tool runs the risk of damaging the lacquer finish.

Plastic razor blade scrapers to the rescue!

This little tool looks like the silliest and most useless item we have ever seen.

But it is a very useful and effective scraping tool for lacquer surfaces. The image below is of a plastic scraper blade sharpened like an old double edge blade and a snap-together holder.

The blade will not scratch lacquer. Believe me, we have tried.

Nothing beats this tool for removing tiny bits of adhesive corrupted green tape from a finished lacquer surface. It is also great for scraping away PVA or hide glue from a lacquer finish. Beats fingernails and metal scrapers by a country mile. The blades are not very durable, but that is expected for a fairly soft plastic blade.

©2016 D.R. Hanna