David Ray Pine shows how to make and use a traditional scratch stock for woodworking

In the above video David Ray Pine stops by my woodworking school to demonstrate his method for making and using a traditional scratch stock to cut a decorative profile. Below I’ll share the steps mentioned in the video. See David’s upcoming classes at the bottom of this page. And if you want to see a tour of David’s workshop, click here.

David Ray Pine Making A Scratch Stock In The Wood And Shop Traditional Woodworking School

What is a Scratch Stock?

David Ray Pine Using A Scratch Stock On A Piece Of Wood

For those who aren’t familiar with what a scratch stock is, it’s a small piece of soft steel with a decorative shape filed into it, held in wooden handle. It’s used to make custom molding shapes in wood, when you don’t have the right shape of router bit, shaper cutter, or molding plane. Or when you just need a short stick of a simple, shallow molding.

David Ray Pine Using A Scratch Stock On A Piece Of Wood

Scratch stocks are very useful because they can be pushed forward or backward, which is great for dealing with difficult or reversing wood grain.

How to Make a Scratch Stock

David Ray Pine Using A Scratch Stock On A Piece Of Wood

Scratch stocks are super easy to make, and shouldn’t cost you a cent. They are typically just made from scraps in your workshop. The wooden “stock”, or handle is made from a scrap of wood found lying in your scrap bin. Cut a small kerf to hold the cutter, and bore 2-3 holes to add machine screws & nuts as a vise for the cutter. Cut & shape the notch in the stock in a manner that allows you to place your profile in the right spot on your furniture.

David Ray Pine Displaying Multiple Scratch Stocks

If you have rounded furniture pieces to scratch a profile onto you can shape your stock to accommodate a round shape:

David Ray Pine Using A Scratch Stock On A Piece Of Wood

The metal cutter can be fashioned from a thin scrap of sheet metal or old bandsaw blade. It doesn’t need to be tool steel. If using an old bandsaw blade, make sure to file the teeth off (enough to prevent yourself getting cut) and use the back side of the blade for your profile, where the metal isn’t hardened.

David Ray Pine Showing A Bandsaw Blade For Use In A Scratch Stock

Filing is much easier in non-hardened steel. Use a marker or layout fluid to coat the area of the metal where you’ll be cutting the profile:

David Ray Pine Using Sharplie Marker To Shape A Profile On A Scratch Stock

Then use an awl to scratch your desired profile into the metal.

David Ray Pine Using An Awl To Shape A Profile On A Scratch Stock

Then use a series of metal files to cut the soft steel down to your scratched profile lines.

David Ray Pine Using A File To Shape A Profile On A Scratch Stock

As you can see below, you can make multiple profiles on one piece of metal. This allows you to simply flip the cutter around when you need a different profile.

David Ray Pine Inspecting A Cutter While Using A Scratch Stock On A Piece Of Wood

Insert the cutter into the stock so that it just projects enough to make the cut. Then tighten down the screws that you added to the stock.

David Ray Pine Tightening The Screws On A Scratch Stock

On the scratch stock below you’ll notice that the square nuts were inlaid into the stock to prevent them from moving:

David Ray Pine Using A Scratch Stock On A Piece Of Wood

Scratch away until your profile takes shape! Like with molding planes, the scratch stock should stop cutting when you’ve reached the full profile:

David Ray Pine Using A Scratch Stock On A Piece Of Wood

Soon you’ll find a handful of custom-made scratch stocks scattered around your workshop. Comment at the bottom of the page to share your experience with making & using scratch stocks.

David Ray Pine Displaying Multiple Scratch Stocks On A Woodworking Workbench

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Thomas Hverring
May 11, 2022 6:52 pm

I absolutely love scratch stocks! It’s so simple to go to and only one’s imagination is the limit. So useful and fun to make :^)

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