I am on the same side as you Jeff.

You may be trying too hard. All I do is run the edge over a clamped file a couple of times freehand and then roll a little bur on the edges by clamping the scraper and running two or three times over each edge at a slight angle. I get lots of fine shavings. The more pressure you use with the burnisher, the more aggressive the burr.

This made the difference for me
http://www.finewoodworking.com/how-to/video/tune-up-a-card-scraper.aspx

That’s a great video.

Okay I watched the video and im going to try this. Thank you

Also try to bow the scraper slightly when you scrape the more you bow the deeper the shaving

Just a quick thought, preparation was the key for me. Also (like shipwright said) I was trying way too hard to turn the burr. Its small, just enough to catch a finger nail.

Let us know when you have success.

I will ill try this on Thursday for i needed to take a day off to get personal stuff done. And thank you all for your help. Ill try and take a picture of my success.

Just an update… i finally did get that burr. I was trying to hard. I finally figured out not to press so hard with the burnisher it needs to have just the right amount of pressure and the angle. One thing i figured out is don’t pull towards you after pushing away. That was the mistake i did. But thanks to you guys and the video Tim.

I want to get one of these. I saw a set of 6 on amazon for $12 (shop fox). I have a question about the burnisher. The ones I saw on amazon are fairly expensive. Is there any reason I could not just use a piece of steel rod from the hardware store? Or even a piece of brass rod I already have in my garage?

I bought a set of scrapers, and a burnisher after watching a demo video on YouTube about 3 months ago. After wasting considerable time and effort trying to perfect my methods, i set them aside, I don’t know where they are now and I don’t want to know. Haha. What’s your address Brian, I will mail you mine, seriously.

I will send you a pm. Thank you!

This is a wooden device I bought with mine that locks the blade into place at the right angle and it makes it a lot easier on your hands. Found it a Woodcraft.

Looks very comfy to use.

Brian, that burnisher in your wife’s knife set will work just fine.