Simple, Low-Cost Card Scraper Till

This is a simple, low-cost till for organizing and storing your card scrapers. It can be made from firewood or scrap wood using simple glue-and-screw joinery. The design can easily be modified to fit your needs and your preferred method of mounting it to the wall.

Materials

This project can be built from almost any scrap wood. The example shown here was made entirely from scraps pulled from the firewood pile.

 

After gathering and dimensioning your stock, lay out the cuts and the holes for the reinforcing dowels.

The dowels add strength to the thin, cross-grain sections of the till. For this example, I made the dowels from black walnut using a dowel cutter. Since the dowels will never be visible once the till is assembled, commercially available dowel rod of the appropriate size would work just as well.

Once the dowels are glued in place, you can cut the slots that will hold the card scrapers.

 

The slots should be cut at approximately 20 degrees and just slightly wider than your thickest scraper. You could make each slot with two parallel saw cuts, but I found that the kerf of my bandsaw blade was almost exactly the right size. This made cutting the slots quick and easy.

Wall Mounting

This example was designed to fit my French cleat wall, but the mounting method can easily be modified to suit your needs.

If using a French cleat, use a hand plane or other suitable method to bring the cleats to the correct thickness and bevel the edge to match your wall-mounted cleat.

To keep the construction quick and simple, the walnut cleats on this example were glued in place and secured with countersunk screws.

Finishing

Apply the finish of your choice, mount the till to the wall, and it's ready to go.

A simple project made from scrap wood that provides a convenient place to keep your card scrapers organized, protected, and within easy reach.