Tool Tip #10: The Hulk's Bench Scraper

I couldn't find any green gloves for this picture, but just take a long and wide piece of 1/4" plate glass, hold it at an angle safely with thick gloves and then draw it across your workbench in several different directions.  Now you have a monster bench scraper:  off come high spots, glue drops, burrs, splinters and most any piece of debris that could scratch your work.  With repeated use such a scraper has the further benefit of flattening the top of your workbench, which is always a help for any form of glue-up.  Used with care, freshly cut glass makes an excellent scraper for wood, a practice I first encountered in the Chelsea studio of the Greek sculptor Michael Lekakis.  He used little squares of window glass for the final finish on a variety of his wood sculptures.  That's 8 crisp edges without any maddening metal scraper sharpening...the Hulk can keep his shirt on.