Wood engravers use Square Scorpers to create incisions on the surface of woodblocks. As woodblocks are inked with a roller, these incisions do not receive ink, and therefore show up white in the final print. Because the tip of a Scorper is flat, rather than pointed (as Spitstickers and Gravers are), scorpers of larger sizes are used to clear large areas of woodblocks (often round the edge of the design, or at the corners of a block) so that they will not print.
This is a medium-fine Square Scorper (#39). It has strait sides, which means that it will cut a line of a constant width. Because the tip of the cutting face is completely flat, lines cut with this tool will begin and end abruptly, with a square edge. They will not swell or taper, like lines made with a spitsticker or a graver might; nor will they be rounded at the ends, like cuts made with a Round Scorper.
Scorpers are often used to lighten areas of a print by stippling: repeatedly pecking at the woodblock with the tip of the tool, so that the surface bears a carpet of tiny incisions. This tool will create large, angular, squarish dots; for rounded dots, you will need a Round Scorper.
This tool was made from high carbon tool steel in the United States by E.C. Lyons. It is supplied factory-sharp, but it has not been honed to a fine edge. Please note, engraving tools are known by different names in the U.K. and the United States. Square Scorpers are known as 'Flat Gravers' in the U.S.A.
