Scraper used by Roy Cooney. All engraving produces burrs as copper is removed from the plate. These burrs had to be removed using a scraper to make clean printing possible. Held with one face flat on the plate, the scraper would be swept across the work to remove any metal protruding from the edges of engraved lines. Scrapers could be bought 'off the shelf', but were often made by engravers from triangular files, with the end ground to a point and polished to avoid scratching the copper.