Thread: Patternmakers rasps par excellence!

very nice. I'd appreciate a set like that. Can you get this kind of quality rasps with a safe edge ?

(how much you pay ? if its not too rude to ask)

Originally Posted by apricotripper

very nice. I'd appreciate a set like that. Can you get this kind of quality rasps with a safe edge ?

(how much you pay ? if its not too rude to ask)

Jake, I would think you could have them with safe edges easily enough. Since they are hand-made one by one, you could probably just specify on the order if you want a safe edge - we've had rasps made with one side left blank to make it 'safe', no problem.

Not a rude question at all - first thing most of us wants to know! The answer is about $100 each. After you cough your tonsils back up where they belong, I just want to point out that this is about 20-25 bucks more than the machine-made jobs (which everyone is saying aren't worth two bob!). If my other Liogier rasps are anything to go by, these will be used for many years, so by the time I need new ones, they shouldn't owe me much, I hope....

Cheers,

I actually think thats not a bad price for a hand made tool. maybe sounding like they deserve a bit more.

Don't know I'd spend that sort of money right now, but they do sound special to use,,, smooth cutting ? giving you a feel like you have more control ? … the rasp I've got always felt like it requires too much force to use with control.

Originally Posted by apricotripper

I actually think thats not a bad price for a hand made tool. maybe sounding like they deserve a bit more.

Don't know I'd spend that sort of money right now, but they do sound special to use,,, smooth cutting ? giving you a feel like you have more control ? … the rasp I've got always felt like it requires too much force to use with control.

Jake, I was trying to explain to my better half, tonight, what's so special about the Liogiers. I got the look that says "I'm trying to look interested & impressed, but it's hard yakka..." So at least I can raave on a bit to you & not get too much of a glazed eye look (it also helps that we can't see each other!).

Yeah, the advantage of these hand-made rasps is that they are really good to use. Compared with anything you'd pick up at the local hardware store, it's like night & day. They cut quickly, but are very controllable. The only problem I see for someone who hasn't used them yet, is knowing what tooth size to order. They cover a big range, from wood-chewing demons to very fine rasps that leave a very fine surface (but cut pretty slowly, of course). A rough rule of thumb is that you need to go up 3 'grain' sizes to get about half the aggressiveness. A 6-grain rasp cuts like fury, a 9 cuts at about 1/2 the speed, but gives a surface that you could stop at & move on to sanding. A 12 leaves a much better surface still, that you could scrape or sand much more easily, but cuts about 1/2 as fast s the 9.

The other confusing part is knowing what type of rasp you can get the best use out of. The cabinetmakers' rasps are big heavy muthas, very suited to jobs like smoothing cabriole legs, etc. I don't have any of these, because I do mostly smaller-scale stuff, so I went for some 10" modellers' rasps, at first. These will do full-size cabriole legs at a pinch, but are much more suited to smaller-scale work, as their name suggests. The #49s that I was raving about above fit into the medium-small work category as well. For some jobs, I prefer the modellers rasps with their more tightly-curved backs & more tapered points, but for other jobs, the 49s are going to be the ones I reach for.

Cheers,

Well up to now for shaping small details I use files, and wood sticks with sandpaper glued to them……. great deal of time is spent brushing the clogging out of the files. So a fine rasp here would be great. Just have to work out which one ...

from what you describe it sounds like a 12...

cheers

Best to start finer rather than coarser - you can add a coarse one if you find you need it and you'll always want to follow with the finer. Hand stitched rasps rarely need unclogging during the process - for most timbers, anyway - just at the end for rust prevention. Use a solid brass bristle brush (not so easy to find, but Liogier have them).

cheers mate

Just to confirm details, should that have said 9 and 12 grain stitching?
I was tempted by the same order but my workshop is currently occupied by an automotive project so I thought it prudent to wait a bit.

Originally Posted by hiroller

Just to confirm details, should that have said 9 and 12 grain stitching?
I was tempted by the same order but my workshop is currently occupied by an automotive project so I thought it prudent to wait a bit.

If you take your hand off it..or is it on fencefurnitures…. you could use 2 hands to type with. Mkight improve tiiings.

I actually like Ian's thread, as always. or doesn't that work in with your assumptions.

Originally Posted by apricotripper

If you take your hand off it..or is it on fencefurnitures…. you could use 2 hands to type with. Mkight improve tiiings.

I actually like Ian's thread, as always. or doesn't that work in with your assumptions.

That may need some explanation, because at face value it looks like it's meant to be offensive.

Wonder if anyone has had a go at making a rasp them selves? Seems you might be able to shape and anneal a file make the teeth and reharden. Not sure if you would need a special punch to shape the teeth though.

Easy, just follow these simple steps:
The making of LIOGIER hand-stitched wood rasp - YouTube

It takes 18 months full time t o train a stitcher.

Don't know what the last couple of posts are getting at, but to go back to post #12. A 12-grain is a pretty fine rasp, and leaves a very fine tooth pattern, though it does depend a bit how you use it, of course. While you can go even finer, so far I've found that to be as fine as I need in rasps, though I quite often follow up the finest rasp with a file. New, sharp files do a very good job on hard woods, and the long teeth leave a very clean surface (just like a float, only much finer).

Depending on the job, I use rasps & files in preference to spokeshaves because they aren't as sensitive to changes in grain direction and get into tighter curves. I prefer to go as far as I can with the rasps or files because it's easier to keep surfaces flat, if I move to scrapers or sandpaper too soon, they tend to exaggerate any dips in soft spots more readily than rasps.

Originally Posted by code4pay

Wonder if anyone has had a go at making a rasp them selves? Seems you might be able to shape and anneal a file make the teeth and reharden. Not sure if you would need a special punch to shape the teeth though.

You would indeed need the right punch, & need to resharpen it several times to do one rasp, I believe. You would also need to practise long & hard to get the accuracy that raises virtually identical teeth at just the right angle & pointing in the same direction, every time! It's one job I don't think I will ever tackle, but there's no reason why someone with enough time & determination & the necessary forging gear couldn't do it, otherwise.

Cheers,

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

.....It takes 18 months full time t o train a stitcher.

Says 2 years in the vid.

And the way that bloke is raising tooth after perfect tooth on the big rasp looks like he might have been doing it a bit longer than that, I reckon!

Cheers,