Thread: Left or Right handed?

Originally Posted by kamusur

Just scored a couple of Liogier rasps (Saphire coated) and put them to use today but was wondering how to tell by sight or use if they are left or right handed?

Steve

hard to tell from a pic unless its close enough (you need to see the teeth), but if they are in front of you its easy, laid down flat with the handle toward you and the teeth pointing up. the row of teeth for a right handed run from lower on the left side of the rasp to higher on the right side, for a left handed they are the opposite (start lower on the right side and run up toward the left).

generally when you use a rasp you will hold the rasp at an angle and skew across the work (push directly forward, more or less), the teeth are spaced that way so they dont leave tracks or grooves, incidentally, sometimes you see peoples reviews and they compare different rasps but push the rasp directly forward while holding the rasp square to the work and then compare the finish or how many times it took to cut to a depth, with a rasp set for right or left handed you arnt getting an ideal comparison of what they can achieve, so those reviews are somewhat irrelevant..the handmade rasp makers sometimes offer left or right handed versions, some rasps are toothed to hold/push square across the work and some, usually machine cut/toothed are cut in a wave pattern with the idea it doesnt matter which direction you hold the rasp in, left, right or square to the work

cheers
chippy

Thanks chippy thats what i thought. I ordered 2 lefty's through the group buy but i reckon they gave me right handers so i better send Brett an email

Steve

it should perform differently if you hold it at different angles (right or left). perhaps take a close up pic of the teeth, seems odd that bret would send you righties, i assume he would have had just a few lefties to ferret out of the bunch so they would have looked different or have been labelled different one would think..when holding for left handed (with the handle skewed to the left) the teeth should face square on to the wood, its possible they can look odd (stitching pattern) if a right handed person made the left handed rasp, they say a lefty is best to make left handed rasps and vice versa...it cant hurt to have both even if you are left handed, although of course you need the lefty anyway!

I'm a left hander and just had a look at my rasps. All three rasps have the majority of teeth cut so that they point slightly to the right (1-2 o'clock) when viewed from handle to tip.

When used, as I normally would, holding the handle in my left hand and cutting from left to right, the rasps cut the wood leaving an irregular but smooth surface. When used as a right hander, gripping the rasp in my right hand and cutting from right to left, the cut is a much coarser series of parallel grooves.

Two of my rasps were designated "left" and one arrived undesignated as to left or right.

Hope this helps my fellow left handed woodworkers.

Here is a photo of my rasps made for a left hander. The majority of teeth point to the right. I do not have any rasps made for right handed woodworkers with which to compare.

Here are a couple of photos showing the results of using a left hand rasp as a left hander and as a right hander.

You can see when using the rasp in my left hand the cut is smoother. When using the rasp as a right hander, holding the tool handle in my right hand, the cut is a coarser series of grooves. The tool was more difficult to use right handed.

Of course, there are a couple of provisos. Firstly, I am stronger using my left hand so the tool "seemed" harder to push with my right hand. Secondly, I may have been pressing too hard on the toe with my left hand forcing the tool to cut deeper and hence seemed harder to use when grasping the handle in my right hand. Lastly, I don't have any rasps that were made for a right hander with which to compare.

Didn't realise there was a thread going, but have responded to Steve's PM last night. Homesy's rasps are indeed correct for a Lefty, with the teeth pointing to the right as you look at them, and with the handle towards you. My right handed rasps are the opposite.

So Steve, if yours point to the left then they are not left handed, and of course Noel will resolve the situation in the next delivery. If this is the case then best to clean them up and return them to the boxes, and we'll sort something out.

Perhaps it may transpire that it's one of those "lifestyle" things for you where straight teeth might be better. I don't know if Noel does these, but it sounds easy enough on paper (or in pixels).

Cheers, Brett

Originally Posted by homesy135

Here are a couple of photos showing the results of using a left hand rasp as a left hander and as a right hander.

You can see when using the rasp in my left hand the cut is smoother. When using the rasp as a right hander, holding the tool handle in my right hand, the cut is a coarser series of grooves. The tool was more difficult to use right handed.

Of course, there are a couple of provisos. Firstly, I am stronger using my left hand so the tool "seemed" harder to push with my right hand. Secondly, I may have been pressing too hard on the toe with my left hand forcing the tool to cut deeper and hence seemed harder to use when grasping the handle in my right hand. Lastly, I don't have any rasps that were made for a right hander with which to compare.

Yep, that all makes sense Paul. Your teeth face to the right as you look at them, so they face to the left when the rasp is in contact with the wood.

That means that if you push the rasps across the wood in a perpendicular way then the teeth will be slightly to the left. If you then twist the handle a little to your left, which is the normal characteristic for Leftys, then the teeth will be perpendicular to the wood.

So, when you swap hands (at the count of 99) that means the teeth are going to pass across the wood closer to sideways than straight, hence the grooves, and the greater difficulty.

Thanks very much to everyone for the responses, all fears have been allayed.

Also got a tip today about not using compressors to blast the rasps clean (unless they have a filter to trap water) and it probably applies to cleaning most tools with compressed air i would guess.

Steve