Thread: Need Some New Rasps

Originally Posted by EagerBeaver71

I really need some decent rasps...

Decent rasps usually cost decent money.

I bought some Liogier rasps and are very happy with them (and with the mortgage ). LIOGIER, rapes et rifloirs piques main pour le bois et la pierre : des outils pour sculpteurs, modeleurs, luthiers, ebenistes d'art, restaurateurs de meubles et d'oeuvre d'art, etc. Also available from places like Woodcraft, Lee Valley, Fine Tools and Workshop Heaven.

Auriou rasps are the other good brand.

HTH.

Cheers, Vann.

Wot Vann said. The French hand-cut rasps are a joy to use, and though expensive, you get a very long life out of them, so they aren't really more expensive than cheapies over the long haul. I have a bunch of Liogiers, but Auriou is their equal in quality (& price!) as far as I can tell. Liogier are a really good crowd to deal with, or were, haven't had dealings with them for some years, but they were always prompt at replying to queries & always courteous. If you use rasps seriously, you will not regret having a couple of these in your kit.

If you want hand-cut but find the French prices a bit too eye-watering, there are Italian hand-cut rasps which are a bit less expensive. I have a single example and while it may not be quite up to the French versions, it is still a very good little rasp. The main difference is it was a bit rougher on the edges when new and tended to catch when I didn't want it to, but now it's worn-in, I don't notice that problem.

My first experience of a "better" rasp was a Nicholson #49 'patternmaker's' rasp. They have machine-cut teeth & tooth-size for tooth-size don't cut as fast or leave as clean a surface as the hand-cuts. I wore out a couple of "made in USA" examples but by the time I got to #3, Nicholson had shipped all of their file & rasp making off to Mexico & Brazil & the quality of both went to hell in a hand basket. The last one I bought was definitely not the same beast & succumbed to gidgee & she-oak in a quarter of the time of the USA-made 49s. I get the impression from reading US forums that they've sorted things out a bit since, so maybe the #49 is back to its old standard. One of the features I liked about them was the thin section & flat arc back. Fence-Furniture persuaded Liogier to make some in a similar cross-section & size to the #49, and these are now my all-time favourite rasps. They are light & easy to use one-handed, and you can have one in a wide variety of tooth sizes, whereas the #49 comes in a single cut-size.

Then there are the Japanese "file-rasps", which cut like fury & leave a nice surface, but they do have a tendency to clog more than my Liogiers.

I also have a single hand-cut Chinese rasp that cost me very little at a wood show (< $10 iirc). It looks similar to these, with a very fine point and came sans handle. I bought it out of curiosity; it's a strange-looking thing with very elongated, fine teeth, and a long, fine-pointed end, but it works ok. The fine teeth clog a bit on oily woods, but it has stood up to our hard woods better than I expected - I only use it where I need that long, fine point to get into a tight space.

That's my take on rasps - I haven't had to buy a new one for almost 10 years, so I'm probably not up-to-date on what's available right now...

Cheers,

I have been soaking my old rasps and files in ordinary cheap vinegar fro about 36 hours. I use one of the tubes that turning tools come in as the container. The files/rasps come out sharper than new, but be aware the teeth are not as robust as a new file/rasp. Also be aware that if you forget about them, they will become, like an old hag, toothless.

Jim