Help with selecting the right rasps

[Will Brauneis]

Hi there,
I'm in the process of making some replacement totes for my old Stanley planes and I'm to the point where i need to round the edges of the blank. I need to purchase some rasps probably a half round cabinetmakers style and a rat tail. I would like to buy quality rasps that i can use down the road on other projects. from the little research i have done it looks like hand cut is the way to go. I was looking at either Auriou or Gramercy. As they are both fairly pricey i am probably limited to one cabinet and one rat tail for now. I don't really have much knowledge on rasps so what would be best to start with in your opinion? (length, tpi/grain, and brand)

Thanks,
Will

[Jim Koepke]

I recently bought a Nicholson #59 cabinet rasp.

I could not afford the higher priced models.

The current Nicholsons are made in Brazil. I think the early imports may have had some quality problems, but mine seems to be hardened well and it cuts very nice.

I am sure everyone will have different preferences. My experience with the other ones is limited to some Italian rasps I have picked up over the years. They are also well made.

Once you have a better made rasp it is clumsy to use the old hardware store rasps again.

jim

[Brian Kent]

Jim, I am guessing you mean a Nicholson #49.

That's what I use for handles too.

[Richard Niemiec]

Will: As far as the Grammercy hand cut rasps, I have the 6", which I got when visiting Joel in Brooklyn and had a chance to use it, and everything he says in his website description is accurate. Just last night I used it to form a damaged lower horn on an otherwise cherry D-8 and it works like a rasp should. No affiliation, just satisfied customer.

RN

[sean m. titmas]

I have two hand cut Dragon rasps (http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Files/Dragon_Hand-cut_Rasps.html) that i bought from Stewart MacDonald for about $40 each. One fine cut and one coarse cut rasp and they perform exceptionally well. The shape of the rasps make them useful for all types of contours and the teeth have an aggressive cut and leave a smooth finish.

[Prashun Patel]

FWIW, I'm in the market for rasps too, and my research has led me to two:

The Nicholson 49

The Aiurou #5/#9 combination

The Aiurou is supposed to be the Mercedes of rasps. At $100+, they're pricey, but the combo makes it a 'good' deal.

Edit: After researching those Dragon Rasps, I was convinced. I got the Dragons. Stewmac: $82 for a fine and rough (curved and tapered) - comparable to the Nicholsons, but they're hand cut and get amazing reviews. I think they're just not well known.

If you want the Nicholson, I suggest you google around. A couple of places have the 49 for as low as $29.

[Will Brauneis]

Thanks for the input everyone. I'm torn between the great price of the dragon rasps and the Auriou after looking at their web page and seeing the quality of craftsmanship they put into their rasps and the fact they aren't made in china. So I have some thinking to do.

Thanks again everyone :)

[Eric Brown]

Gramercy also has a saw handle makers rasp that only has teeth on the inside of the curved tip. I have one and it works well;
http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/Merchant/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=toolshop&Product_Code=GT-SHRASP.XX&Category_Code=TRR

Eric

[David Keller NC]

Thanks for the input everyone. I'm torn between the great price of the dragon rasps and the Auriou after looking at their web page and seeing the quality of craftsmanship they put into their rasps and the fact they aren't made in china. So I have some thinking to do.

Thanks again everyone :)

Well, if you'd like a slightly cheaper price on the Aurious and indistinguishable shape, steel, tooth shaping (hand-cut), and everything else except "Auriou" marked on the tool, you can go with The Best Things rasps - they are produced by former Auriou employees:

http://www.thebestthings.com/newtools/files_rasps.htm

[David Gendron]

I do have a Nicholson #49 and like it for fast rought shaping and I also have one of two Gramercy rasps and also like them they seem to cut quite quik and leave a nice finish!
I would love to try an Auriou just to compare but for the price I'll wait!

[James Carmichael]

+1 on the Nicholson. Order from Boggs tool. Not only a great price, but it comes specially sharpened when you buy from them.

[sean m. titmas]

but it comes specially sharpened when you buy from them.

can you elaborate a bit on that?

[Chris Friesen]

can you elaborate a bit on that?

Boggs does a chemical sharpening where they basically dip it in an acidic solution. It eats away a bit of the metal, resulting in a sharp edge on each tooth.

[george wilson]

I don't know if those "Dragon" rasps are the same as ones I bought years ago,but they look identical.

Wholesale tool was selling the Chinese rasps for $1.25 years ago. I bought 3 or 4 just to try them out. They looked like they were lightly sprayed with silver paint. Turned out it was a THIN!!!! coating of chrome. The teeth of the rasps were dead soft anyway,and in spite of the thin coat of chrome,could easily be filed with a file. Now,they want $40.00 (?) for them?

My choice would be the #49 Nicholson rasp,or the #50 if available. I might say that a new Nicholson rasp really grabs into the wood too much,and it has to be used a bit to take some of the tack off of the teeth.

The surform tools also can do a pretty decent job,and leave a smoother surface than a rasp,easier to clean up later. I'm not referring to the stainless steel versions which I haven't used. I mean the black ones.

[sean m. titmas]

I don't know if those "Dragon" rasps are the same as ones I bought years ago,but they look identical.

Wholesale tool was selling the Chinese rasps for $1.25 years ago. I bought 3 or 4 just to try them out. They looked like they were lightly sprayed with silver paint. Turned out it was a THIN!!!! coating of chrome. The teeth of the rasps were dead soft anyway,and in spite of the thin coat of chrome,could easily be filed with a file. Now,they want $40.00 (?) for them?


different rasps. the Dragon rasps are of very high quality and do not resemble those that you described.

[Will Brauneis]

OK thanks David those are more reasonably priced ill definitely consider those

[David Keller NC]

Boggs does a chemical sharpening where they basically dip it in an acidic solution. It eats away a bit of the metal, resulting in a sharp edge on each tooth.

Curious about that - acid sharpening of files and rasps is a very old technique (tried and true), but I'd thought from reading their website that Boggs had gone to an abrasive slurry sharpening process.

[Bill McDermott]

I really enjoy "sculpting" with traditional rasps. I own and use Nicholson, Aurious and other rasps. They all work as others have explained.

I want only to add that the Microplane tools are also worth considering. A large, round "rasp" is about $15 and can get you where you want to go. You can add specific rasps to your collection after learning the limitations of a simple tool like this - so you get the perfect $100 tool, at the right time, for the right reason.

BTW, the Microplane tools don't cut if you don't push them through the wood correctly. This forced technique will train you to use traditional rasps more efficiently. Rasps can be misused and still scratch away material.

Curves are good!

[Roger Benton]

BTW, the Microplane tools don't cut if you don't push them through the wood correctly. This forced technique will train you to use traditional rasps more efficiently. Rasps can be misused and still scratch away material.



Bill, I too have really taken an appreciation for what can be done with these tools. I'm currently using two nicholson rasps.
I'm curious about what would be 'proper technique' since as you say it is easy to kind of get away without it and thus never learn it. Any advice would be helpful!

To the OP, apologies for getting a little off topic.
FWIW, i really enjoy my nicholson #49, and I have another nicholson tool that is a very course half round rasp on one side (does not come to a point at the end) and a flat file on the other side. I use the rasp part for really hogging out lots of material before switching to the #49.
A couple grammercy or ariou models are on my short list of new tools...

[James Ogle]

I was looking for rasps tonight to make some new saw handles and came across these. (http://www.howardcore.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?search=action&category=TOOL&template=Templates/HC_SR2.htm&keywords=%22Chinese%20Rasps%22) Anyone have an opinion? Some of them look like Dragons other like traditional western style rasps. Plus they are even cheaper. Since teh supplier is a luthier supplier I can't see them selling "bad" rasps to screw up that high dollar wood. Talk about some upset customers.

[Peter Bell]

.............

[James Taglienti]

I use some F Dick #5 cut rasps that a patternmaker gave me. I think they are machine cut. The ongiong argument between machine and hand cut is as sensitive as a political debate. I won't get into it. Just remember that a rasp is a shaping tool. There will always be more work afterwards. If the difference between hand cut and machine cut is one extra stroke with a card scraper, i don't really care if mine are machine made, it's not going to keep me up at night. The cut of the rasp is what matters the most. To be honest, i do a lot of handle shaping with a card scraper with a heavy burr.

[Rich Enders]

Will,

I received the Nicholson #49, and #50 rasps for this Christmas, and both were poorly manufactured. They are made in Brazil, and both had a ridge along one side which appeared to be formed when the side grooves were added. This ridge was higher than any of the teeth, and would have gouged anything I worked.

[Jim Koepke]

Will,

I received the Nicholson #49, and #50 rasps for this Christmas, and both were poorly manufactured. They are made in Brazil, and both had a ridge along one side which appeared to be formed when the side grooves were added. This ridge was higher than any of the teeth, and would have gouged anything I worked.

I bought a #50 from LN not too long ago. It also was made in Brazil, but LN usually will treat their customers well.

Mine turned out fine.

It seems though in order to cut costs minimally, manufactures have decided it is OK to let their quality and also their hard earned reputations to fall.

My thoughts are that if one makes their devotion dollars, they could drive themselves into being penniless.

jim