Silicon carbide/other abrasive shapes/rasps/tools etc

[ian maybury]

While gluing sandpaper over shapes to make up yet another set of DIY tools for contouring and then fine finishing of some 3D parts last night the thought arose that there might be options out there by way of long life silicon carbide or maybe other abrasive coated hand tools - and likely also contoured points for use in a drill or whatever. They can be useful for shaping square holes, slots etc...

There's lots gets talked in woodworking about the more traditional rasp type tool (Vallorbe, Auriou and the like - not to mention some very fancy prices for hand made items), but not much otherwise that comes up from woodworking suppliers.

I bought a few sample examples of Dura-Grit tools some years ago, but haven't got serious about using them. Here's a few links to suppliers of abrasive and more traditional rasps that i've found.

http://duragrit.com
http://www.permagrit.com/index.php?cPath=80

https://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/store/know/AU-Info.html
http://valleyfarrier.com/cart/mobile/category.aspx?catid=81 (wonder if horse hoof rasps are good for wood?)

http://www.mcmaster.com/#carbide-grit-files/=vwpso3



Wondering if any of you guys use this sort of stuff, or know of other sources of useful tools of this sort?

[lowell holmes]

I have a Nicholson rasp and an Auriou rasp. I never use the Nicholson.

I could have saved money had I known about Ariou . I'm a firm believer that cheap tools are expensive in the long run.

[ian maybury]

There may lie some of the sort of information i'm wondering about Lowell - the limits of the capability of good versus mediocre rasps. I have some French items (can't remember the name, but not Auriou - can look up tomorrow) and my impression is that they are fairly coarse. They work well and quite cleanly in solid hardwood, but would cause splintering if used on something like plywood. Perhaps there are finely toothed clean cutting rasps capable of this sort of work - that get into the sort of space of say a coarse 80 grit aluminium oxide paper?

I've presumed that long life abrasive coated tools have a role to play too..

[lowell holmes]

Well, rasps are really good when carving an edge like the bevel on a saw tote. The Auriou leaves a surface that requires very little smoothing. Normally a card scraper takes care of the smoothing after the rasp.

I use shaves and card scrapers a lot when making furniture.

My saw handle rasp works well also.

My take on your question is that I need them all. One is not the substitute for the other.

I would consider using mill bastard files if I needed a tool to smooth plywood. A sanding block with sandpaper will work also.

I will wrap a dowel with sand paper to shape small concave surfaces.

[Jim Matthews]

Do you have any automotive body repair shops nearby?
They often have tools that can be used in woodworking,
at considerably lower cost.

I find that a straight cylindrical section file is really useful for rounded work.
(Like the narrow end of a saw handle opening.)

[Keith Westfall]

(wonder if horse hoof rasps are good for wood?)

I used to get them from my brother after he was done with them in his farrier business. I still have a couple and they still cut. Big and heavy.

[David Utterback]

Good to know about the farrier rasps. I picked one up recently that was covered with rust. Yesterday, I started cleaning it up but got side tracked on other things. It appears to still be sharp.

Thanks
David

[ian maybury]

Thanks Lowell/Jim/guys. I seem to be easing towards work that entails forming 3D shapes in hardwood, although there's likewise times when various options are needed to finish machines parts in ply and the like that needs other than the usual blocks and sheet material. The following is intended to in a very general and fairly random way open up the discussion.

I use a car body file at times as a coarse shaper Jim, although care is needed to work at the right angle as they can be inclined to bite and then chatter - probably not really set up for wood. New they are very sharp. I have a good selection of scrapers Lowell, and even resort to stuff like a piece of broken glass at times.

I've also had good results for general shaping using a variety of Shinto saw rasps: http://www.toolsfromjapan.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=346_348_511 Abrasive coated sponge pads of varying stiffnesses and abrasive fabrics (e.g. 3M) can be very useful at times too.

Guess i'm a little surprised that more use isn't made of the Dura Grit/Perma Grit type long life abrasive shapes and the like than seems to be the case (the woodworking supply places don't actually offer a whole lot by way of rasps and abrasives beyond the classic finishing supplies) - maybe it's more sculptors and the like that use that sort of stuff? They seemingly get lots of use in the composites (fibreglass and the like) industry.

3M and others have quite a variety of sometimes oddball abrasives and cutters (but not always cheap): http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/3MIndustrial/Abrasives/Products/ https://www.razertip.com/powerabrasive.htm http://www.arbortechusa.com/view/woodworking/contour-random-sander/ http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/tools-and-tips/choosing-power-carving-bits.html http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/tools-and-tips/files-rasps-and-rifflers.html

I thought i saw somebody offering diamond abrasive coated shapes for woodworking too, but can't seem to find them now. Here's a Chinese source aimed at glass finishing, see bottom of the page: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/3-Pcs-Diamond-coated-9-16-inch-15-mm-Rotary-TAPER-Single-Type-Angle-Drills-Chamfer/32238427975.html

The bit that's difficult to figure out is just what the range of capability of the various approaches is. Which means that (since like many i'm a long way from suppliers - typically a 5 day mailing/shipping wait) trial and error can be both expensive and laborious. It's nice to be able to size up an area and go a long ways towards kitting up to cover a given capability in a few purchases.

Maybe another way of getting towards solutions is to ask the question - who makes the most use of rasps and other abrasive solutions to shape wood?

[ian maybury]

Just to add the it seems highly regarded Iwasaki wood files to what was a fairly random list, there's been several threads on them: http://www.fine-tools.com/carvingfile.html

There's also UK suppliers, including Lee Valley and Woodcraft.