Transporting rasps

[Mike Henderson]

I need to tap the knowledge and experience of the group. Every now and then, I need to transport my rasps to do work at a different site. My problem is that I don't have a good way to carry them. I don't want to just jumble them together because the rasps will dull banging together.

For my chisels and carving tools, I use tool rolls and find they work very well. But a tool roll for rasps would have to be "inverted" with the blade going into very long pockets - instead of the handles like chisesl and carving tools - to keep the rasps blades from banging together. And taking the rasps in and out could wear/tear the pockets quickly.

Any ideas? Today, I wrap some newspaper around each rasp blade but that's really inconvenient - I have to unwrap each one at the work site to see what each rasp is. I want something quick, easy and reusable. And I'd really like something that groups/keeps the rasps together - not just an individual sheath for each rasp.

All ideas and suggestions will be appreciated.

Mike

[Doug Shepard]

What about something like a small pool cue case with form fitting recesses for the rasps?

[Mike Henderson]

What about something like a small pool cue case with form fitting recesses for the rasps?
Doug - thanks for the suggestion. I have to admit that I never spent much time playing pool and don't know exactly what a pool cue case looks like. Could you add some description for me, please? Mike

[Doug Shepard]

It's just the rough size that came to mind. I don't play much pool anymore either and never owned a case myself but have seen a number of them. They're maybe 16"-18" long and about 6" wide and about 2" deep, hinging along the long edge. The pool cues unscrew in sections (I think maybe 4 or 5 pieces?) and get laid in the case. There are recessed hollows in the foam and lining that each section rests in so they dont bang into each other. You might need to expand the dimensions a little bit for rasps but I think the general idea would work.

[Doug Shepard]

Looks like I was a bit off on the case lengths as the cues dont appear to break down in as many pieces as I remember. But this site has a couple along the general lines of what I was picturing.
http://www.shootersbilliards.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=48

[Dave Anderson NH]

I've never bothered with doing anything other than rolling mine up in a thick old cloth with a wrap or two between each one to prevent the teeth hitting each other. With the handles permanently attached, most of my rasps and files are too long for almost any standardly available tool roll and it's just too much trouble for me to sew something up that's custom.

[Gary Breckenridge]

Knife collectors often use kind of a leather roll to roll up larger knives so they don't bang against each other.:)

[Mike Henderson]

I've never bothered with doing anything other than rolling mine up in a thick old cloth with a wrap or two between each one to prevent the teeth hitting each other. With the handles permanently attached, most of my rasps and files are too long for almost any standardly available tool roll and it's just too much trouble for me to sew something up that's custom.
Dave - thanks for the suggestion. Would you mind expanding on your description just a bit. I'm not sure that I understand exactly what you're doing - but I like the general idea.

What do you mean by "...with a wrap or two between each one..."? I'm visualizing maybe three layers of cloth, with some rasps laid against the bottom layer, then a second layer of cloth with more rasps laid in between the ones in the first layer, perhaps with the handles in the opposite direction, then maybe another layer of cloth before rolling the whole thing up. Is that close to what you do?

That would accomodate different width rasps and it would be easy to "expose" the rasps at the work site.

Mike

[Steven Wilson]

I use a piece of scrap leather (it was off of a hide used for a chair). Just lay out the leather, place your rasps, files, whatever on the leather and then roll it up. Kind of like a tool roll without pockets. Leather lasts longer and doesn't snag as much as cloth.

[Jonathon Spafford]

What do you mean by "...with a wrap or two between each one..."? I'm visualizing maybe three layers of cloth, with some rasps laid against the bottom layer, then a second layer of cloth with more rasps laid in between the ones in the first layer, perhaps with the handles in the opposite direction, then maybe another layer of cloth before rolling the whole thing up. Is that close to what you do?
Mike

I think what he is talking about, which is the way I do it, is to get a long piece of cloth, lay your first file down on one end and then roll the cloth once around the file so that it is covered, then lay the next file beside it and roll the cloth around it until that file is covered in cloth and then keep doing it until all your rasps are covered. This way you use one piece of cloth, but keep all the rasps seperate.

[Richard Niemiec]

I'd use a piece of canvas, roll one rasp 360 degrees, lay in another and roll 360, etc., until you have them all in the roll and then throw a rubber band around it; I do this for a quick and dirty transport of chisels. RN

[Mike Henderson]

Thanks for the explanation. I was making it too difficult. That sounds like a good solution. I have some scrap duck cloth that I can cut into a long strip to do this.

Don't know why I didn't think of that solution - I always make things too complicated.

Mike

[Jim Becker]

A leather roll was what I was going to suggest and I'm happy to see it was suggested. But simply wraping in canvas is a very simple solution, too!

[Zahid Naqvi]

Or you could just make a wooden box, similar to what you would use for a set of chisels. No wrapping or unwrapping required. I've never used one, just a top of my head type idea.

[Robert Trotter]

My brother was a chef and had a really nice knife case. Basically just a breif case with some shaped foam (Hard) to hold each knife. You could do something similar with a slim breif case. put some foam or similar to make individual spaces for each rasp. Fill the lid with soft foam so when closed it hold them all in.

Robert

[Robert Trotter]

Here is a quick sketch of an idea.

57744

just a board (thin ply) with a stop board at one end to stop the rasp from sliding out. The leather holder strip near the end would be closer to the tips than shown. Basically justslide the rasps out handle first until the tips are free and then pull them tip first out of the elastic holders.

The leather holding strip could also be something else. A knife case I have uses thin metal sheet strip but a knife blade is a lot thinner than a rasp. But if you like a little metal work then you could do that also. But thick leather would work well I think and give good wear. An old belt would be just the go. Just screw or whatever (rivets would be OK) the strip to the board so that when it does wear (which unless you are rasping away in the holder, shouldn't be so often:rolleyes: ) you can simply replace it.

You could also lift the leather tip strip off the backing board with a packing board if you want to change the alignment to suit you rasp and handle shape so they sit better.

The elastic should be heavy duty to give a bit of holding power for heavy rasps when carrying them.

The board is sketched with a handle for carrying it. Also some holes for hanging it from your wall. You could just quickly sew up a tote bag to slide the hole thing in and walk away. or make a wooden box as suggested by Zahid and just pop the board in for travel. When not out of the shop the hole thing can be hung on the wall or slid into a drawer as is.

For something fancy cover the back board with leather or whatever.



You never have to pack and unpack all your files and rasps. Just pick them all up and go.

Or make a mirror image :rolleyes: of the backing board and with the stop board on the other end and put little block at the locations of the handles. You can hinge it together or just clips like a clam shell. put all together the rasps can't move.

Anyway just an idea. To much time on my hands at the moment I suppose:)

Robert

[Mike Henderson]

Robert - thanks for the idea. I understand what you're describing. I'll make a decision on what to do soon.

I appreciate your efforts to describe and document this.

Mike

[john dennis]

Years ago I wanted some kind of pouch that would roll up small and carry specific tools I needed for racing enduros and just plain old woods/trail riding. I went to an Army and Navy store and found a great pouch for $2. I still have and use the pouch, but I don't ride anymore. You might want to look into something like that. The Army makes/buys great quality stuff.