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Thread: Picked up some Rifflers

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Gold Coast, Oz
    Posts
    80
    Quote Originally Posted by Peter Evans View Post
    Peter, a thought (I have not done this).

    I find that old blunt files and rasps after citric acid sharpening tend to be less aggressive than they would have been when new, still cut well, but smoother. Very blunt rasps usually still have a shiny flat after sharpening, but cut ok. The teeth do not last as long as new I suspect. Note I am using the files mainly on wood.

    If you were to deliberately blunt a rasp, and then acid sharpen - maybe you will get a smoother but still effective rasp.

    another Peter in brisk Sydney winter
    ---------------------------------
    I might give this cheap riffler I got from the Brisbane Wood Show for $8 a citric acid bath and see what happens. I have another old riffler I did the sand paper trick to and it did quieten it down. Not perfect, but a lot better.

    Maybe I am expecting an Aurio performance from some Chinese crap. Now, if I only knew what an Aurio does. I would pony up for one if I was convinced they are the Holy Grail, but I would have to see it in person and have a try first and I know that ain't going to happen.

    Peter

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Williamsburg,Va.
    Posts
    12,402
    I bought an expensive "lifetime rasp" from a guitar supply store in California. It was made in Europe. Not an Aurio. I found out that it wasn't even hardened. I wrapped it in stainless steel wrap with some Kasenite inside the envelope,and at least case hardened the teeth. I reported this lifetime rasp to the vendor,but got no reply.

    Years ago I bought some Chinese rasps because they were shaped just like 18th.C. Portugese rasps ( I was in a museum). They weren't hardened either,but they cost only $1.25 each. Now,I see these same "Dragon" rasps selling for something like $40.00. I can't recall who is selling them,but they are the same rasps. They are straight sided,half round,and have the shape of a very tall triangle with a tang on their short sides. The $1.25 rasps I bought had the appearence of having very thin silver paint sprayed on them starting below the tang. I now think that was a very thin coat of chromium nitrate,but it was so thin that it did not prevent me easily filing a spot near an edge to see if the rasp was hardened. I hope they are at least hardened now,but I'm not going to buy one to find out!!!
    Last edited by george wilson; 07-27-2009 at 9:43 AM.

  3. #18
    Cheap rasps and files simply don't work as well. Although good ones are expensive, they actually work, and the job is tedious enough with tools that work well. I did buy some Chinese rifflers years ago, and they were terrible. No idea if they've improved since then.

    The agressive cutting is probably similar to a brand new saw. It will be rough and it will grab for a bit, but after some use it will smooth out.

    For files I highly recommend the Swiss pattern files made by Grobet in Switzerland. They are expensive, but they work amazingly well. Another trick with those is to polish the "safe" side so it's absolutely smooth. Usually there's just enough of a burr on the safe sides to create a nice scratch right where you don't want it.

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