I see lots of posts on chisels and planes. I was just curious what do you consider important files and rasps to have in your tool box, or do you even use them?
Discussion Forum
Get It All!
UNLIMITED Membership is like taking a master class in woodworking for less than $10 a month.
Start Your Free TrialCategories
Discussion Forum
Digital Plans Library
Member exclusive! – Plans for everyone – from beginners to experts – right at your fingertips.
Highlights
-
Shape Your Skills
when you sign up for our emails
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. -
Shop Talk Live Podcast -
Our favorite articles and videos -
E-Learning Courses from Fine Woodworking
-
-
Replies
Yep. I've got the old faithful #'s 49 and 50 patternmakers rasps. Also, I have several sized riffler and rat tail rasps. I have a fine file for wood, and a bastard mill file for preparing card scrapers.
Jeff
Nicholson wood cabinet file. Just buy it. You'll be glad you did. I use this thing all the time.
I also use round rasps for a variety ot tasks, but especially making oval or elongated drawbore holes (like on bread board ends).
The patternmaker's rasps are nice, but I don't think you need the #49 and the #50. The neat thing about them is that you can get a coarse cut or a smooth cut depending on how you use it. I have both, but if i had to choose one I'd pick the finer of the two.
Adam
I use a rat-tail file (round, but tapered at the end), a triangle or 3 square, cabinet files of several different sizes and a 4-in-hand file (4 different cutting surfaces). Riffle files are good for detailing carving, even a single row (gun) checkering file to really get into those tight corners. Don't forget the metal-working files for tuning up your scraper and a triangle one for sharpening a saw. If you use a brace and bits, you will need a bit sharpening file. I also have one file dedicated just to 'breaking' that sharp edge on laminates. All my files are hung so they don't touch each other, as that tends to ruin the teeth on them. It also makes it easier to quickly locate the one I need. It's funny, woodworkers will go to great lengths to design a rack to protect their chisles, but not their files. Don't forget to have a good file card for cleaning them out after you use them. Oh yes, I've also got an assortment of Shur-form rasps for quick stock removal. They also come in handy when I've got to make an edge look like it's been seen a lot of rough use. SawdustSteve
Do you have handles on all of your files? If not, how do you go about hanging them up? I don't have handles on most of mine and they are therefore crammed in a drawer. Not to mention that wall space is at a premium already.
"100 Years" -- scribbled on the wall by a woodworker to remind him to do his best and as a warranty on his work -- "If anything I make fails in the first hundred years, bring it back, and I'll take care of it. After that, there will be a small charge. (Original purchaser only)"
Early in my career I REALLY gouged the palm of my hand by using a file without a handle. So... to answer your question, YES, EVERY ONE of them. I was lucky, I found a box-load of handles at a garage sale and grabbed it immediately. I used a load of them and gave many to friends. A 4 to 5" length of broom handle will work nicely for most files. Pre-drill it for the tang so you don't split the wood. For jewelers files and small warding files I use a tire Valve stem. My local auto mechanic gave me a few for free. (I bring 4 cars to him for almost all work.) Handles are not that expensive. By hanging them up I can immediately identify which one I want to use.
SawdustSteve
If you've got a lathe, file handles are a great exercise in turning; as an added bonus you get handles that fit your hand exactly.Regards,Leon
Good suggestion. Just missing the lathe part of that equation ;)
"100 Years" -- scribbled on the wall by a woodworker to remind him to do his best and as a warranty on his work -- "If anything I make fails in the first hundred years, bring it back, and I'll take care of it. After that, there will be a small charge. (Original purchaser only)"
If you've got a spokeshave you might give it a whirl using that.Leon
You'll find that your files and rasps will languish unused (deservedly so) if they are unhandled. Handles are REALLY easy to make. I often just rive a handle out of a short offcut of wood (mahogany is GREAT but most any wood will work... even chunks of whitewood 2x4). I rough out a nice shape with a coarse grit sanding disk in my 4 1/2 inch grinder. Then drill out a pilot hole slightly larger than the small end of the tang. The file or rasp tang is then heated with a torch and melted into place. No glue is needed (or desired). The secret is to use a low level black heat and melt (NOT BURN) the tang into place. Grasp the tool in heavy pliers just above the tang so that they act as a heat sink protecting the tools teeth from losing their temper. Repeated heatings are often needed, especially when using harder woods (like oak). Medium hard woods like mahogany, elm, hackberry, are excellent, many softwoods work very well... such as fir, pine, spruce. Oak makes an excellent handle but takes more work (and TIME) as it often requires a two stage pilot hole and several heatings. I stay away from the exotic hardwoods because they are too dense to melt the tangs into easily and these are throwaway handles intended only for the life of the tool (you can reuse them though). Don't spend any time smoothing as the rough sanding disk leaves a nice non-slip grip surface and leaving the handles unfinished allows the woods natural absorption to keep the handles dry and tight in your grip even on sweaty days. No ferrules are needed (I've never had a handle break or split), but do adjust the size of the handles to be appropriate for the tool (don't put a fine delicate handle on a huge horseshoe rasp).
That's an interesting concept that I hadn't heard before...melting the tang into the handle! Do you think one of the little hand-held torches from HD would be sufficient since that's all I have? Is your idea designed for tangs that are shaped like a V with the mouth closest to the actual file/rasp? Or will it only work with equal diameter tangs?I always wondered why pounding the handle onto the tang never seemed to grip very well. :OIn followup, this weekend I did reorganize my pegboard wall so that I could attach most of my factory-handled files. However, I still have several that need handles. I have no doubt handle making is truly not that hard. It's more a matter of willpower though. When it comes down to making handles or designing a nice jewelry box, the handle-type projects usually get blown past. ;)
"100 Years" -- scribbled on the wall by a woodworker to remind him to do his best and as a warranty on his work -- "If anything I make fails in the first hundred years, bring it back, and I'll take care of it. After that, there will be a small charge. (Original purchaser only)"
Is your idea designed for tangs that are shaped like a V with the mouth closest to the actual file/rasp? Or will it only work with equal diameter tangs?
It works best with typical tapered tangs. A small propane torch run off of a standard small bottle is excellent. It will be much easier to overheat than to underheat. If you don't get the tang fully seated... pull it back out immediately and reheat and reinsert. If you let it cool you'll have a terrible time getting it back out. This technique uses the resins in the wood as a hot melt ferrule cement. I have even used it for seating tangs on carving knife blades. You'll get a remarkably secure attachment this way. The compression of the wood around the tang also provides an area of extra density and strength in just the place that it is needed.
Awesome...thanks for the info!!! :)
"100 Years" -- scribbled on the wall by a woodworker to remind him to do his best and as a warranty on his work -- "If anything I make fails in the first hundred years, bring it back, and I'll take care of it. After that, there will be a small charge. (Original purchaser only)"
RASP!! One of the best tools you can have in your toolbox.
For flat and simple round shapes, I use sandpaper on sticks instead of files and rasps. I have plenty of files and rasps, the sandpaper sticks are faster and better. I either use PSA paper or staple the paper to the wood.
mike
I bought alot of tools from an eldery woodworker. He had a really big collection of various rasps and files. It takes a while to get the hang of them. They certainly come in handy.
I just put some new handles in hammer heads and it was short easy work with my collection of 4 wood rasps. They range in size from 7" to 16". It took about 10 minutes for all 3. I usually bought them at auction for a fraction of what they cost new. I also have a drawer full of files with handles. Mostly Nicolson and Simmonds. I sharpen my hand saws in an antique saw vise ($10), Use a saw jointer if necessary (flea market for $2 on condition I told the seller what it was), with nicolson cant file (auction $5 for an assortment of 20 in good condition). This assortment included mill bastards, second cut, tapers, knife, and round rasps in varying sizes plus handles. You can get brand new or buy bargains. I prefer bargains as long as they are servicable.
I have an assortment of rasps, files and rifflers that I use when making patterns. They're great for shaping MDF, though occasionally I use them on wood that I'm carving or shaping.
Attached pic shows an example.
Files and rasps have expanded my capabilities over the years. I have around 40 different files and rasps that I acquired on an as needed basis. You have the ability to work on small and unusual shaped objects safely. You don't have to spend a lot of money on a new shaper or router cutter and then build special fixtures to hold your workpiece. Power tools are not the answer for every woodworking situation.
Sharp files and rasps will cut and form your work easily. Keep them separated from one another. If you throw them in a box on top of each other they will become dull quickly and require more effort on your part to use them. Throw out the dull ones; you can't do good work with them.
Mill files do nice work on endgrain. Patternmaker files can remove a lot of stock without creating a lot of cleanup work after you use them. Look in the hardware catalogs for what files are available. The retail stores don't always have what you need to do your work. Buy what your budget allows and only what you need. I use the taper pointed flat/half-roundswiss pattern files often for detail work.
Edited 2/10/2006 9:32 pm ET by Park
Park wrote:
"Keep them separated from one another. If you throw them in a box on top of each other they will become dull quickly and require more effort on your part to use them. Throw out the dull ones; you can't do good work with them."
Certainly keep them separated, they will dull each other. But, once they're dull, don't throw them out - send them to http://www.boggstool.com for resharpening. The service is very inexpensive and AMAZING. If you're buying a new pair of Nicholsons, you can buy them direct from Boggs, and on request they will even sharpen the brand-new rasps before sending them to you. This makes these already-good tools great.
When I buy odd lots of old files or rasps off the 'Bay, I have the seller ship direct to Boggs - he sharpens the good ones and sends them on to me. No affiliation, etc. - just a very happy repeat customer.
One other rasp note - although they seem hard to find these days, the larger-sized files and rasps are worth looking for. A 16-20" rasp lets you take long, smooth strokes, and on any large-ish work, that's a significant advantage.
Clay
> single row (gun) checkering file <
Can someone tell me what this is, and where to get one!
Malcolmhttp://www.macpherson.co.nz
Malcolm,
It's a file for putting checkering on a gun stock, pistol grips, etc., in this case a single row at a time (double row files are available, too -- or at least used to be).
Try these links: http://www.brownells.com or http://www.gunline.com
James
Edited 2/14/2006 10:45 am ET by pzgren
Thanks!
I went looking, found a heap of interesting stuff (including several suppliers, and a lot of tutorials about how to do it, and a marvellous knife maker who sets the standard for superb metalwork, at http://www.andersoncustomknives.com.)
Malcolm http://www.macpherson.co.nz
Any time!
Thanks for the information on Boggs Tool for file resharpening. I will give it a try.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled