I am a hobbyist woodworker learning to make Michael Cullen’s bandsaw boxes. I am using basswood because I am also interested in developing some skills in surface carving and milk paint.
I have a set of Narex rasps which have been adequate for my needs in hardwood projects to this point. But even the finest of these are too coarse for the more delicate shaping I need to do in finishing these boxes.
I have learned the difference between machine-made and hand-stitched rasps. And the 10x difference in cost. I wonder if anyone else has been in this position of making a big investment in their rasp collection and what advice they might offer.
Thanks,
Russ
Replies
I bought mine from stewmac.com, a site for luther tools. I find them to work very well, maybe not as well as the French units, but great for my work. Much better than machine cut files. Currently they are under $100. I also have some of the razor files. I have used them for shaping things like handles, table legs, and cutting boards.
You could probably get away with “gluing” sand paper of appropriate grits onto wood and making your own rasps. Just a thought. You likely have scrap wood and sand paper so the cost is right as well.
Having recently taken up spoon and other freehand carving, then come across some logs of green lime/linden/basswood, I did end up experimenting with various shaping tools on the stuff.
As a greenwood, its like trying to carve balsa - a tendency for the wood to bend or squash under the knife edge before submitting to the cut, even if the knife is truly sharp.
But once dry, basswood is very easy to cut, with little resistance to edges and no real issues with grain direction. It also sands very nicely and easily, so Joe's suggestion is a good one - make sandpaper slips of various sizes, shapes and grits. Inexpensive but labour-intensive.
I do have French rasps, including some rifflers with very small teeth and size from Auriou. These would cost a fortune today, although I bought mine (a set of four) decades ago when they were just "expensive". They work well indeed with anything, really.
https://www.forge-de-saint-juery.com/needle-rasps/
There are mini-rasps that are a small fraction of the cost of the Frenchies. I have a set from Planet tools which seem to be available in all sorts of guises from all sorts of sellers. They're inexpensive and they work - but without the refined abilities and results of the Frenchies:
https://planetplusltd.com/product/needle-rasp-set/
Another alternative is to use Kutzall or similar hand-rasps, although these have very few variants in tooth-size, tool size or shape. They're not inexpensive, either.
https://kutzall.com/en-gb/pages/hand-rasps
Yet another approach is to use knives. It's surprising what you can do to get a decent surface good enough to call "finished". You can also treat well-made knife of gouge scallops as part of the finish. The small sizes and good quality of many Flexcut tools, especially their gouges, are good for cutting fine/finished carved details.
The last alternative I can suggest is to use scrapers. There are many available with various concave and convex curvatures, in various shapes, diameters and sizes. You can even make your own out of a plain rectangular scraper cut, shaped and burred to suit.
I have no experience of these, but they're a comprehensive set!
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005578131037.html?src=bing&aff_short_key=UneMJZVf&aff_platform=true&isdl=y&albch=shopping&acnt=135095331&isdl=y&albcp=555315011&albag=1300723448300773&slnk=&trgt=pla-2333094955014654&plac=&crea=81295274240342&netw=s&device=c&mtctp=e&utm_source=Bing&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=PA_Bing_UK_Pmax_ALL_maxvalue_20250221_newstore&utm_content=ALL&utm_term=woodworking%20scrapers&msclkid=043735fd6a6a1611a55d5202333039aa
I do have a set of the Flexcut scrapers, which are quite handy for spoons and small bowls but perhaps lacking slightly in enough profiles for scraping convex curves - although you can easily make similar scraper blades yourself that'll fit the Flexcut handles:
https://www.flexcut.com/home/product/sk121-carving-scrapers
An alternative for less money:
https://www.amazon.ca/Hyde-Tools-10450-Contour-Changeable/dp/B000W65L7E
These sort - various concave and convex scraping radii around a small circle of metal - are inexpensive and versatile, although you have to watch you don't dig a sharp corner into the work, inadvertently scratching a line or divot:
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09P8NWS37/ref=sspa_dk_hqp_detail_aax_0?sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9ocXBfc2hhcmVk&th=1
+1 for using a various sandpaper grits. I have used this method many times including finishing of bandsaw boxes. I have found paint stir sticks and cut up yardsticks both work well.
Unless you are looking for a rough, fuzzy finish, there is no rasp that will leave a surface ready for finish. I have several of the hand stitched rasps (Auriou), ranging from "the Hog" to the finest grain that they list as G13. In my opinion, they do cut better than say a Nicholson (49 or 50), but they are not magical. I would use your existing rasps, and finish with sandpaper or scraper. Narex does have a line of hand stitched rasps, BTW.
I think rclark5 (any relation to dave clark? -- joke --) has good advice. There are a lot of really nice and really justifiably costly rasps and files out there. Do you need them for bandsaw boxes? Probably not. I have gotten by for a couple of decades with the Nicholsons, some Shintos, and a couple of Garrett Wade hand stitched. Some sanding files or bow sanders always seem to get into the mix before I'm done though.
Years and years ago I purchased a set of hand-cut ( stitched) German made rifflers from Woodcraft. They were costly to me at the time. I remember what I paid. 6 rifflers +a set of 12 Marples carving chisels and a Frost sloyd knife --$110 including tax ,if they charged shipping that would be included in that price. The Sloyd knife was $2.50! The rifflers are still cutting all these years later. They are double ended -one rough end and one fine end. I lost one of the rifflers and not long ago I was in a Woodcraft store. I found a replacement, kind of ,Italian made riffler that they sell these days. It's a pretty nice riffler. It was about 40 bucks and double ended but either rough both ends or fine both ends. So if you want both you have to buy two. With that said I have spent a great deal of my life with a Nicholson 4 in hand in my pocket and they have served me well. I have many but I was in a hardware store not long ago and one was staring at me in its cardboard and polystyrene antitheft devise with big bold "Nicholson" graffics so I bought it. They have changed up and it is a serious piece of junk compared to all the others I have.
Well, thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences and advice. My Narex rasp is just too aggressive in my hands for what I am doing.
But “never blame the tool” is worth remembering.
This morning I took the advice of using sand paper instead of the rasp.
I had a roll of 120 self-adhering sand paper in the shop. I cut a piece to fit and attached to the finer of my rasps. I pounded with a rubber mallet to secure the adhesive attachment.
A picture is attached. An added benefit of the pounding was that it exposed just the tips of the rasp. That is the second picture.
Used it on basswood box still under construction. Works beautifully. Problem solved without buying anything.
A good day in the shop. Thanks again for helping me work through this problem. It takes a village.
Russ
I'm going to make a comment that won't help you, but I'll make it anyway. A few years ago I took a serious turn into toolmaking and have made a lot of tools. I've made a bunch of guitars and some cabinetry and furniture, but whereas a lot of hobbyists will make a lot of furniture and a little of the others, I'm flip flopped.
I do a lot of work by hand but have zero interest in spending a bunch of money on rasps. The reality of them is you can typically get by with less on the coarse to medium side and finish with a file and scraper.
BUT, one thing I wanted was a more coarse handle maker's rasp than the gramercy, and without looking to see if things changed, I made one. Then I made two more raps and at some point, I'll make a bunch. of exactly what I want. it is not impossible to make rasps, but it's not easy, they won't look as perfect and you might have a snag tooth here or there in your pattern that needs to just be muted (tap a punch into the top and just knock it below the height of the others).
https://i.imgur.com/f6RbmLZ.mp4
I found out later gramercy had whoever makes the foreign rasps make a coarse saw handle rasp, but I'd rather make my own.
I wouldn't spend a lot on any rasps for furniture work or something like basswood - there are so many imported rasps on amazon, etc, that you can go through for about $10 each, just look at the tooth patterns and rely on files to do the last finish before sand/scrape.
if cost doesn't matter (it only matters in principle for me), then indulge - get an assortment and sell the ones you don't want on ebay. I think you'll get a better result figuring out your preferences than using someone else's.
I have found the hand stitched cabinet maker’s rasps from Blu-Dan (made in Portugal now, formerly an Austrian company) to be quite nice for fine work in softer hardwoods(mahogany, Spanish Cedar).
I got the one I have from Diefenbacher Tools in Littleton Colorado. The one I have is much finer than the Nicholson #49 and #50 I have, but it is still not an exceptionally fine cut, it’s a 10” long #5 cut rasp.
https://diefenbacher.com/product/hand-cut-cabinet-rasps/
Using an elegant tool is ,well,elegant! One will tend to do better work with a better tool. I would never knock someone having or wanting those kinds of tools. However thats an endless quest and very expensive. If you can afford to have all the hundreds or thousands of tools that you will acquire being top notch,state of the art tools, then by all means...
Rasps are usually not the final tool in any project. You want something aggressive for initial shaping and something finer for when you get close. Different shapes for different situations. I have really good, pretty good and junk and a whole box of shapes that I have glued sand paper to. Each has its place including the pair of rasps that I bought from Harbor Freight ! I frequent Harbor Freight for things like disposable gloves and then you see some dumb tool and it's 5 bucks, I can't resist! They are pretty crumby, won't last but they do cut. I often run into situations where something has to be done..."but that's going to mess up my nice tool!" If all you have is good stuff and the job has to be done then you have to use it!