What is your favorite rasp?

[bubby]

With the bellotta rasps where i get them they have four or five in differant cutts from a fairly fine farriers rasp to a hog that is super aggressive

[JoJoDapyro]

Mine is the super heavy one.

[Ruddy Darter]

I can buy a rough one side and fine the other Shinto saw rasp online for £20>$30, I'm rather sold on getting one now with all the praise its got  . I presume this is a fair price.
I did pick up one of these at the tool shop for a couple of quid, a tube surf form, thought it might come in handy for following the grain.
  Ruddy Darter.

[tom sawyer]

I really like the Bowyers Rasp that Dean Torges was selling.  Its made by Dragon and the teeth are more aggressive than the Nicholsons.  Its flat on both sides though, so the Nicholsons are great for handle and fade areas.  I do also like the Shinto, its quite aggressive and at the same time it leaves a smoother surface than a ferries rasp.  It tends to clog though and you need to clean it out frequently.  I also have a Sureform that is shaped like a rasp, and I reach for it once in awhile.  I use a curved blade on it, and the big knock I have is that it is more of a rightie blade and I'm a lefty.

Can you tell I love hand tools?

[Onebowonder]

I really like the Bowyers Rasp that Dean Torges was selling.  Its made by Dragon...<snip>

I wonder how Dean managed to negotiate that contract?  I mean tool maker would be a rather obvious profession for dragon to get into what with the built in forge and all, but I'd think they would be rather hard to negotiate with since they are noted for fits of temper and are very insistent on getting their own way...   

OneBow

[PatM]

I really like the Bowyers Rasp that Dean Torges was selling.  Its made by Dragon and the teeth are more aggressive than the Nicholsons.  Its flat on both sides though, so the Nicholsons are great for handle and fade areas.  I do also like the Shinto, its quite aggressive and at the same time it leaves a smoother surface than a ferries rasp.  It tends to clog though and you need to clean it out frequently.  I also have a Sureform that is shaped like a rasp, and I reach for it once in awhile.  I use a curved blade on it, and the big knock I have is that it is more of a rightie blade and I'm a lefty.

Can you tell I love hand tools?

Lennie,
          try to drop by more often than every six months or so. Don't you like us anymore?

[tom sawyer]

Sure do, just don't get inspired as often as I used to.  I'm making three hedge longbows right now, which is why I decided to drop in and see what you guys are making.

[sumpitan]

I used one of those 100 dollar types a while back, and they are hard to beat. I was looking at the offerings in the economy prices and ordered a shinto but was intrigued by the surform after the reviews above. picked up a new blade for the surform and spent some time with it, and it worked good on softwoods crossgrain. harder woods not so well  and along the grain, not so well either........ maybe I just got a bad blade. the half round worked best.

As mentioned above, I've built hundreds of bows of many kinds of woods with Surforms. I can easily see how the pull-style Surform might feel useless at first. It bites the wood, especially hard wood, only at specific angles. After decades of using the tool, I still find that after a longer break from using it I'll have to play a bit to find the sweet spot tilt that starts to eat the wood, the back end of the blade mostly engaging the wood, I think. Also, the Surform seems to "feed itself": after you've opened the wood surface with it, subsequent pulls have much more effect on the now-specifically ridged surface. It takes some strength and stamina, as hand tools do. But it does work, really well, and allows you to fluidly switch from working one limb or the other to eyeballing the taper etc. I never use the tool cross-grain, BTW.

Chinese copies of Surforms are around, and they are truly useless, even fresh out of the package. So that might be a factor in some people's crappy experiences with these tools.

Tuukka

[Stick Bender]

I'm asking for the Grobet 10 in rasp better quality then current Nicholson #50 it replaces if it's any thing like there files that I own I will be happy but it's pricy at $94 will let you know

[Dvshunter]

Lenny it is good to hear from more than once a year. Try to make it by the bow bothering this Jan in Wright City. It's not to awful far from you.

I prefer to use a sharp farriers rasp for all my bow building for the most part. I then switch to a cheap half round to clean up Amy curves I can't perfect with the rasp. Also 60 grit sandpaper with a shading block is also a handy tool over a rasp, but my bows aren't perfect . Lol

[The Gopher]

I use several rasps, i like each one for different reasons, they all have a place.
- Nicholson Farriers
- Nicholson #49 or #50
- Shinto
I also have the Torges rasp that is fine on one side and coarse on the other, but both are flat. The fine side clogs pretty easy and i prefer the half round of the 49 or 50, but it is still a nice rasp, i like that it has a small handle at the front.

[PEARL DRUMS]

I used to have favorites. Now, I like the rasp I need at the time best. Sometimes a half round, sometimes a flat, sometimes a farrier rasp, sometimes a Shinto and sometimes someone else's if its close by! 

[Fred Arnold]

My Nicholson and SaveEdge Farriers rasps hog off a lot of wood but most of the hogging is done with a scary  sharp  10" Douglas curve blade draw knife. So guess I'd have to say my favorite rasps are still the American made Nicholson 49 and 50. I use them more than any of the others for shaping and forming.

[jimmy]

Farriers rasp for heavy removal.  Torges rasp for the rest.  A quality rasp like a Torges or Nicholson is well worth the money you pay for it.

[cadet]

I have a Shinto saw rasp, but am tending to find more use for spokeshaves and draw knives so far.  I would like to have a play with a float, but I wouldn't even know where to get one for a reasonable price.