Curved rasp

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I don't know if this is the right place to post this thread so I leave to the hand of the moderator to move it wherever it should be. Thanks.


While finishing my chair I thought I could make good use of a curved rasp. As I don't have any, and buying one would take me at least a whole morning to find a place to buy it, without guarantee of finding it, and ordering one through internet would cost me about $50 + other $50 of shipping I made this one in about half an hour.

The pictures are self explanatory so I only mention that the wood is hard maple ( a scrap from my chair) and the sand paper is stuck to it with double sided tape. It works wonders!

I saved about a 100 bucks in half an hour, so now I have some more money to spend on wood!!
 

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Your new tool looks very useful, Toni. I've glued sandpaper to thin strips of wood to make sanding "paddles" for sanding in tight spots like the corners of boxes.

If you had not made your rasp, what kind would you have bought? Coarse? Fine? What shape?
...Long nights of chinese sentences still?
I'm doing clean-up work in a variety of languages now. (English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, and two flavors of Chinese. And the English version is the only one I really understand. :huh:) Now I'm fixing the minor mistakes and mistranslations that have been noted by reviewers around the world.
 
Hi Vaughn.

I would have bought a medium and a fine one, similar to the ones included.
The only problem I have finding tools is that here there are no good specialised shops, and I find easier to buy tools through the web although sometimes shipping is very expensive.

On the other hand sometimes, even with the shipping included I find the same tool at almost half the price if I buy it here.
 

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Hi Toni, like Vaughn, I've stuck different grits of sandpaper to flat pieces of wood on several occasions, but nothing curved or as fancy as yours, but seeing the nice job you did on yours, I may have to make some of my own, especially at the price of good files these days. I really like the shape of yours and the offset handle. Nice Job.:thumb:
 
...I would have bought a medium and a fine one, similar to the ones included...
I don't think I've seen any with that shape (and handles) before. I can see why you chose to copy the shape with yours. The rasps in the pictures look like they'd be very useful for they type of things you make. I'll keep my eyes open for something similar at a good price and let you know if I find anything.
 
Your sandpaper rasp looks great, but you know, making a real on would not be that hard...... ;)

Seriouly, get an old file, grind one face smooth, then anneal it (heat the metal up red hot, and let cool very slowly) then get a really good sharp punch, and a hammer and make your own rasp pattern on the smooth side of the file, you could even bend the tang of the file like the "real" rasps your show. Then, heat up your new rasp to red hot, quench it then warm it and temper it......
Easy :D

Cheers!

PS, I know what you mean about tools, finding the shops and the prices etc.... :doh: :bang:
 
Hi Stu.

Well... everything sounds so easy when you say it:(.

I'm not a blacksmith, so the learning curve would be quite steep at the beginning.

Let's see:huh: first I should build a furnace similar to the one you made.

Second get some long pliers to hold the piece and a block of a rail to use it as an anvil.

Then an old good file and proceed as you say, no problem until we reach the point of quenching and warming again, wich is the critical point, well it may no be so critical for a rasp, after all a rasp is not a chisel, but I haven't the slightest idea of warming to what point and letting it cool dow at what speed.

On the meantime, my chair would remain unfinished:doh: and I have several projects in mind so...

My grand father was a blacksmith and he used to explain me many anecdotes of his trade, from the time he was putting shoes on horses to when he worked for a large forging company building steam locomotives using a 3 Ton sledge hammer.
 
hey Toni, I know what you are saying, but sometimes it is fun to take on a new talent :D

..........but......... sometimes, you just got to buy the darn tool!

:thumb:

Cheers!
 
hey Toni, I know what you are saying, but sometimes it is fun to take on a new talent :D

..........but......... sometimes, you just got to buy the darn tool!

:thumb:

Cheers!

You're right Stu it is fun, and smithing is something I'll give a try sooner or later, maybe I'll build a Phoenix II for myself:D
 
I need to go back to manually browsing the different sections we have here. This is not the first thread I have missed by using the New Posts button. Great thread Toni and a very useful tool. Thanks for sharing.
 
I need to go back to manually browsing the different sections we have here. This is not the first thread I have missed by using the New Posts button. Great thread Toni and a very useful tool. Thanks for sharing.

Oh!:eek: Is there a button shat shows you the new threads? I do browse manually since I joined. As per your comment it seems not to work well:rolleyes:.

Thanks for your comment Glenn.

Thanks to you Frank as well
 
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Since I discovered the New Posts button a few weeks ago, I've become a complete convert to its use. The only thing is ... before you click it you should allow enough time to "catch up" on all of the posts.

If you dawdle, or you have to leave the computer for a while ... the "newness" wears off (or something), the list empties out, and you're back to comparing dates and times on each forum. :(
 
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