Having Custom Tools Made
Well, I finally bit the bullet and am having some custom tools made for me. I have thought about this for some time and I am so excited about the idea that I finally decided to place the order for a few new 10″ neck carving rasps. The ones that I have been using work fine but I know there will be no comparison to hand cut rasps. A rasp is a tool used for shaping wood or other material. It consists of a point or the tip, then a long steel bar or the belly, with dug out protruding points which abrade a surface. My current large rasps are Chinese hand cut or machine cut files that have had a lot of use to them. I will be sending them off to get re-sharpened soon.
The beauty of a hand cut or graded file is that the delicate inconsitancies of the process actually make the tool cut cleaner and faster. The organized teeth of a machine cut rasp tend to act to uniform and have a harder time cutting as well as getting clogged faster. I knew I came to the right spot when I was introduced to Noel Liogier at Liogier Tools.
Liogier Riffler Files
Liogier is located in France and is perhaps one of the best file making companies around. Everything they do is by hand. Noel sent me this video which shows the dynamic process of transforming steel bar stock into wonderful and efficient tools. It is quite amazing! There are many options to choosing the correct file such as style, cut, and even whether you are right or left handed has a great affect on how they will make your files.
All I can say it that I am patiently awaiting the arrival of these files.
Have you heard of Ariou rasps? I saw this video on the production of their rasps which is similar to the one you posted on the Liogier rasps:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfQJIJuIbCs&feature=player_embedded
I was wondering if you had heard of them, and if so, any advantages or disadvantages to one over the other. They both seem like very high-quality products.
Hi Dean, thanks for the comment! I have seen these rasps. I went to a woodworking show a month or two ago and Lie Nielson had some of these files. They only had the ones that they were selling with their name on it. The files I ordered from Liogier are large 10″ rasps and the ones I saw were finer cut, 6-8 inchers, I believe. The quality looked nice as does everything put out by Lie Nielson. I picked them up and imediatly did not like them as much as the Liogiers. It’s hard to say if one’s better than the other without trying the same file out side by side. The Liogier files are just wonderful! It is a joy to use them and from the moment you pick them up you can tell that they are special.
Thanks again Dean!
What grain cut did you end up ordering for your rasps? I wasn’t sure what would be a good grain size to start with for neck carving would be…
I like to remove a lot of material with these guys. I have 10″ cabinet rasps with a cut of 8, 10, and 12. I also had a double sided flat file made with a 7 on one side which is extremely aggressive. After the 12 I switch to finer cut rasps and sanding blocks. I am sure I would probably find a 14 or 15 convenient for cleaning things up.