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Rasps For Gun Making

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Hi,
I had a good day finally beginning to have energy again. Was treated to a beautiful winter mountain sky this afternoon.





Some friends who are forming a 1770s British 33 Regiment of Foot Grenadier company came over to talk history, guns, and to drill a bit in my field. I had worked on some of their muskets and they were able to pick them up today.

There are many different styles of rasps and I've used a bunch of them. I am just going to highlight a few that I and others find extremely useful. After bandsawing off excess wood, I do 75% of my gun shaping with rasps. Folks have seen me at Dixon's and at the Kempton Gunmakers Fair shape the wrist and most of the lock panels of a squared stock blank in less than an hour using a couple of rasps and files. For sure there are always many different ways to skin the same cat but rasps really work for me given how I like to work.

First up are the standard cheap wood rasp (bottom) you can buy in a hardware store and a medium sized farrier's rasp (top). They both work very well and remove wood fast.



The hardware store rasps tend to dull quickly but they work. The farrier's rasp is a wood removing beast. However, the regular rows of machine cut teeth cut deep furrows in the wood that need to be smoothed a lot.

Next up are a couple of Japanese milled rasps sold by Lee Valley. I like these tools a lot for straight forward wood removal. They are sharp beasts and it is best to attach a handle to protect your hands. Unlike the previous rasps, they leave a pretty smooth surface behind.



The downside is they only cut effectively in a straight forward direction. It is difficult to use them to blend surfaces using a sideways movement or roll to the rasp. You have to cut straight forward and that leaves the profile of the rasp in the stock. Stanley company makes the Surform line of rasps. These are aggressive wood removers as well and leave a fairly smooth surface behind. My example here is actually my cheese grater but if you turn the blade around it is a Surform file. These are inexpensive but they dull quickly in hardwood.





Now we get to rasps I use far more than anything else. These are my Liogier cabinet maker's rasps and gunsmith rasp.






The teeth are hand cut in a relatively random pattern. Then the tool is hardened and tempered. I like the beautiful sapphire finish. The irregularly spaced teeth create a smoother finish behind and shed wood chips much better than machine cut teeth. These rasps cut quickly and smoothly. All can be purchased with coarseness of cut ranging from 1 to 15, with 15 being the finest. They replaced my old Nicholson #49 and #50 pattern maker's rasp after those were no longer made in America and the quality deteriorated badly. Liogier is not the only maker of these fine hand stitched rasps. Auriel is another.

Now here is one of my aces in the hole. The Liogier 12" gunsmith's rasp. This is a life saver. The long blade allows you to work on the combs and cheek pieces of your stock from the rear without whacking your knuckles against the end of the stock. This is a huge advantage. The narrow width is also ideal for shaping the end of the comb and the cheek piece.



I also am a big fan of Stew-Mac's Dragon rasps. These Japanese made rasps have random teeth and the sharp narrow point to the blade is incredibly useful for getting into tight spots. Mine is a fine cut and leaves a surface behind superior to a coarse file. This tool is excellent for smoothing the background around carving because of the narrow point.








Finally, my apprentice, Maria, mentioned this week that Japanese Shinto rasps were really popular at the Canter's Cave rifle making workshop. They come in many shapes and are very aggressive cutters. However, I personally, have no experience with them unlike all the other rasps I've discussed.



dave
 
I have a set of go-to rasps as well. One bastard rasp I have been using for 30 years and still an excellent cutter, like a hyperactive beaver with a hanble.
I got a set of NKTM wood rasps a couple years ago and they have really become my favorite. Very sharp and quick but so smooth cutting. Even good for horn work. (Attached is a pic from the internet).
It's nice to have favorite tools.
 

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I have a set of go-to rasps as well. One bastard rasp I have been using for 30 years and still an excellent cutter, like a hyperactive beaver with a hanble.
I got a set of NKTM wood rasps a couple years ago and they have really become my favorite. Very sharp and quick but so smooth cutting. Even good for horn work. (Attached is a pic from the internet).
It's nice to have favorite tools.
I have a set of those too. I like them.
 
Hi,
I had a good day finally beginning to have energy again. Was treated to a beautiful winter mountain sky this afternoon.





Some friends who are forming a 1770s British 33 Regiment of Foot Grenadier company came over to talk history, guns, and to drill a bit in my field. I had worked on some of their muskets and they were able to pick them up today.

There are many different styles of rasps and I've used a bunch of them. I am just going to highlight a few that I and others find extremely useful. After bandsawing off excess wood, I do 75% of my gun shaping with rasps. Folks have seen me at Dixon's and at the Kempton Gunmakers Fair shape the wrist and most of the lock panels of a squared stock blank in less than an hour using a couple of rasps and files. For sure there are always many different ways to skin the same cat but rasps really work for me given how I like to work.

First up are the standard cheap wood rasp (bottom) you can buy in a hardware store and a medium sized farrier's rasp (top). They both work very well and remove wood fast.



The hardware store rasps tend to dull quickly but they work. The farrier's rasp is a wood removing beast. However, the regular rows of machine cut teeth cut deep furrows in the wood that need to be smoothed a lot.

Next up are a couple of Japanese milled rasps sold by Lee Valley. I like these tools a lot for straight forward wood removal. They are sharp beasts and it is best to attach a handle to protect your hands. Unlike the previous rasps, they leave a pretty smooth surface behind.



The downside is they only cut effectively in a straight forward direction. It is difficult to use them to blend surfaces using a sideways movement or roll to the rasp. You have to cut straight forward and that leaves the profile of the rasp in the stock. Stanley company makes the Surform line of rasps. These are aggressive wood removers as well and leave a fairly smooth surface behind. My example here is actually my cheese grater but if you turn the blade around it is a Surform file. These are inexpensive but they dull quickly in hardwood.





Now we get to rasps I use far more than anything else. These are my Liogier cabinet maker's rasps and gunsmith rasp.






The teeth are hand cut in a relatively random pattern. Then the tool is hardened and tempered. I like the beautiful sapphire finish. The irregularly spaced teeth create a smoother finish behind and shed wood chips much better than machine cut teeth. These rasps cut quickly and smoothly. All can be purchased with coarseness of cut ranging from 1 to 15, with 15 being the finest. They replaced my old Nicholson #49 and #50 pattern maker's rasp after those were no longer made in America and the quality deteriorated badly. Liogier is not the only maker of these fine hand stitched rasps. Auriel is another.

Now here is one of my aces in the hole. The Liogier 12" gunsmith's rasp. This is a life saver. The long blade allows you to work on the combs and cheek pieces of your stock from the rear without whacking your knuckles against the end of the stock. This is a huge advantage. The narrow width is also ideal for shaping the end of the comb and the cheek piece.



I also am a big fan of Stew-Mac's Dragon rasps. These Japanese made rasps have random teeth and the sharp narrow point to the blade is incredibly useful for getting into tight spots. Mine is a fine cut and leaves a surface behind superior to a coarse file. This tool is excellent for smoothing the background around carving because of the narrow point.








Finally, my apprentice, Maria, mentioned this week that Japanese Shinto rasps were really popular at the Canter's Cave rifle making workshop. They come in many shapes and are very aggressive cutters. However, I personally, have no experience with them unlike all the other rasps I've discussed.



dave
Very nice collection! I’ve heard good things about the Shinto rasp too.
 
Thanks, Dave, for the writeup. I went ahead and splurged on some liogier rasps; the gunsmiths and one pulled like a spokesman. I got the traditional variety. The sapphire variety were a little more than I wanted to spend. I'll buy a couple more after getting over the sticker shock of tonight.

Now, howabout sharing your views on palm chisels.
 
Hi,
I had a good day finally beginning to have energy again. Was treated to a beautiful winter mountain sky this afternoon.





Some friends who are forming a 1770s British 33 Regiment of Foot Grenadier company came over to talk history, guns, and to drill a bit in my field. I had worked on some of their muskets and they were able to pick them up today.

There are many different styles of rasps and I've used a bunch of them. I am just going to highlight a few that I and others find extremely useful. After bandsawing off excess wood, I do 75% of my gun shaping with rasps. Folks have seen me at Dixon's and at the Kempton Gunmakers Fair shape the wrist and most of the lock panels of a squared stock blank in less than an hour using a couple of rasps and files. For sure there are always many different ways to skin the same cat but rasps really work for me given how I like to work.

First up are the standard cheap wood rasp (bottom) you can buy in a hardware store and a medium sized farrier's rasp (top). They both work very well and remove wood fast.



The hardware store rasps tend to dull quickly but they work. The farrier's rasp is a wood removing beast. However, the regular rows of machine cut teeth cut deep furrows in the wood that need to be smoothed a lot.

Next up are a couple of Japanese milled rasps sold by Lee Valley. I like these tools a lot for straight forward wood removal. They are sharp beasts and it is best to attach a handle to protect your hands. Unlike the previous rasps, they leave a pretty smooth surface behind.



The downside is they only cut effectively in a straight forward direction. It is difficult to use them to blend surfaces using a sideways movement or roll to the rasp. You have to cut straight forward and that leaves the profile of the rasp in the stock. Stanley company makes the Surform line of rasps. These are aggressive wood removers as well and leave a fairly smooth surface behind. My example here is actually my cheese grater but if you turn the blade around it is a Surform file. These are inexpensive but they dull quickly in hardwood.





Now we get to rasps I use far more than anything else. These are my Liogier cabinet maker's rasps and gunsmith rasp.






The teeth are hand cut in a relatively random pattern. Then the tool is hardened and tempered. I like the beautiful sapphire finish. The irregularly spaced teeth create a smoother finish behind and shed wood chips much better than machine cut teeth. These rasps cut quickly and smoothly. All can be purchased with coarseness of cut ranging from 1 to 15, with 15 being the finest. They replaced my old Nicholson #49 and #50 pattern maker's rasp after those were no longer made in America and the quality deteriorated badly. Liogier is not the only maker of these fine hand stitched rasps. Auriel is another.

Now here is one of my aces in the hole. The Liogier 12" gunsmith's rasp. This is a life saver. The long blade allows you to work on the combs and cheek pieces of your stock from the rear without whacking your knuckles against the end of the stock. This is a huge advantage. The narrow width is also ideal for shaping the end of the comb and the cheek piece.



I also am a big fan of Stew-Mac's Dragon rasps. These Japanese made rasps have random teeth and the sharp narrow point to the blade is incredibly useful for getting into tight spots. Mine is a fine cut and leaves a surface behind superior to a coarse file. This tool is excellent for smoothing the background around carving because of the narrow point.








Finally, my apprentice, Maria, mentioned this week that Japanese Shinto rasps were really popular at the Canter's Cave rifle making workshop. They come in many shapes and are very aggressive cutters. However, I personally, have no experience with them unlike all the other rasps I've discussed.



dave

Growing up in the farm I've used Farriers rasp a lot. I agree they eat wood but do leave furrows.
Thanks for the information on quality products.
 
Hi,
Tom, those Iwasaki rasps are basically the same as the Japanese milled rasps I showed. They cut wonderfully when pushed straight ahead but much less so if you push them diagonally across wood you are trying to blend. That is where the hand stitched rasps and Dragon rasps have no equals.

dave
 
The Shinto rasp has been my go to rasp where I need to remove a lot of wood fast on strait flat surfaces but are not so good on working curved surface. For these areas I go back to old faithful cabinet makers rasp with a curved side and a flat side.
 
Nice list and photos,thanks!

several months ago I purchased some new rasps. I agree that the Nicholson brand has gone down hill since they are now made in mexico. They cut well but clog quickly. I looked at hand cut rasps but I didn’t want to spend that much. Other than the 2 Nicholsons, I purchased some Narex brand and am very pleased with them. I also bought the NKTM from Amazon, very inexpensive but cut well and I like the extreme taper.

When talking files and rasps I must always mention my go to files for blending multi curved areas, pistol grip type curves. Once rasped to shape, I couldn’t live without various cuts of 6” crossing files. Most of mine are older Nicholsons but those I see for sale currently are Grobet brand. I have many Grobet files used for my metal work and I would not hesitate to recommend the brand, though they will set you back a good bit. You get what you pay for in most cases.
 
I have a set of go-to rasps as well. One bastard rasp I have been using for 30 years and still an excellent cutter, like a hyperactive beaver with a hanble.
I got a set of NKTM wood rasps a couple years ago and they have really become my favorite. Very sharp and quick but so smooth cutting. Even good for horn work. (Attached is a pic from the internet).
It's nice to have favorite tools.
If there is any better rasp than a Farriers rasp for shaping wood I don't know what it is? A farriers rasp works miracles on wood. It isn't good for finish work but it will get you to the point of final finish quick!
 
I love a good set of woodworking rasps. Sadly I don’t have any really good ones yet though

I do remember a “How It’s Made” TV episode showing how handmade rasps are made. Lots of craftsmanship involved;
 
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