Honestly, you can use a rasp in public! Click image to enlarge

The Lowly Rasp

An old tool that deserves new respect

Text & photos by Tom Hintz

If you are like me, doing anything with a tool that does not plug into an electrical socket fosters feelings of inadequacy, or that you are entering a retro twilight zone. In this case, get over it. The wood rasp, no matter how archaic it appears, is a very useful tool to have close at hand in your woodworking shop.

   When you need to remove a little wood from a joint that came out tighter than planned, round a corner the router will not reach, or any of a hundred other situations, the rasp may be the answer. We just have to look beyond the fact this technology was probably developed around the time King Arthur's Knights were whacking each other with hand-forged swords.

   Though wood rasps come in a variety of configurations, the most common is a flat, handleless bar with two degrees of roughness on a flat face, and the same patterns on a curved side. The "fine" pattern looks very rough but produces a surprisingly fine finish that sands smooth very quickly. The rougher pattern is meant for removing wood fast, and it does it's job well so take care when using it.

   You can usually buy one of these little wonders for under $10 and will find you are using it more and more--even when people are around. I constantly find little jobs that the rasp handles quickly preventing having to set up the radial arm saw or router again for a small operation. In some cases that may be necessary. In many others, the rasp will handle the job very well, and save a lot of time and effort in the process.

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