Rasp
Filing tool
A rasp is a coarse form of file used for shaping wood, metal, or other material. Typically a hand tool, it consists of a generally tapered rectangular, round, or half-round sectioned bar of case hardened steel with distinct, individually cut teeth. A narrow, pointed tang is common at one end, to which a handle may be fitted.
01Uses
Rasps come in a variety of shapes, rectangular, round, and half-round, and vary in coarseness, from finest, "cabinet", to most coarse, "wood". Farriers, for example, commonly use rasps to remove excess wall from a horse's hoof. They are also used in woodworking for rapidly removing material and are easier to control than a drawknife. The rough surfaces they leave may be smoothed with finer tools, such as single- or double-cut files.
Rasps are used in shaping alabaster. Saws and chisels are used to rough out alabaster work.
Machine-made rasps have uniformly stamped teeth. They often leave deeper marks as rows of teeth follow each other exactly, and will require a subsequent smoothing step. A hand-cut rasp is still a premium tool for carving work, as the slight variation in tooth spacing avoids this 'tramline' effect and so they are still available, at a price.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Rasp”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Raspel Baiter.jpg by Simon A. Eugster, CC BY-SA 3.0
- HoofRasp.jpg by Belinda Hankins Miller from U.S.A., CC BY 2.0
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