New tool

[mandolinplucker]

While at an arts and crafts fair I found a new rasp. A guy was making rustic furniture and was using a large rasp that I hadn't seen before. I asked him about it and he said that it was a Farriers rasp. It's used to shape horses hoofs. It has a real aggressive side that removes lots of wood and a finer side that smooths pretty good. It's a large tool and flat on both sides but for shaping necks it looks like the width of the rasp will help to keep things smooth and even down the neck. I am working on a tenor Uke with figured maple body and neck so I will see how it works. They don't cost much. I got mine at Tractor supply for $22. Posted this in the general discussion section by mistake so it's posted twice,not because it's that important,but because I can be that dense.

[Paul Hostetter]

Farrier's rasps are OK, though quality varies from brand to brand. I've found Surforms to have way more bang for the buck in doing the jobs the farrier's rasp does, and they come in useful shapes other than flat. And though they're expensive, the good hand-made European rasps are the absolute best once you're past the simplest rough shaping.

http://www.classichandtools.com/acatalog/cht_new_rasp_10g.gif

[mandroid]

Borrowing tools from other trades theme,
I have found "Vixen" files useful.
they are made for working Aluminum.
the cutting edge is a series of curved sharp edges,

with sufficient space between them to let the chips come out
and not clog the teeth up like a finer tooth file would do.

does wood shaping too with a fairly smooth finished surface,
as it acts like a series of planes.

[Antlurz]

Borrowing tools from other trades theme,
I have found "Vixen" files useful.
they are made for working Aluminum.
the cutting edge is a series of curved sharp edges,
Sounds like you might be describing the critters that were used back in the days before Bondo was invented and cars got customized and/or wrinkle repaired with lead. Back then, every kid had to remove the chrome and lead in the mounting holes, and "french" the head and taillights. Does it have a hole through each end? Those came with a handle that reminds you of a regular wood plane with a turnbuckle in the middle where you could actually bow the thing into a mild arch.

They will make a nice smooth cut.

Ron

[dunbarhamlin]

That sounds like a pansar file. I think Vixen is the name for the tooth configuration. Simmonds (file makers) do have some Vixens which look like they'd fit a pansar, while others are tanged.

[mandroid]

Vixen is, I'm guessing a tooth type , Nicholson, Heller, and several other manufacturers make them. there is a tang to fit a handle onto [Cook's 'bubbly' corks work too.]

Boeing, and the like, use thousands of them , no doubt.

[Jerry Haynes]

Maybe off subject a bit, but a tool I find mighty handy is a Scorp . I use mine alot.

[oggiesnr]

I have some older Surforms with a handle at either end, like an old-fashioned plane, great for swift removal of lots of wood but not very subtle (at least in my hands).

All the best

Steve

[Phil Hopkins]

Like most things, a lot depends on the quality of the tool. I've used a number of farrier's rasps, on horses hooves, actually. The better made and more expensive ones are wicked sharp (I cut myself regularly with them, something I almost never do with my very sharp woodworking tools). I've not used them on wood, though, as I want to keep them sharp as long as possible for the hooves. I would suspect they would do an excellent job on wood. The cheaper ones probably wouldn't. They don't do very good on hooves either. :-} I'm ambivalent about surforms. Perhaps I don't have the right technique for them.

One of the best rasps I've used in woodworking is actually made for auto metal body work. It has a strange set of teeth that arc across the whole body of the file and it is just superb at smoothing. What is described as a "Vixen" above sounds a lot like the tool I'm thinking about.