Rasps and Files

Many people don't realise just how easy and how much fun working with rasps can be. Ask anyone who has had a go at making a saw handle which part they enjoyed the most and nine out of ten will reply 'rasping the bandsawn blank to shape'.

Our range of Continental rasps are hand made in Europe in the traditional manner. The finely ground carbon steel blank is strapped to a lead block and then the teeth are raised by hand with a special punch. In Sheffield the rasp makers used to be known as nickerpeckers because of the sound they made tapping away in their workshops.

Files are often disregarded as tools for woodworking, but they are actually extremely useful. A smooth level stroke with a sharp bastard file will leave a surface every bit as fine as a handplane. Bahco files were recommended to us by a customer as being of very good and highly consistent quality, we tried them, loved them and have never looked back.