The Best Files and Rasps
A file removes metal and smooths surfaces with rows of hardened steel teeth. A rasp does the same thing to wood, with individually cut teeth that remove material faster and leave a rougher surface. Together they cover the jobs between cutting and final sanding: shaping curved surfaces, fitting joints, removing mill marks, and refining edges that a plane cannot reach. These are the tools that never leave the bench.
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How to Choose
Files are graded by cut: bastard (coarse), second cut (medium), smooth (fine). A bastard file removes metal quickly; a smooth file refines. For wood, the equivalent is the rasp (coarse) and the cabinet rasp (fine). Half-round files and rasps are the most versatile -- one flat face and one curved face address both flat and curved work. Tangs require handles: a file without a handle will drive the tang into your palm if it jams. Nicholson has been making files in the United States since 1864.
Nicholson 9-Inch Mill Bastard File
If you only buy one, make it this one. Read the full guide below for alternatives at every price point.
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Nicholson 9-Inch Mill Bastard File
The Nicholson mill bastard file is the standard reference cut file in American metalworking. Single-cut teeth in a bastard grade, 9 inches, rectangular cross-section. It sharpens saw teeth, removes mill scale, fits mating metal surfaces, and refines parts that come off the lathe or grinder. Nicholson has been making files in the United States since 1864.
The mill bastard file is the most used file in any shop that works metal. Nicholson has been making it correctly since before the Civil War.
Find on Amazon arrow_forwardNicholson 10-Inch Half-Round Bastard File
The half-round file covers two shapes in one tool: the flat face for flat surfaces and shoulders; the curved face for concave curves, holes, and inside corners. The bastard cut removes material at a rate appropriate for most fitting work. Half-round files are the most commonly used file in woodworking shops because the two shapes handle most of the situations a file is needed for.
One file, two shapes. The half-round is the file to have if you have only one.
Find on Amazon arrow_forwardAuriou Cabinet Rasp 9-Inch
Auriou rasps are hand-stitched in Forge de Saint-Juery, France by one of the last workshops still cutting rasp teeth by hand with a chisel. Machine-cut rasps have teeth in rows that produce parallel ridges on the surface; hand-stitched rasps have randomly positioned teeth that leave a smoother surface. The Auriou cabinet rasp is grain 9 -- medium fine -- the most versatile grade for shaping chair seats, curved surfaces, and fitting curved joints.
A hand-stitched rasp leaves a fundamentally different surface than a machine-stitched one. The random tooth pattern averages out. Auriou is one of the last places making them this way.
Find on Amazon arrow_forwardGrobet Swiss Pattern File Set
Grobet USA distributes Swiss-pattern needle files -- fine-cut files in a range of cross-section shapes. The 12-piece set includes flat, half-round, round, square, triangular, and knife profiles in cuts from bastard to extra smooth. Needle files are for precision work: fitting lock parts, smoothing machined surfaces, deburring castings, and working in spaces too small for a full-size file.
When the space is too small for a standard file, the only option is a needle file. Grobet has been the American distributor for Swiss-made files for over a hundred years.
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