Some of my favorite things to restore are hard to find files and rasps.

Sometimes it is very rewarding and only rarely is it disappointing. Occasionally there are upsets and all too often the process proves more challenging than anticipated.

This was no exception. This rasp drew my attention immediately because it is bent, skillfully from the factory. Bending a rasp like this after it has been made would be extremely difficult, if I understand correctly. At least difficult without leaving any evidence.

There was no evidence it was bent after formation. So naturally, bent rasp was on my shopping list for fine tuning saw handles that come off the CNC. A bent rasp gives the clearance to work the inside perimeter of a saw handle, softening the arris into a curve in no time.

A look at the before, then the after. This file cost me $3

Took me a week to clean. Before I tell you how or recount how bad it was, let’s see the after:

It was bad. Probably the worst shape of any rasp I have ever recovered.

First, the white stuff was plaster and proved to be the simplest issue aside from the rust.

It seems that one spot was actually covered in weld spatter. Whatever the material was that splattered onto the rasp was softer than the file but took a combination of picks, cold chisels, diamond files, and a diamond burr to remove. I didn’t even get all of it out, but enough that all the teeth that were previously obscured by the splatter are now usable sharp teeth.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the last problem. The teeth are not in great shape. On the convex side, things are better — on the concave side, the teeth are pretty dull.

I still think it was worth it, but time will tell when I put it to use. I suspect that like worn sandpaper, I can use this worn bent rasp to refine the surface from a previous, more aggressive rasp.

Right now this is the only bent rasp I own, but for only $3, I’d say it’s worth it. The bent rasps that I really want are a lot more than $3. I would really like a set of bent rasps from  Gramercy tools:

https://toolsforworkingwood.com/store/item/GT-SHRASP.XX

But this vintage Heller Bros Co bent rasp will likely find a use alongside my other files/rasps