WH hand-stitched rasps

matt_southward · 11 Dec 2014

I'm looking to get a hand-stitched cabinet makers rasp and I wondered if anyone on here had any experience with Mathew's Workshop Heaven continental hand-stitched rasps? I certainly can't afford the Auriou rasps and Mathew's rasps are well priced relative to the Liogier option - so how do they compare?

Also, I'm looking to buy one 'all rounder' for now so how does the 'grain' system compare to the WH 'tcm'?

As ever, TIA

paulm · 11 Dec 2014

I've got a few of the WH ones and they do the job fine, removing wood reasonably easily and quickly.

Although this looks very crude and reminiscent of the dreaded old surforms, it's neither and is extremely effective and capable of gross removal of wood or finer smoothing http://www.axminster.co.uk/japanese-saw ... tAod6BUATw
Too large for doing fiddly and finer cabinetmaking stuff but my go to for anything I can use it on in preference to my other rasps.

Cheers, Paul

Biliphuster · 11 Dec 2014

Interesting, I wonder who makes these continental rasps if not Liogier or Auriou. Certainly the picture at the top of the page looks just like scenes from a Liogier video.

iNewbie · 11 Dec 2014

Maybe they're Milani - but you'd have to ask Matthew.

Cheshirechappie · 11 Dec 2014

A definite thumbs-up from me for the WH hand-stitched rasps. The descriptions and advice for selection on the website are spot on, so if you can't decide which 'grain' you need, go by the advice given and you won't go far wrong. It would be worth considering a file to go with the rasp; doing the bulk shifting by rasp, the final strokes being light and careful, then finishing with a file can leave a surface that barely needs sanding.

One small comment is that the rasps WH offer tend to be smaller ones, which is great for jobs like shaping tool handles. However, for something like shaping cabriole legs or the like, larger ones than their stock items would be better, I think - something more like 12" or longer.