USE & CARE INSTRUCTIONS FOR YOUR AURIOU RASP OR RIFFLER

from Michel Auriou

We would like to explain a few things about your rasp and let you in on a few secrets that help make Auriou rasps the most sought after rasps made in the world today.

Only a hand made rasp can be shaped with great precision and have cutting teeth that are fine and sharp enough to cut efficiently so as to give an incomparably neat finish.

Your tool is a precision cutting tool which cuts quickly, with little effort and leaves a smooth surface. The finish achieved will save you time when roughing out shapes and finishing.

Remember Rasps and Rifflers are shaping tools and you will be able to achieve great accuracy in this respect. Whether you are shaping blanks or making final corrections to small curves or details an Auriou rasp or riffler will make the task much simpler.

Auriou rasps and Rifflers are made entirely by hand in our own workshops – our secrets lie in: Steel Quality – Auriou uses a fine grade high carbon steel

Our unique forging process – for instance our rifflers are hand drawn using a spring power hammer and then shaped by hand on an anvil by one of our two full time blacksmiths – they are not stamped and cut by machine. Our method is old fashioned by modern standards but we believe that we are correct in preserving the integrity of the steel’s fibre. None of our steel is discarded from the original blank we use.

Our skill in grinding, polishing and heat treatment – after forging we aim to produce a perfect shape with a polished surface which is ready to take cutting teeth that are stitched into the surface.

The quality of our stitching – it takes 2 years to train our stitchers to the required level of competence. Our stitchers are highly skilled and they are able to produce uniform cutting teeth whether for coarse cut rasps or the finest cut. The sharpness of the teeth is continually checked by a special tool. Auriou rasps are stitched to the edges and to the tips. Pause for a moment and look at the stitching and shaping on one of our rifflers I hope you can appreciate the level of skill involved in making such a tool.

Tools hardening – this is an exacting process – Auriou rasps are oil hardened one by one. They are hand dipped in an oil bath so that any deformation of shape can be detected by the skilled operative.

Cleaning – after hardening the rasps are cleaned and checked individually before rust preventative treatment and packing.

Note: because of the above unique processes you will discover that an Auriou rasp will cut much more effortlessly than a machine made rasp. An Auriou tool is a cutting tool and a fine grade Auriou tool will cut much more efficiently than a medium cut machine made tool.

Cost – we can make no apology for the cost of our tools. We know they are high but you have to try and compare like with like and you cannot with our product as it is alone in its quality and performance. We continue to believe in our methods and receive plaudits from internationally recognised cabinet makers, chairmakers, woodturners and woodcarvers More importantly we receive compli- ments from hundreds of ordinary (everyday) woodworking enthusiasts from all over the world.

This is our inspiration and we hope you will also enjoy this tool from Auriou.

CARE & PROTECTION

Keep your Auriou rasp separate from other tools.

If you are not going to use your rasp or riffler for a while wrap it in an oily rag to prevent rust. Clean with camelia oil before re-use to prevent clogging.

Use a stiff brush to clean the cutting teeth from time to time – a stiff toothbrush is perfect (but use an old one please!). A shoe brush will work but do not use a wire brush (contrary to what you may read elsewhere!)

USE

Do not exert too much pressure – note the miniature shavings (not dust) that your rasp removes.

Cut at a skew angle – angle the tip of the tool slightly to the left and push forward and to the right. With rounded section rasps roll the rasp slightly when pushing forward – this means you use the maximum amount of cutting teeth in one pass.

When working your position for holding the rasp is slightly skewed across the grain ( just like you skew a plane along the grain) - so Auriou offset the cutting teeth to allow for this skew angle so the teeth cut straight.

A right hander skews his rasp on the opposite side to a left hander so Auriou offset the teeth either side of straight, depending on your handed- ness. Left handers can order specially cut rasps for left handers – alternatively it will not take many minutes to get used to rasping as a right hander.

Dear Woodworker,

This is done for ergonomic, efficiency and comfort reasons. It is so much easier than trying to push the tool dead straight.