Fairier rasp

[HELLGAP]

The local fairier has offered to give me all his rasps in exchange for a knife What type of steel would the rasps be . He says he goes through 2 per week so Ishould be getting alot in the next 6 months. Files If I remember correctly are like 1095 please let me know. I dont know the brand but I would think somthing good. kellyw

 

[Robert Mayo]

Kelly
Depending on the make they could be a high carbon or they could just be case hardened.
Not all files make good knives i have had good luck with Black Diamond files.
I would get one and test it to see if it through hardens by heating to non magnetic and quenching then see if it will break. If it breaks it should be good to make blades from.
Bob

 

[DLBrothers]

Brand name of the rasp is key. Bellota, Save-edge, Simmons are all good rasps. Take one and whack across a stump, it should break cleanly. If it bends, you dont want it. (they will break when you whack a horse as well....don't ask me how I know this) I can also tell you that the teeth divots are hard to get out. You're almost better to weld them in so to speak.

 

[wdtorque]

DLB, a new file will break if you whack it on a stump?
I've never whacked anything, or horse, with a file.
This is news to me! Dozier

 

[Jim Adams Customs]

Kinda like the my Friends Sam Stoner Big Bowie. Hey Dozier

 

[HELLGAP]

Nice knife Jim and thanks ya all for the advice. My Mom would kill me if I hit her horse with a file but ill try a stump to be safe lol . kellyw

 

[James Terrio]

My Mom would kill me if I hit her horse with a file but ill try a stump to be safe lol . kellyw

Heh! That's probably the safer way to go Vise one up and snap it off, that will give you a chance to look at the grain along the break. If it's smooth, that's a good sign.

Hope it turns out they're good steel, rasp knives are cool as the other side of the pillow.

DLB, a new file will break if you whack it on a stump?

I suppose it depends on the stump and how hard you whack it, but yeah. A good file is actually pretty easy to break, because they're left real hard so they can cut other steel, which leaves them brittle. Naturally, this means you must temper them back some more (or better yet, anneal and re-HT) to make a good knife.

 

[wdtorque]

Thanks James, learned something new. I might have to borrow a file and whack it on something and see what happens? Dozier