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How can a wood be abrasive to 'hardened steel'? Actually, the problems come from the steels *not* being hardened. Many of the files and rasps sold in this country are not quality tools. The alloys chosen with which to make the tools are not that good for the tool, the steel is not as well hardened, and the teeth are not precision cut. When working with woods with high silica content or grown on limestone soils, gouges and knives need resharpening. The same goes for the files and rasps. The teeth get dull.
Hand cut files and rasps are made with softer steel than machine cut. Hand cut gives a sharper edge for a while, but the tools wear out faster.
The nature of rasps is that most rasps sold in this country are cut 0 or cut 1 - those are rough. Cut 5 rasps are just a little rougher than cut 0 files. It is possible to go from a cut 5 rasp to 150 grit sandpaper without any other smoothing steps between. When working with carvings and sculpture, that cuts the amount of time needed to get the item done.
David Randolph
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