When working with wood, most projects start by getting all the lumber flat and square, even if in the end the piece will have some curves or other compound shapes. Starting with four square stock is the first step to accurate joinery and makes it easier to draw other shapes since you can reference all the measurements from the straight edges.
After the joinery is cut and maybe you dry fitted everything so you won’t have any surprises in the end, it’s time to start shaping the piece to its final form.
Shaping tools
The first tool I’ll reach will be either a spokeshave or a rasp depending how much wood I need to remove. I don’t like to use coarse rasps since they will often split the wood instead of cutting it so if I need to remove a significant amount of wood the spokeshave will be the tool of choice.
You have two choices when buying a spokeshave, either with a flat bottom or with a round one. The flat bottom model will allow you to shape straight and convex curves while the round bottom variant will come in handy for concave curves.
After the spokeshave its time to get the rasps and files out of your toolbox. In this category there are two tools I’m extremely fond of – my Auriou modeller’s rasp and my Grobet detail file. These two tools work so much better than any of my other rasps and files that I tend to do all the work with them.
The Auriou rasp is 8″ long and has a 14 grain cut which is very fine when you look at it but cuts incredibly fast without tearing all the wood fibers appart and leaving a rough surface, something that will probably happen if you use a coarse tool. The fact that the teeth on the Auriou are hand cut explains why it cuts so well and leave such a nice surface.
The Grobet detail file pictured above is often used by sculptors that work with wax and other soft materials but works very will with wood. It has coarse teeth on one end and finer teeth in the other which makes the tool a joy to use since you can go from coarse to fine in a fraction of a second by flipping the tool in your hand.
It’s also worth mentioning that both ends are tapered and one side is half round while the other is flat which allow you to work on multiple shapes with the same tool.
Taking good care of your rasps and files is important to ensure that they continue to cut well and the teeth don’t get clogged. For this I recomend a small brush with either nylon or natural bristels. Brass or steel brushes will do more arm than good to your tools and the teeth will dull faster.
Both tools and the small brush are available from Tools for Working Wood.
Next installment: Complementary tools
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