Auriou Rasps for Wood

Auriou rasps are hand made by highly skilled and knowledgeable toolmakers from a small factory in south western France.

Auriou's workers are keepers of secrets that have been passed down for over 150 years. Auriou are unique in the range and quality of tools they offer.

Auriou rasps taper to allow them to be used more easily and to add to their versatility. They are stitched to the tip and to the edges. The roughing rasp, cabinet, modellers, flat and combo rasps are 'handed' for right and left handers.

Each individual cutting tooth is raised on a polished blank by the drop of a traditional rasp-makers hammer onto a special barleycorn pick. This gives a slighly random pattern to the cutting teeth resulting in a smoother finish to your work.

IMPORTANT- Auriou rasp blanks are seated on a lead bed to absorb vibration when the barleycorn pick raises the teeth from the drop of the stitchers hammer. Auriou still follow the traditional method of stitching the rounded side of their cabinet, modellers and roughing rasps in 1/4 rows. This means that a 1/4 of the width of the rasp is stitched along its length before reseating the blank on the lead bed. Why? I hear you scream - well it is so the pick hits the surface of the blank as close to perpendicular as possible. This takes more time but gives for more regular raised teeth and a longer lasting rasp.

The finer grade rasps will take a highly skilled stitcher as much as 90 minutes to complete. The blank is then heat treated by a special process used only by Auriou. These tools are precision shaping tools.

Auriou rasps were used by Sam Maloof and his 'boys' in his Californian workshop and a host of fabulous woodworkers including Michael Hosaluk, Chris Schwarz, Brian Boggs, Mike Wensloff, Mark Sfirri, Rob Cosman, Jean Michel Escoulen and many more, too numerous to mention.