 AURIOU hand stitched woodworking rasps - precision shaping tools for woodAURIOU - These world renowned rasps from France are available direct from our forge in France and through selected retailers throughout the world.
Since re-starting his factory in 2008 , Michel Auriou has steadily increased his production of fine tools for wood, stone & plaster.
Auriou are now making a full range of rasps and rifflers for wood and stone with a a 6 strong team of workers managed by Michel.
Forge de St Juery (the new name for the old Auriou Toolworks) is again making tools for plaster and guilding and some new tools for working wood including master carver Chris Pye's carving tool sets.
The Auriou Team consists of
Michel Auriou - General Manager
Denis & Jean-Luc - stitchers ("Stitching" is the name of the technique of raising teeth onto a polished blank by dropping a rasp makers hammer onto a special barleycorn pick).
Bernard & Michel - free forge blacksmiths and grinders
Benoit - trainee stitcher, grinder and general assistant (also a trained stone mason)
The team share duties related to heat treatment, straightening, grinding and polishing.
Our rasps are tapered to allow them to be used more easily. They are stitched to the tip and to the edges. Our range includes cabinet, modellers, rat tail, ironing & combination rasps.
FSJ rasps are produced for right handers but all can be handed for left handed use by special request - this is one of the unique features of our rasps.
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.
There are over 30 separate operations in making our rasps of which "stitching" is just one. The finer grade rasps will take a highly skilled stitcher like Denis or Jean-Luc as much as 90 minutes to complete. The blank is then heat treated by a special process used only by Forge de Saint Juery.
Rasps made by us have been used and appreciated by woodworkers all round the globe including violin makers in Cremona, Italy, by Sam Maloof and his 'boys' in his Californian workshop, planemaker Konrad Sauer, woodturners Michael Hosaluk, Jean Michel Escoulen & Mark Sfirri, Popular Woodworking's Chris Schwarz, Chairmaker's Brian Boggs & James Mursell, sawmaker Mike Wensloff, and many more, too numerous to mention. |
Care and Use InstructionsPlease download Use and Care instructions |
 Stitching GrainThe grain is on a scale of 1 -15 where 1 is super coarse (only every used in industrial special orders) and 15 is super fine.
The most popular rasp we make is the 10" (250mm) cabinet makers rasp Grain 9. It is a good balance of length and cutting power. .Customers often chose to start with this rasp and then ask for more aggressive or finer rasps depending on the work they do.
Modellers rasps are simply finer, slimmer versions of the cabinet rasps.
Please e-mail us if you need any help chosing. |
Special Order NotesOrders that include (Special Order) rasps may add 2-5 weeks to the delivery time. Where combined with standard range tools the whole order will not be shipped until complete. These include the left handed options and some superfine cabinet rasps. |
HandlesOnce we fit our French walnut handles they are very difficult to remove. If you do not want your rasp handled then please advise by covering e-mail. |
 NEEDLE RASPS1/2 round, flat, rat tail and knife shaped needle rasps, very fine grain (14) for detailing work. Approximately 7-1/4" long with a 2-3/4" blade, these are well suited for making models or musical instruments and shaping keyholes or pierced carvings - anywhere a larger tool would be awkward or too aggressive. Stickmakers love using these for detailing work on their sticks.
All needle rasps are stitched grain 14 (very fine) The flat, 1/2 round and knife needle rasps have a 2 3/4" stitched area, 1/4" wide x 1/16" thick. |
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 THE "ALBI" COMBINATION FLAT RASP These are stitched on both sides with one "safe edge".
The rasp is thinner close to its tip to allow ease of entry into your workpiece. Use these rasps for flat and convex work only.
As normal, the longer the rasp , the coarser it is. We offer 2 sizes. The size shown are the rasp dimensions without the handle.
The ALBI Combination rasps represent an excellent investment for general work.
The 10" (250mm) long combo rasp is "stitched" grain 5 & 9 (coarse/medium) whilst the 8" (200mm) is stitched 11 & 14 (fine & extra fine). |
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 THE RAT TAIL RASP - Tapered round raspThis tapered round rasp is stitched to the tip.
Useful for shaping round mortises or for creating a spiral on a goblet stem.
Use with twist action to utilise all the teeth.
2 options here, the 6" long (GRAIN 13 - FINE) - max diameter of 1/4" and the 10" version (GRAIN 9 - MEDIUM) with max diameter of 3/8".
Not available as a left handed option. |
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 THE "HOG" ROUGHING RASP - 1/2 ROUNDThis is "THE HOG" and is used to remove the most amount of wood in the shortest possible time.
A geniuine 1/2 round section with grain 3 stitch, carried as usual all the way to the tip and to the edges.
The "HOG" reduces your band saw blank to more closely resemble to the shape you want (think cabriole leg, guitar neck, gun stock, decoy duck blanks etc). It is more agrressive than the wider grain 4 cabinet rasp which would be an alternative rasp for this kind of work.
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 CABINET MAKERS RASPS - Tapered, wide rasp with flat & convex sidesUsed for general shaping work. They are relatively wide in proportion to their length - this gives you considerable cutting power and you will get achieve surprisingly smooth finishes to your work.
As a general guide you should chose a rasp which is 3 to 4 times longer then the width of the piece you are shaping.
As an example - For shaping guitar necks you should chose need either the 12" or 10" rasp before moving on to a smaller, finer rasp for more refined shaping.
Auriou rasps do not tear your edges so you can work to a line with the utmost confidence.
The coarsest grain for the cabinet rasp is the 12" grain 4 and this will remove a lot of material very efficiently. (1 is the coarsest grain - 15 is finest grain).
If you are buying your first rasp for general work then we would suggest 10" grain 9 cabinet rasp - it was the best seller in North America. If you need help deciding then please e-mail us for advice. We are here to help.
SPECIAL NOTE - NICHOLSON 49/50
We often get asked which Auriou is equivalent to the Nicholson 49 & 50 rasps.
The closest answer is
Nicholson 49 ---------- Auriou 10" Cabinet Grain 7
Nicholson 50 ---------- Auriou 10" Cabinet Grain 9
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 MODELLERS RASPSThese are similar to cabinet rasps but are not as wide relative to their length. This allows you to work in tighter spaces.
Auriou modellers rasps are for more delicate shaping work and complement the work done by cabinet makers rasps.
Due to demand from our Welsh stickmaking friends we have now added a coarser 7" rasp to the modellers range.
NEW = MODELLERS 10" (250mm) RASP GRAIN 9 or 11 - AVAILABLE from June 2011 |
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 CURVED IRONING RASPS - Short rasp - stitched one side only - with cranked handleThese are very useful for working in small areas. The rasp is short and is curved along its length so you can enter your work easily.
The tang is cranked to allow knuckle clearance. |
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