Cabinet makers rasps are used for general shaping work. They are relatively wide in proportion to their length - this gives you considerable cutting power and you will achieve a surprisingly smooth finish to your work. The teeth on Auriou rasps are handed so as to take account of the natural position of your hands when pushing the rasp (just like a plane which you often slightly skew when pushing along a board). So yes we make for left and right handers. When you get your rasp you will soon discover the correct angle (about 30 degrees) to get the maximum efficiency from the teeth on the rasp (you can "hear" the correct angle)

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 is the best seller worldwide. If you need help deciding then please e-mail us for advice. We are here to help.

As at mid March 2019 we now have stock of the 7 best selling rasps

The 9" (225mm) grain (cut) 10 cabinet makers rasp. 

The 10" (250mm) grain 9 cabinet makers rasp (including lefties).

The 7" Modellers Rasps Grain 13

The 6" Modellers Rasp Grain 15

The 6" Rat Tail rasp grain 13

These are precision shaping tools so look carefully at the range and decide what best suits your needs.

Aggressive shaping = coarser longer rasps

Shaping - mid to fine grain 7 - 11 

Refine your shape - the  finer grains (cut) 11-15

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

Order Notes
Orders 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. Please note - Our web orders are now being fulfilled by UK based Classic Hand Tools as we have found that this has significantly improved the service to our individual web customers.  Classic Hand Tools carry as much stock as we can supply them and ship worldwide.