The one rasp to unite them all

[red-cactus]

Hi everyone

I have more or less decided I will try and shape my headstock with a rasp. However, as I don't want to build a collection of rasps .... what is the 1 (or 2) I should buy that would cover most of this and any future needs?

I'll probably order it from Bunnings.

[king casey]

This is the only one I use.
Does headstocks, arm and belly cuts.


cheers, Mark.

[FrankenWashie]

I would get a Shinto Rasp and a coping saw.

Depending on how much shaping is required, the coping saw is your friend to get the bulk of the work done and the Rasp for refining the profiles. The Shinto rasps are dual sided, a coarse cut for fast material removal and a medium side to refine the rough cuts. In practice you should be able to go straight to 80 grit from the medium side, at least that is what my experience has been.
The only Caveat with that is that due to its length and width, it can be problematic to do tight concave shapes.
Once your profiles are cut, then you can begin the joy joy task of SANDING!

[McCreed]

At the very least I would follow FrankenWashie's advice of a coping saw then some form of rasp.

I have an aversion to hard work so I can't imagine doing a headstock completely with a rasp. One day I'd like to get a scroll saw, but for now I use a jig saw, drum sander (in drill press) and finish by hand.

Stanley Coping Saw at the BGS $18.99 - worth every penny IMO. If I couldn't at least have a coping saw, all my headstocks would look like paddles

Like this:

[HatchA]

Nicholson make a 4-in-1 rasp (8" long, 2 tooth sizes, one flat side, one convex side), but I found a version that's 12 or 14 inches long, in a local builders providers. I gave one to a friend a few years ago to help with bow making. The 8" Nicholson doesn't really hog material away.

[red-cactus]

Thanks everyone for your response. I was wondering if I could get away without a coping saw? If I do the standard strat shape ... is there a lot to saw away?

[king casey]

All I used is a straight hand saw and marked out the most straight cuts to trim it down.
The rest was tackled with the rasp followed by sand paper.
Unfortunately I don't have the money to throw around on tools.

cheers, Mark.

[Fretworn]

I cut headstock with a coping saw and then use 80 grit sandpaper. I rarely use a rasp for anything.

[jugglindan]

I used a coping saw followed by a round and half-round rasp (depending on the curve radius) and then sanding. Mark's method of straight cuts --> rasp --> sanding also works. Just spending more time with the rasp.

For rasps, I bought a three pack quite cheap - round, semi-round, and flat.

[fender3x]

It's been on the last two builds that I have been using rasps. I have NOT invested in the famous Dragon Rasp from StewMac, but I have now tried a bunch of others.



I really like the Shinto rasp for removing large amounts of wood. Worked great doing the basic shape of forearm and belly cuts on a body. Somewhat useful for removing relatively large amounts of wood from the headstock...but not nearly good enough precision to do more than that in my hands.

For the finishing up body contours I like the small file/rasp combo at the top left. I got it relatively cheaply (under $14 USD) on Amazon. It's a kind of nice utility file/rasp since it has flat and curved rasp and file. It's a nice utility file/rasp, and fits pretty well into tight spaces. The rasp is a bit course for fine work, but since there are no teeth on the sides, it's less likely to gouge than some rasps.

I got a set of Golden Rasps (4", 6", 8" and 10") after seeing a review of them on YT. They seem like a poor-person's Dragon Rasp. I liked these pretty well. I felt like I could do more precision work with them than with the rasp side of the small files, but since these do have teeth on the sides, I had to be a bit more careful with them not to gouge the wood. I am going to need a bit more practice with them, but they seem very versatile. They won't remove wood like the Shinto. They don't have a file like the small one, but they are the most precise rasps I have used. I suspect I will mostly use the 10", and am not sure I really need the smaller ones...but I paid just $23 USD for the set of four, so what the heck!