{"id":5727,"date":"2019-03-24T00:28:19","date_gmt":"2019-03-24T04:28:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/?p=5727"},"modified":"2019-03-24T00:37:08","modified_gmt":"2019-03-24T04:37:08","slug":"5727","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/2019\/03\/24\/5727\/","title":{"rendered":"Mini rasps and a shop-made necessity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"NT<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here are a couple of handy little tools that might get overlooked. More important, they call to mind a similar shop-made necessity<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I got these NT Dresser mini rasps<\/strong> from Lee Valley<\/a>, who call them “Japanese finger files,” as a last minute add-on to an order. No regrets though, because over the past year I have found them very helpful for finishing off details. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Made of stainless steel and only .023″ thick<\/strong> including the grit, they can get into very narrow recesses. Yet they are stiff enough, when backed up as needed with a finger, to apply adequate cutting pressure and to preserve crisp details. Below,<\/strong> I am holding the half-round mini rasp, which is, of course, stiffer than the flat one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"NT<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The “grit” is composed of tiny rough, tough knobs<\/strong> on the steel plate. Unlike conventional detail rasps, the NT Dressers cut in any direction<\/strong> so they can work in some places that those other tools cannot. I easily clear them of wood dust with the same stiff hog bristle brush that I use on regular rasps.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"NT<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The “medium” grit sold by Lee Valley is actually quite fine<\/strong>. The tool feels about like 220-grit sandpaper but leaves a surface more like 320-grit sandpaper. These are not aggressive tools; they are for details. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NT Cutter<\/a> (Japan) makes these in different shapes and grits, along with a line of larger tools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve always kept a set of these little shop-made sanding sticks, pictured below<\/strong>, for use in countless detail and touch-up situations. They are probably not in any book’s list of important woodworking tools but I consider them shop necessities<\/strong>.\u00a0They’re just PSA sandpaper (or glued-on regular sandpaper) on a squared-off tongue depressor or similar sliver of wood. The NT Dresser tools are more nimble though, which makes them a good complement to the old standbys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"shop-made<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Made or bought, sometimes these humble little tools<\/strong> are just what you need. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are a couple of handy little tools that might get overlooked. More important, they call to mind a similar shop-made necessity.\u00a0 I got these NT Dresser mini rasps from Lee Valley, who call them “Japanese finger files,” as a last minute add-on to an order. No regrets though, because over the past year I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tools-and-shop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5727"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5742,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5727\/revisions\/5742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}