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Thanks for the report.

What Auriou rasp (size and tooth) compare to Stew Macs Dragon rasp?

I bought a pair of the small Iwasaki medium cut rasps with the built in handles a couple of days ago--I needed some rasps that size, and wasn't willing to put out the big bucks for the larger sized Iwasakis yet.

Anyway, the jury is still out. So far (also in mahogany) they are a lot grabbier than a good hand cut rasp--as Todd pointed out, there are cutting angles that work a lot better than others. But I'm finding that if I use a much lighter touch than I would with a conventional rasp, they work pretty well and they do leave a smooth finish for a coarser-cut rasp. Not bearing down on the rasp too hard seems to be the ticket in my case anyway.

I think I'll probably keep these, but I'm not sure if I'll add a larger one to the collection or not.

Dave

Haven't tried the files but I've had pretty good luck with my local woodcraft giving them the "opportunity" to match prices when I've found things at a lower price elsewhere. I've just told them honestly that I'd rather spend the money locally but can't justify paying the extra. They are all managed differently but it doesn't hurt to ask.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I love mine. I use them in combination with rasps and knives and find they fill in a lot of blanks.

I use the Dragon rasps and find them excellant.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

I've got a load of them from the small ones to the big ones in various tooth size and I love them.
One thing I did notice though is that the coarse tooth ones are not really that much more aggressive than the fine ones. For example a comparison of the "bastard cut" with the extra fine shows that the extra fine is almost as fast at cutting. The coarse also leave a very smooth surface.
The half rounds are really aggressive. Even the extreme fine one hogs off material like nothing else. I did a test with a standard home center rasp and the iwasaki cut faster and left a way smoother finish.
The flat ones are almost like planes. They leave a pretty much flawless finish along the grain and on end grain but across the grain, you have to angle the file the right way. I find you can't sweep along the work as you push like with a normal file/rasp as much or they will leave grooves in the work where the teeth don't cut. They leave the best surface if you go straight along the file, i.e. push straight.
Another good thing about them is that they have ground off edges so you are less likely to mark adjacent work. They're great for fine tuning joints.
Mahogany is a pretty soft wood and the iwasakis were designed for the medium and harder woods like oak, maple, rosewoods and ebonies. They will "work" in softer woods but they are optimal in harder woods according to the site.
I live in Japan so the files are about 1000 Yen cheaper and with the high Yen, it makes the files seem expensive overseas. I love these files so much I plan on getting a full set some day.

Since we are talking about Dragons, I stumbled across this: http://www.internationalviolin.com/item_detail.aspx?ItemCode=T5001
Some folks were reporting this is the same as a Dragon but with a much lower price.

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Stay with the happy people.
--Reynolds Large

I am headed up there this week as well - I have to check out that spruce - need to get some shellac flakes -

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I have two Dragon rasps and that doesn't look like a dragon rasp. I've heard that there are cheap, Chinese copies kicking around. I would assume that's what we're looking at here. The Dragon's are worth every penny, BTW.

BTW, I should mention about the two small Extra Fines I like so much. I find they're absolutely perfect for getting rid of all those little bumps things that work their way into a build, and the round one is especially a life saver for getting rid of those little bumps in concave areas. I'm talking about the ones that you can't even really see but you can feel them, and it's so difficult to remove them without bruising the wood all around. I can get in there with the half round, feel around for it, give a little swipe, and they're gone.

Also, if you draw file with these things, it will leave an amazing surface. They're really great for cleaning up machine marks and marks left from other tools, like knives and rasps.

I've tried drawfiling but failed miserably. How do you do it? I tried holding the file at right angles to the work and pushing and pulling along the work like a spokeshave but had no luck whatever orientation I tried. I just ended up slicing a bunch of grooves into the work... Do you need to angle it or something?

It needs a bit of an angle. There's a definite touch and feel that goes along with using these tools. Disliking them at first is very normal unless you're used to working with this style of file. It's very similar to a Vixen file or a Nicholson Super Shear, though the Iwasakis work far better on wood IMHO. One key is using an extremely light touch. Even with the Medium file, though, I can get a surface that is extremely smooth.

edit:
I did some videos a while back that touches on the Iwasakis and how I use them. I've had so many questions about them, and other rasps, that I thought just putting my thoughts on video would be easiest.

FWIW, here they are, and it's just my opinion and how I use them. I'm concentrating more on the finish rather than hogging off lots of material. You can hog off material with anything but ultimately I'm most concerned with how they perform when I'm getting close and trying to refine a shape.