Christopher Schwarz gives in to the urge to try out a new tool that combines the rasp and the chisel in one not-so-easy-to-handle package:
Now usually when I see a tool like this I just ignore it. Boneheaded ideas like this usually end up in a mass grave with the bones of dodo birds, passenger pigeons and AMC Pacer automobiles. But a couple weeks ago I stumbled on a set of these tools for sale — new — on Amazon.
These tools must be stopped. So I bought a set of three to take a look. They are as bad as I feared.
The tools are incredibly heavy. The rasp teeth are coarse and not very aggressive. They manage to make more of a farting sound than any scratches in the wood. Of course, it doesn’t help things that you have to use the rasp one-handed — grabbing the chisel tip is ill-advised.
Or is it? The chisel edge is as sharp as Lennie from “Of Mice and Men.” And when you do pound the chisel into a piece of wood (thank you Mongo the Mallet) the tool stops dead after 1″ because the rasp teeth dig into your work.
And the worst thing of all? They are branded as Nicholson — the once-great rasp maker.
But if this tool can succeed in the marketplace for 10 years, what other opportunities are toolmakers missing out on?
Amazing that this guy actually has an outlet at a woodworking publication. Forget for a moment that nobody with even a modest grasp of tool knowledge would “pound a chisel (1″) into a piece of wood” as if it were a splitting wedge, who in their right mind would try to use this tool as either a dedicated chisel or dedicated rasp?
I’ve had a similar tool for several years now, and I purchased it for exactly the task it was designed for, clearing small amounts of material out of a small space, as is frequently required to fit the (larger) bolt of a new lockset into a door.
Comment by Junk Science Skeptic — October 20, 2010 @ 14:00
I guess if you considered it like an up-scaled “Saw drill” (Lee Valley website), designed to do a particular job, maybe. Not being able to flatten the back means you’ll never be able to sharpen it properly . . . and that’s assuming that the sales rep is correct that it has already been acceptably sharpened at the factory (a dubious proposition).
Anyone who’s talked to me about woodworking will find it hilarious that I’m making a big deal about being unable to properly sharpen the tool, given that I’m the one most likely to avoid having to sharpen anything . . .
Comment by Nicholas — October 20, 2010 @ 14:32
Haven’t needed to sharpen mine yet, and it has a far lower pedigree than something from Nicholson. I’m pretty sure it came from the local Northern Tool store, by way of Taiwan.
Comment by Junk Science Skeptic — October 20, 2010 @ 15:31
Probably the same guy who thought putting a rasp surface on a chisel was a good idea.
Comment by Lickmuffin — October 20, 2010 @ 17:13
If nothing else you can use it to administer the dreaded “Indian sunburn” childhood prank.
Comment by Chris Taylor — October 20, 2010 @ 21:29
Not to beat this to death, but…
What you probably have there is something similar to if not exactly like a plane-maker’s float. I am guessing that the tool you have has teeth that only cut in one direction (unlike a file, which usually cuts in two directions). I am going to guess, too, that one or both of the edges of your tool don’t have any teeth.
Does that sound like what you have? Just wondering.
I have to admit that I am getting a little tired of Schwarz’s reverence for French woodworkers and their benches. At least he’s not as bad as those guys who go on and on about their resepct for the soul of the wood and other such nonsense. People who anthropomorphise cellulose really need to get out more.
Comment by Lickmuffin — October 21, 2010 @ 10:04
Clearly, based on traffic to this post and comments submitted, I should just abandon all my other interests and concentrate on woodworking-related material!
Comment by Nicholas — October 21, 2010 @ 11:49