Most of our shop tools are built to ensure we keep things flat and square. So shaping and smoothing curved or irregularly shaped workpieces can be a challenge. The traditional tool of choice for these tasks is a rasp. Rasps remove stock quickly and make shaping curved pieces easy. But the aggressive cut of a rasp comes at a price.
An inexpensive rasp leaves furrows in the workpiece that require a lot of work to clean up. A high-quality, handcut rasp does a better job, but will set you back nearly $100. And you'll need at least a couple different rasps with coarse and fine tooth patterns (or different profiles) to properly shape your parts.
Fortunately, there's a far less expensive and equally effective alternative - a Microplane rasp. Microplanes are available in square and round profiles, with either coarse or fine teeth. Best of all, the low price (around $15) won't break the bank.
LIGHTWEIGHT BUT TOUGH When you first pick up a Microplane, you might not believe it's a serious woodworking tool. The plastic handle and light weight of the blade just don't seem well-suited to shaping hard wood. But with your first few strokes on a workpiece, you'll soon become a believer. The tool cuts quickly and its light weight makes it easy to control.
__ HOW THEY WORK__ As the name implies, a Microplane rasp planes rather than gouges the wood. The stainless steel blade incorporates hundreds of razor-sharp teeth that act like miniature, low-angle planes to slice cleanly through wood fibers. The result is a smooth surface that doesn't need a lot of work to refine and finish.
The cutting power begins in the steel itself. A Microplane blade starts as a high-grade stainless steel blank. The advantage of stainless steel is that in a very thin blade it holds a razor-sharp edge better than most tool steels. The teeth are photo etched into the blank and then bent to form the shallow profile. The finished blade resembles a cheese grater. In fact, Microplane also produces a line of kitchen tools.
__ NO CLOGGING__ In addition to the smooth cut, the thin blades offer another advantage over traditional rasps. Since the back of the tool is open, the shavings simply flow through the blade without clogging the cutting surface. If you’ve ever had to stop and clean out the teeth of a conventional rasp after every few strokes, this is one benefit you’ll really appreciate.
__ HANDLE__ The blade clips into a pair of narrow channels in the plastic handle. The nice thing about this arrangement is that the blades are easy to replace as they wear out. The photo below shows a quick and safe way to remove the blade without the danger of cutting your fingers in the process. You can then pop a new blade into the channel without missing a beat.
Another thing I like about the plastic handle is the rounded thumb grip on the end. As you can see in the photo, this grip provides a convenient place to grasp the end and guide the rasp through a cut.
DURABILITY The low-angle blades hold a sharp edge for a long time. But you'll need to be careful how you store them. Because the blades are so thin, it's easy to damage the cutting edges by bumping into other steel tools. But on the upside, you don't need to worry about the stainless steel blades rusting.
TECHNIQUES There's no steep learning curve for using Microplanes. Although the blades will cut with or against the grain, you'll get the best results by cutting at an angle. Cutting directly with the grain can tear the wood and cause it to splinter and clog the teeth.
I usually rough shape a workpiece with long, strokes angled about 45° to the grain direction. When uniform cut marks are visible on the surface, change direction to 45° from the opposite side and continue. If you get any tearout, turn the tool around and make a few pull cuts to smooth over the rough spots. Finally, skew the blade and draw it along the grain for a final smoothing cut. Microplanes are so easy to use that you'll be up and running in no time. Once you get used to the cutting action, you'll find even more uses. The box below shows a couple of popular tools that use Microplane technology for other common applications.
Beyond Rasps: Fast Cutting Tools
The same cutting action used in Microplane & rasps has been applied to a couple of other innovative tools. The first is a finer-cutting replacement blade for the popular Surform tool shown in the photo below.
My favorite, shown in the photos, is the rotary shaper. Like a sanding drum, it's powered by a drill press. But the Microplane blades remove stock in a hurry and still leave a smooth surface.
