SteelexD2476 Riffler Rasp Set, 8-Piece, Silver

My husband is absolutely loving these rasps. He hand makes walking sticks & canes, He says they do their specific job wonderfully. Their job being rough to possibly medium filing work. They are not meant for fine detail work, though he says they could be used for that in a pinch but it would take some patience and effort to get the job done. He says the variety of shapes is hugely helpful, and the length gives you that extra reach you need while still being manageable.

Perfect for removing tartar

We teceived it which is more than I can say for last order!!!

I had no idea what a riffler set was all about, but figured it can help file away areas on carvings, and it turned out that I was right. Size of each piece is pretty handy, and seemed to work fine on some sample wood pieces. Was able to shape curve details with minimal effort. I'm sure it will come in handy when the need for it arises. Prone to rust though, so I keep them in the package.

loved it

Very good product.

work great, very sharp

These are not the optimum rasp for soapstone carving. The teeth are sparse and uneven, slowing the shaping process. Sparsity of teeth means that in close cuts, they are not as good in creating detail. They are no faster than riffler files even though they are rasps, not files. Teeth are as uneven as the teeth on an old hound dog; they produce a buggered surface which will require more filing and smoothing a surface prepared by a better rasp.What I mean by uneven is that their spacing varies and the little triangular cut into the steel which is pulled out to make a tooth is deep for some and shallow for others so that some teeth stick out further, or are wider than others. A few teeth are just a faint hint and not really effective at all and others are deep and wide and leave more of a groove. What I mean by a buggered surface is that after using one of these the soapstone has high places and low places and places with deep scratches. This will even out with a light touch on the rasp, follow-up with a file and touch-up with sandpaper.The better grades of Chinese tools can be very high quality, but buying cheaper grades like the presently reviewed product is always hit or miss, since quality varies so much the lower you go on the scale. I definitely missed with this purchase. A better riffler set in this price range is the ~$16 Larson set: Robert Larson Co. 825-3600 Riffler Rasps Set - I've got a set of these and their teeth are more even. The Mercedes of riffler rasps, which I can't yet afford, is the ~$190 Corradi set: Riffler Rasps, Set of 8 - NO I don't know off the top of my head where Corradi is made but the Larson is marked Taiwan. If you look at the two links their pictures of the tooth density and evenness tells the story of quality. Regardless of the price, look for teeth which are even and close together.