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I am a fan of hand cut files. They seem to be a lot sharper than regular files and they do not chatter. Recently I bought the two large Dragon hand cut rasps from Stew Mac.
Here is a pic (I think)


I got these to help with neck shaping. Simply put, they work great and are worth the rather high (for a file) price. Effortless stock removal. No chatter, and with two surfaces, curved and flat, they can deal with all surfaces in neck shaping.

I have a file saw and I must say that these work better. They are nearly as fast, seem to cut with almost no effort and no tear out, and leave the neck smooth with much less sanding needed.

Great top know! Thanks John...

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

Thsnks for the info John! I've had my eye on those ever since Stew Mac put them in their catalog.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

It's good to know that there is an alternative to these Auriou hand cut rasps. I have used one and liked it but at $100 a pop, I'll try the Dragons. Thanks for posting this - I like rasps and these seem nice.

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John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

I got both Dragons for around $75. I thought that was a lot of money for a rasp, but I guess in the realm of hand cut its not that much after all. They do work really well. I wonder why they seem to work so much better than machine cut rasps, or rather why a machine cut rasp seems not to be as sharp and chatter resistant as the hand cut.

John, thanks for the review.

If you could have only one of the sizes which one would you choose, or do you really need both? I only have standard Sandvik rasps, but I have a feeling an investment in really good rasps would be one I wish I'd made a lot earlier if I only had known...

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

some time ago lmi sold a wide range of hand cut rasps but they have been remaindering them for some time. i've not used them, nor any of the hand cut rasps since i still have several boxes of rasps left over from the days when i still put shoes on horses. they do remove wood rapidly but are prone to the chatter that seems to come from the regular tooth interval that machine making gives. the irregularity of the hand cutting seems to be key to avoiding this. the resulsting surface needs a lot of sanding as well.

Arnt: as a sideline, I can also very much reccomend the 'standard' hand-cut cabinetmakers rasps by Herdim, sold by Dick Tools in Germany. Around 40 euros for the 20cm length versions, plenty long enough for guitar work.

I have a medium and a medium-fine (I *think* coarsness 4 and 5, but I can double-check my order form..might be a coarse, but that's not very coarse), ordered a few small rosewood handles I liked the look of, feel nice in the hand. They're much nicer to work with than my 15 year old Sandvik rasp, which removes a lot of stock, fast (much coarser than either of the hand-cut ones), but leaves a nasty surface. The hand-cut rasps cut smoothly, evenly, rapidly enough, but leave a very, very clean surface, and don't chatter at all. They're perfectly safe to use on end-grain, even squared off ash, no chipping.

Short version: I'll be buying a few more. When I figure out which ones I ordered last time, so I don't buy duplicates by mistake ;) Fine-tool.de also has some Milani (Italian) Handcut rasps for about the same price, and the more expensive Auriou. Not sure if the Auriou are that much better, or merely that much more well-known.

I still use my shinto rasp (rough side) for coarse stock removal, and my microplane from time to time, but the rasps are really wonderful.

[QUOTE=ToddStock]...a good machine-cut rasp like a #49 or #50...[/QUOTE]
I have the Nicholson #49 & #50 rasps, and they're definitely hand-cut. They're among the best purchases I've ever made. The Dragons are shaped differently though, which makes them interesting. The fact that they come to a point on the end looks especially useful. There have been times when I wished my Nicholsons were tapered like that.

Arnt
   I think I would opt for the coarse file simply because i want something to help with rough shaping and this coarse tooth file does that fast. In fact, I am using it to help carve an arch top electric (gasp) Les Paul guitar. It works just great on the highly figured quilted maple that is looking for an excuse to tear and chip out.

   Carlton, I agree, the sharp ends enhance the file's usefulness, but the do look a little dangerous

Todd, I stand corrected. I bought these several years ago, and they were (I thought) billed as hand-cut. However, I may have misread something that said, "like hand-cut," or similar side-stepping. In any case, they're excellent tools.