Auriou is Back

[Brent Smith]

I just received an email from Auriou announcing they are back in business. The first shipment will leave the factory on November 20th. For the time being they will only be selling direct with no dealer network. It's good to see these great tools back in production again!!!

http://www.forge-de-saint-juery.com/index.html

[Johnny Kleso]

I just checked there prices and for the Model Maker Rasp it is now $150 (75 euro)

I dont think it was $75 when WC was selling them last year

OOPPs
I was off
75.00 EUR

=

95.6158 USD

Euro United States Dollars 1 EUR = 1.27488 USD 1 USD = 0.784389 EUR


Still $95 for for a 7" file is out of my budget..

[John Powers]

Pinch me, 96 Euros to get a French rasp to New Jersey. I may be nuts but not that nuts. I'm might just send that Frenchmen my Fidelity password so he can look at my retirement account. A really lousey time to try to sell jewelry disguised as a rasp. I know we love those guys and their incredible rasps but ....really.

[Lucas Bittick]

Definitely artisan tools-- all handmade. The website mentions there is only 1 person making the rasps right now.

I don't plan on buying any Lalique crystal or a handmade infill plane just yet, but I am glad that people out there buy these things and keep these hand-made art forms alive.

[David Keller NC]

I use rasps a good deal in what I do in the shop, both for general cabinet work and shaping carvings and cabriole legs. I've a number of the Aurious and both new and antique Nicholsons, and there really isn't much comparison. The new Nicholsons, of course, are only available in the coarse forms (the #49 and #50), and while very useful for hogging wood off of a rough-out, cannot compete with the Aurious for fine detail work. Part of this I attribute to the fact that the Aurious were (are) available in an extremely fine grain, but there's also something to them that I can't quite define that leaves a far better surface than some of the asian knock-offs I have in the smaller grain sizes.

Perhaps that's the random nature of the tooth pattern (often mentioned in WW articles), but it may also have to do with the hand control that comes with a practiced person doing the stitching - the machine made fine rasps I have tend to have a just a few teeth sticking up from the average level of the tooth pattern, and these leave scraatches.

In all, I wouldn't suggest that someone spend a few hundred dollars on a 3 or 4 Aurious for just occasional use, but if you're a carver or make a lot of ball and claw feet finished with rasps and scrapers, I'd think it'd be a worthwhile investment.

[Dave Anderson NH]

I'm fairly close to David Keller in attitude, but I'd modify his statements a little. I use my Nicholson #49 and #50s for as much as possible and leave the best fine work for the Aurious. I just consider them too expensive to be worth wearing out on stuff that a coarser rasp will take care of. I haven't used Joel Moskowitz's Grammercy rasps, but I've heard good things from those who have. They appear to be able to fill the gap between the Aurious and the Nicholsons both in price and surface quality.

[Frank Drew]

,,,I am glad that people out there buy these things and keep these hand-made art forms alive.

I'm not in the market for an expensive rasp at the moment, but I agree with Lucas here; whether or not we can afford them ourselves, all of us who do careful work should support at least the idea of someone else doing hand work at a high level. It's a dying thing these days.

And, as David and Dave have said, these rasps might actually pay for themselves for work of a certain nature.