IPREP TOOLS RECOGNITION SHAPING TOOLS

File

A file is a tool used to remove fine amounts of material from a workpiece. It is used to shape materials, by wearing away some of it. Today, files are usually made of a steel bar that has a rectangular, square, triangular, or round cross-section, with one or more surfaces cut with sharp, generally parallel teeth.

Rasp

A rasp is a coarse form of file used for coarsely shaping wood or other material. The main difference between rasps and files is the tooth configuration. Rasp teeth are cut individually, and they look like miniature chisels across the rasp surface.

Sandpaper

Sandpaper is produced in a range of grit sizes and is used to remove material from surfaces, either to make them smoother (for example, in painting and wood finishing), to remove a layer of material (such as old paint), or sometimes to make the surface rougher (for example, as preparation for gluing).

Plane

A plane is a tool for shaping wood. Planes are used to flatten, reduce the thickness of, and impart a smooth surface to a rough piece of lumber.

Polisher and Sander

These are power tools used to smooth surfaces by abrasion with sandpaper. They have the means to attach the sandpaper and a mechanism to move it rapidly. The main difference is that the spin rate for the polisher is much slower than that of the sander; therefore, polishers are used for more delicate jobs in which sanders might harm the workpiece (e.g. removing paint from a surface).