I picked this up last night. Any ideas what it's used for? Wood carving?? The overall length is 19.5". It has a faint makers name on the side (pictured) but I can't make it out. Looks like it starts with "STAE". Any ideas?

Sure looks like an old rasp to me. Have seen one like this before.

A body rasp, used in auto body shops to smooth fillers like Bondo.

Papaw has it, a bodymans rasp.  If I remember correctly those were kinda pricey, and were even sent in to resharpen.   I got six still in the paper at an auction, took them to the next swap meet, sold them one at a time, each time raising the dollar amount and nobody complained.  I believe they are still sold today.  A whole bunch faster than sanding. 

That rasp will remove lots of material, and the rasp is replaceable as well as used on both sides.

For lead. Before bondo lead was the filler on auto bodies.

They are also used lightly on bare steel to look for imperfections.

Quote from: Fins/413 on April 26, 2012, 05:01:58 AM
They are also used lightly on bare steel to look for imperfections.

Once a body panel is pounded out and if the bodyman did a decent job ( or got lucky ) than this file will remove enough material so that no filler would be needed. Depending on what your working and the quality of the file you can really hog out some material

This type of rasp is also known as a 'float' with either straight cut or curved (MILLENCUT)  teeth

Quote from: Billman49 on April 26, 2012, 05:32:56 AM
This type of rasp is also known as a 'float' with either straight cut or curved (MILLENCUT)  teeth

I suppose it is a float, though I associate floats with the plane makers' tool for working the throats of wooden planes.

With the handle system, it's an auto body tool, certainly.  The toothing is found on lead working tools.  But like the
plane makers floats I know, these are very good for working wood.  I have several and wouldn't be without them.
They can take away a lot of material, and since they are like having a bunch of little plane blades, they leave
behind a very smooth surface.

Thanks for all the info. This stuff is fascinating. ... Lead makes perfect sense. The blades are very sharp. I'm sure it would cut me if I ran a finger across it.

So, there's no room for an automotive tool in my small woodworking collection... If anyone here is interested let me know. I'll give you guys first dibs, then it's off to the bay.

Papaw, wanna trade that perfect handle hammer? :)

I'm interested!  PM me.

QuotePapaw, wanna trade that perfect handle hammer? :)

As you might guess- NO!

Those files with curved teeth are usually called Vixen Files.  Here's a source: http://tinyurl.com/d32eddc

Quote from: ron darner on April 27, 2012, 01:49:55 AM
Those files with curved teeth are usually called Vixen Files.  Here's a source: http://tinyurl.com/d32eddc

Thanks, Ron.  It's good to know where to look for these.  I like them a lot.  Knowing they're called vixens is a real plus.