Steve Teichman and his Chester County Farrier Associates crew get under about 15 horses a day. While that’s great for business, it also means tools and other resources wear out quicker — especially rasps.

“If I get a week out of a rasp, you know, that’s great,” says the Unionville, Pa., farrier. “Some rasps, you might get a day. We were buying rasps by the case and it just got to be ridiculous.”

Teichman shared a couple of techniques — a buffing wheel and muriatic acid — to get more life out of rasps.

Take Them To The Wheel

The most common and successful way to sharpen rasps is by applying compound to a buffing wheel.

“A lot of farriers are starting to do this now,” says the United States Equestrian Team farrier. “You can extend the life of a rasp, I’m going to say five or six times easily. It’s rare, but if you hit upon the right rasp you’ll keep a good, sharp rasp for as long as 6 weeks.”

Teichman uses a pair of 2-inch sewn cotton wheels on two Baldor motors. While there are a number of compounds from which to choose, he prefers white.

“It’s coarse enough,” Teichman says. “I experimented for the longest time. There’s a product from Jackson Lea that comes in a tube, like a paste. It’s like an 80-grit and that’ll do an amazing job on rasps.”