TIL I was ruining my own rasps by not cleaning them right

I've been a farrier for about 12 years now and always just wiped my rasps with a rag after use. Last Tuesday I watched an older guy at a clinic dip his in a bucket of vinegar and water for 10 minutes between horses. I tried it on my oldest rasp that was basically useless and it cut like new after a good soak. Now I keep a bucket at my truck and it's saved me $50 on buying new rasps this month alone. Anyone else got a weird trick they picked up late?

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brian_kelly914mo ago

How long are you leaving them in the vinegar mix? I tried this with a couple old files I use for shaping wood and soaked them for about 20 minutes, but they came out with a weird crusty film on them that I had to scrub off. Might be the water to vinegar ratio you're using or maybe the steel is different on farrier rasps versus wood files. Curious if you're doing a specific mix like half and half or something more diluted.

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taylor_patel4mo ago

Plain white vinegar straight, no water. Soak for about 12 hours, then scrub with a stiff brass brush under hot water. Never had any crusty film doing it that way.

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