page_title: Surform
section_title: Uses
hierarchical_section_title: Surform / Uses
caption_attribution_description: A Microplane brand surform being used to grate fresh ginger
context_page_description: A surform tool features perforated sheet metal and resembles a food grater. A surform tool consists of a steel strip with holes punched out and the rim of each hole sharpened to form a cutting edge. The strip is mounted in a carriage or handle. Surform tools were called "cheese graters" decades before they entered the market as kitchen utensils used to grate cheese. Surform planes have been described as a cross between a rasp and a plane.
  Although similar to many food graters made of perforated sheet metal, surforms differ in having sharpened rims. Also, a surform typically is used to shape material, rather than grate it.
context_section_description: Compared to a conventional rasp or sandpaper, the advantages of a surform rasp include a faster cutting action, no clogging of the tool with material being removed, and little or no dust.
  In woodworking, surforms are used for rapidly removing wood from curved surfaces. They remove less wood than a drawknife, so they are easier to control. Even though surforms leave very coarse finishes, the worked areas can be easily smoothed with finer tools, such as files and sanding blocks. Woodworker Sam Maloof described their use in chairmaking: "Once I have roughed out the arm on the bandsaw, I use a Surform® (Stanley® model No. 295). This tool does about the same job as a spokeshave -- it can take off a lot of wood very quickly -- but I can use it without worrying about grain direction." 
  In farriery, surforms are used to remove excess hoof wall from a horse's hoof.  They may also be used to "manicure elephants' hooves".
  In horticulture, surforms are used to smooth pruning cuts and shape exposed wood.  Surforms are popular among creators of bonsai, especially among those who use deadwood bonsai techniques.
  Surforms are used also to shape surfboards, trim drywall, and in sculpture.
  In automobile repair shops, for decades panel beaters have used surform files and rasps to shape plastic body filler.  There, these surform tools are commonly called "cheese graters".
  As kitchen utensils, surform tools are a recent innovation.  The Microplane wood rasp, a sleek stainless steel surform rasp first marketed as a woodworking tool and known generically as a microplane, recently became popular as a kitchen utensil for, among other uses, grating cheese (see Zester).  An early mention of using a Microplane "rasp-like grater" in the kitchen was a cookbook published in 1999.  This was soon followed by mentions such as one of the finest kitchen tools to come along in decades and a miracle citrus zester and hard cheese grater.  Initially, it was available from kitchen supply stores and Lee Valley Tools.
caption: A Microplane surform rasp used to grate fresh ginger
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