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A surform tool (also surface-forming tool) features
perforated A perforation is a small hole in a thin material or web. There is usually more than one perforation in an organized fashion, where all of the holes collectively are called a ''perforation''. The process of creating perforations is called perfor ...
sheet metal Sheet metal is metal formed into thin, flat pieces, usually by an industrial process. Sheet metal is one of the fundamental forms used in metalworking, and it can be cut and bent into a variety of shapes. Thicknesses can vary significantly; ex ...
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.


Etymology and history

The word ''surform'' is an apparent
portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsgenericized trademark or the opposite, a
common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...
that was subsequently trademarked. Surform is a registered trademark of
Stanley Black & Decker Stanley Black & Decker, Inc., formerly known as The Stanley Works, is a Fortune 500 American manufacturer of industrial tools and household hardware and provider of security products. Headquartered in the greater Hartford city of New Britain ...
, Inc. in many countries across the world. Surform was first registered as a trademark in the United Kingdom on 25 September 1953 The first Surform tools were the invention of a British company. A patent for a Surform tool blade was obtained in 1949 in Australia by Firth Cleveland Pty Ltd of Wolverhampton England. An affiliated UK company, Simmonds Aerocessories Ltd., was an early manufacturer of Surform tools. They made three planes using this blade. These were marketed by another affiliated UK company, British Lead Mills Limited, in or before 1956. Stanley Works (Stanley) first bought United States manufacturing rights, then bought the company. Stanley began marketing its first surform tools, a plane and a rasp that used the same blade, in 1956. By 1959, Stanley offered a choice of fine and coarse tooth blades. By 1966, the product line had grown to include pocket plane, files (round, half-round, and flat), and an electric drill drum. Reflecting their many uses, Stanley used the slogan "it shaves everything but your beard." A feature of the product line was that on all the tools the blades were replaceable; this was important because they could not be sharpened. Stanley used the name ''Surform'' from the start of its marketing campaign in 1956, and became owner of the ''Surform'' trademark in Australia in 1967. Stanley now has several competitors that manufacture surform tools. These include Microplane, a manufacturer of woodworking tools and kitchen utensils; Sherrill, a manufacturer of utensils for working with clay; and G-Rasp, a manufacturer of small kitchen rasps. In addition to its own tools, Microplane markets stainless steel replacement blades that fit some of the Stanley surform tools.


Types

There are several types of surform tools, used to make different shapes. They include flat plane; flat, half-round, and round rasp, and a variety of other shaping/shaving tools. Larger surform tools are designed for two-handed use; smaller ones are for one-handed use. Although some of these tools are called planes, the United States International Trade Commission has ruled that under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States they belong to the class of files, rasps, and similar tools.


Uses

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 Dust is made of fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian process), volcanic eruptions, and pollution. Dust in ...
. page 323 In
woodworking Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinet making (cabinetry and furniture), wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first mate ...
, 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 Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...
, surforms are used to smooth pruning cuts and shape exposed wood. Surforms are popular among creators of
bonsai Bonsai ( ja, 盆栽, , tray planting, ) is the Japanese art of growing and training miniature trees in pots, developed from the traditional Chinese art form of '' penjing''. Unlike ''penjing'', which utilizes traditional techniques to produc ...
, especially among those who use deadwood bonsai techniques. Surforms are used also to shape surfboards, trim drywall, and in
sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...
. 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". page 73 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'' page 217 and ''a miracle citrus zester and hard cheese grater''. page 243 Initially, it was available from kitchen supply stores and Lee Valley Tools.


Popular culture

In the 2001 film ''
Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the ...
'', in a beach scene, a man is seen using what appears to be a surform tool to shape a surfboard. This is an anachronism, as the scene is set in 1941.


See also

* Charles William Hayward * Oliver Simmonds


References


External links

{{Cutting and abrasive tools Files (tool) Woodworking hand tools