Watched a guy at a historic forge in Virginia and saw a trick with rasps

Stopped by the old smithy at a living history site near Williamsburg last weekend. The smith there was cleaning up a rasp by hitting it against his anvil face, not with a wire brush like I always do. He said the tap knocks the filings out of the teeth without wearing them down. Tried it on my own rasps when I got home, and it actually made a difference on my coarser files. Anyone else use this method or have a better way to keep their rasps cutting clean?

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lilymurphy7d ago

Wait, he just smacks it against the anvil and that's it? I'd be afraid of chipping the teeth or something, but I mean, if it worked for you, that's wild.