I know that most of the people reading these blogs are wondering what is going through my mind as I post these seemingly obsessive blogs about tools and the excitement I get about the most minute details. As I was considering what tool to do next, I almost jumped out of my seat in excitement when I thought up this one. This blog will be dedicated to none other than the file.
No, not the one on your computer. And not the one you use on your nails; I see that more as a sanding block but that’s beside the point. I am talking about a good old, metal hand file for use on wood, plastics, other metals, and just about anything that can handle its cutting power.
A file is a hardened bar of high carbon steel that has teeth on the large face, which can be used to remove material on a work piece. The file teeth are not simply sandpaper or a spray coated bumpy surface, but rather actual teeth cut into the material, with different shapes and styles for different types of application. Show below are some examples of the teeth and the cutting action of a file.
As you can see, a file is very similar to a saw blade, in that it has individual rows of teeth that slice away material on the forward stroke.
This is a common mistake people make while using files, where they move it back and forth over a piece to remove material, but this actually flattens the sharp points seen in the above cutting diagram and clogs the rows of teeth with the material cut away.
The proper way to use a file is to first secure the workpiece well using a bench vice if it is small and light. Then, you position the front of the file on top of the place you wish to remove material and apply medium to light pressure down on the handle and front as you push forward over the piece at the desired angle. Then, you lift up the file and move it to the first position and repeat, making sure not to bang the teeth.
Files are very useful tools because they can remove large amounts of material in a very short amount of time and with quite high precision. They tend to be a step before sandpaper in the processing stage, since they last longer before needing to be cleaned or thrown away, and their geometry allows for flat pieces to stay flat when removing material and not have uneven finishes that commonly come from hand sanding.
Files are also useful because of their hardness. Could you imagine using sandpaper on a block of metal to get a desired dimension? After the steel of a file has the teeth cut into them, they go through a heat treatment process, where the metal is made much harder by rapid heating and cooling, followed by a slow bake to change the properties of the steel. This allows for the file to cut away materials as hard as metal, as long as it is not as hard as the file being used.
Files are a beautiful substitute to sandpaper and feel amazing in the hand while using them. It can really connect you to the piece like no power tool can. If you are interested in more details about hand files and how they can be used, check out the article below!
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