According to Dave Hinz :
On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 10:10:33 -0700, James Waldby wrote:
Dave Hinz wrote:

Do you have a link for MLA? Google finds me references to them but no
site directly.

http://www.statecollegecentral.com/m...he/MLA-18.html
describes it and shows:
MLA-18 Filing Machine Basic Kit . . . . $99.50
Drawings and Instructions only . . . . .$16.00

Ah, excellent. Looks like a metalworking version of a drum sander? Goes
around, and up & down? Why would that be considered obsolete?

It does not go around -- just up and down. There are various
shapes of files which were available (and which are sometimes found if
you are lucky even today). Round would be no problem with the rotation
which you suggest, but the square, triangular, knife-shaped, elliptical,
and others (with our without safe edges) would not be too happy to be
rotated.

As for why are they considered obsolete? Mostly, what they did
(finish work on the manufacture of dies to produce the relief angles and
such) is now done as part of the primary work pass using CNC. As a
result, finding a source of the files is more difficult, and many people
simply modify regular files in various ways. (Obviously, making a shank
to clamp them on the opposite end of the file from where the normal
shank lives.

Enjoy,
DoN.

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