jay wrote:

Hi there
I use files quite a bit in my shop.
I grab one & feel it's coarseness w/ my thumb & look @
it's shape to decide whether to use it or another. I've never
known what I was actually using. I've decided
to buy a few USA made different lengths & cuts all @ once.
After looking @ some catalogs, I've come up against the same
question I've been wondering about for years:
How do I find out what the coarseness of 1 length file of
a given cut is compared to a different length of a different cut.
For example: Is a 6” ******* courser than a 14” 2nd cut?
Or, is a 14” smooth cut smoother that a 6” 2nd cut? If so how can
I find out what it is & by how much.
I've read Machinery's 28th pages 962 through 965. Nothing.
Nothing that gives me definitive quantitative answer.
I've Googled, I've looked in Wikipedia.
The only thing I found is a photo of 3 files that says something to
the effect of “a ******* has ~ 25 teeth /in; 2nd cut has ~35th /in;
& a smooth cut has ~ 60th/ in”. (These # aren't accurate, I'm not
looking @ the site, they are from memory, but in the ball park)

Also I don't remember having ever used a file that the handle would
stay on. I probably have but just don't remember it. The files I buy
will probably not have handles. Who makes an after market handle
that stays on. Maybe I should buy the cheapest wooden ones &
epoxy them in place. I assume that would work. No?

Thanks for any info, JD


I've used some file handles which "screw onto" the tang. The hole in
them looks sort of like the inside of a wirenut, but the wire looks like
it's triangular in cross section so it presents somewhat sharp threads
which dig into the tang.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10e12 furlongs per fortnight.