On Nov 4, 9:32*am, wrote:
On Nov 3, 11:58*pm, 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

You'll find different manufacturers have their own ideas as to what
constitutes a "smooth" cut file, for example. *And needle files used
to have numbers corresponding to how fine the cut was, no
corresponding between makers. *Same cut in the same manufacturer's
line should be the same TPI no matter what size or pattern the file
is. *Somewhere I've got a really old shop manual naming the cuts
available back then with TPI ranges and photos of the various
patterns. *You'd be lucky today to find a 10th of the different ones
thay had back then.

file handles:
Best I've found has been one sort that has two ridged jaws like a
brace chuck. *Opens up in a taper, you turn a knurled disk on the end
and it draws the jaws back inside. *Doesn't lose its grip, either.
Ace has had them, ditto True Value. *You can make your own with a
little work, wood is easy to free-turn on a lathe, then use copper
plumbing pipe for ferrules. *Have several of that sort, too, they
don't come off. *You're supposed to PUSH with the things, not beat the
work on the head or drag the file with as much down pressure backwards
as what you do forwards.

Stan

U mean beat the work on the head, like one would beat little kids on
the head :-?
Thanks for all the good advice.
I don't have much of a problem reducing pressure on the back stroke of
a file,
but where I really fall down is w/ a hack saw. I really don't like
hack sawing
much. I go too fast, work up a sweat, & don't relieve enough pressure.
@ least
I don't like to hack saw any steel ~ 1/4”. Softer or smaller I don't
mind so much.
Thanks again, JD