On Fri, 5 Jul 2019 10:38:25 -0700 (PDT), les24preludes
wrote:

Thanks for the tips. I've ordered a file card for starters, and four different files - first cut, dreadnaught, *******, millenicut. Getting myself ready!
File cards are usually bad for files. This is because the wires are
usually hard and will tend to dull the file teeth. A better solution
is to keep the file clean in the first place. Using a light oil on the
file is good for filing aluminum. And after a few strokes, especially
when the file is new and sharp, wipe the file clean on a piece of lint
free cloth. Denim works well. Wipe the file in the direction parallel
to the teeth. This means that if you were to be standing up and wanted
to wipe the file against your jeans and on your thigh the file would
be pointed down almost vertically. The file would then be wiped almost
horizontally. This wiping action pushes the chips along the length of
the grooves and out. When you do get stubborn chips loading up the
file use a piece of 1/2 hard brass to push them out of the grooves.
This can be done by setting the file on edge on a bench and then a
brass rod is pushed along the file grooves toward the bench. The brass
will be soft enough to be cut easily by the teeth so that it can reach
the bottom of the groove while at the same time hard enough that it
will hold its shape a while. When it stops working just file the end
of the brass rod flat and start over.
Eric