"Terry Coombs" wrote in message
...
On 7/5/2019 3:39 PM, les24preludes wrote:
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
Does this cleaning process work with copper as well as brass?

Yes , and it also works with a piece of aluminum . Any metal soft
enough to be cut so it fits the tooth profile - All my files are
discards from the countertop shop . It takes a very sharp file to
cut plastic laminates (formica) cleanly . They still do a good job
on aluminum and adequate on steel . Oh , and as someone else said ,
don't use a file card , it'll dull your file faster than anything .

--
Snag
Yes , I'm old
and crochety - and armed .
Get outta my woods !


I use the wire side of the file card on safe edged, single cut "hand"
files, drawing it parallel to the teeth. Of course on double cut files
the wires would drag over the oppositely angled cutting edges.