Easy good way to put new handles on files with out one

[retireddiy]

I pick up any made in USA files if there good enough to use. Then pick up old screw drivers with plastic handles. Take my torch and put the and put it in a vise then heat the screwdriver shank until I can pull the handle off. Then heat the handle part until it’s hot enough then push the screwdriver handle onto the file. You can pick any size screwdriver for your files. Yard sales are wonderful and i hate jabbing my hands when I don’t have a handle. Don’t know if it’s posted before but I thought I’d share.

 

[ecotec]

If you are already looking at garage and estate sales, why not look for file handles too?

I find them for around $.25-.50 all the time.

There are certain tools that I would never pay retail for, and files are definitely among them.

Here are the spare file handles that I found quickly. I could probably find another 10 without trying too hard.

I have never found a Lutz size 5 at a garage or estate sale.

 

[mervyn]

Just put an old wooden handle on a wood rasp yesterday. Jammed it in there then filled it up with Super Glue.

 

[ecotec]

Here are the majority of my files.

If you live in an industrial city, this stuff goes for pennies on the dollar at garage and estate sales.

I would argue that the vast vast majority of ones tool budget should go to the tools that cannot be found cheaply and plentifully.

 

[OccupantRJ]

The old time country fix was a dried corn cob, so there’s always that.

 

[Leon bee]

The old time country fix was a dried corn cob, so there’s always that.

Was just gonna say: let me go find my biggest ******* with a corncob knocked onto it.

 

[fourjeepin]

I like this idea. Last year I made handles for about 4 of mine that didn’t have one. I used a piece of dowel from an old stool. Cut to length, drill a hole, jam the file in, round the end, and move to the next one.

 

[RTM]

Wine bottle corks, or champagne corks if you wanna live big.

 

[cody1325]

Got cheap screwdrivers you'd otherwise bin--take the handles off and use those. I've got a box full, and I'm getting ready to separate the handles and shafts to make file handles.

You may have to drill out some of them to fit larger files.

 

[landrover bodger]

drill a hole in a golf ball and force it onto the file

 

[4xdog]

drill a hole in a golf ball and force it onto the file

I have a number of smaller files with handles just like this, left in the shop by my house (and shop’s) previous owner, a custom knifemaker. They’re really comfortable to use. I wouldn’t otherwise have thought this but golf balls make great handles!

 

[MiteyF]

I always prefer the feel of wood for file handles, but it definitely doesn't fit into the "easy" category necessarily. At least not by comparison.

This set (I usually only do onesie twosies) was actually for an old boss, about the only time I ever got paid to do some light woodworking/sewing.

 

[retireddiy]

I respect everyone’s opinions. With large files I just find a bigger screwdriver, lol. After taking the screws handles off and heat the file tails I just use the hole in the screwdriver handle and use that hole. I said easy and I’ll add lazy.

 

[Hohn]

I pick up any made in USA files if there good enough to use. Then pick up old screw drivers with plastic handles. Take my torch and put the and put it in a vise then heat the screwdriver shank until I can pull the handle off. Then heat the handle part until it’s hot enough then push the screwdriver handle onto the file. You can pick any size screwdriver for your files. Yard sales are wonderful and i hate jabbing my hands when I don’t have a handle. Don’t know if it’s posted before but I thought I’d share.

I've never felt a file handle so expensive that it's worth possibly ruining the heat treat of any tool I want to rework to save the handle's cost.

 

[Beerhippie]

File handles deserve respect, too!

The humble file handle--it's always there when you need it. Here are a few I've accumulated over the years. These are all vintage, just some are of a more recent vintage: Lutz File & Tool Co. long-ferrule: Lutz seems to dominate the industry still. Best I can tell, they began in Cincinnati...

www.garagejournal.com

I've never felt a file handle so expensive that it's worth possibly ruining the heat treat of any tool I want to rework to save the handle's cost.

The tang of a file is not heat-treated. Besides, it doesn't take red-hot to melt plastic.

I've been known to use anything at hand--a stick, cork, corncob... whatever. Especially for chainsaw files in the field.

But I'm always keeping my eye open for cool, old, purpose-made file handles at yard sales and junk stores.

BTW--for those not "in the know"--the proper way to seat a file in a wood handle is to place the file tang into the hole, then drop the handle end against the bench a time or two with the file sticking straight up. Let the weight of the file do the work. To remove one, I open the jaws of a vise enough to let the file through but catch the handle, then drop the file into the vise jaws. The file usually pops out of the handle on the first try. B sure to catch the file.

 

[retireddiy]

I've never felt a file handle so expensive that it's worth possibly ruining the heat treat of any tool I want to rework to save the handle's cost.

Hohn, I said easy and lazy. Nothing wrong with wood handles.

 

[retireddiy]

My reason for easy and lazy is I had a widow maker heart attack at 55. I’m now 60 and easy and lazy is the best for me.

 

[Etchase]

What a dream it would be to have handles on every file. I have a few with dedicated purpose made wood handles I got from HJ Epstiens. They carry 35 varieties of Lutz made in the USA wood handles

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www.harryepstein.com

I don’t have enough room to store all the files with handles attached, so I stack the extras and seldom used files in an unsightly box in the file drawer. For those, as well as saw blades and other odd shaped objects i use adjustable handles. Seconds to put them on and off. Available in wood and plastic.

 

[retireddiy]

Nifty

 

[Junkdrawer Dog]

The old time country fix was a dried corn cob, so there’s always that.

Whenever Dad was describing someone lacking in mechanical skills, he'd say "That guy couldn't put a cob handle on a file."

 

[Beerhippie]

Lutz is the Walmart of file handles.

The general-style handles are nice and never wear out (yet).

 

[retireddiy]

My father had two sayings I remember most. Work smart not hard and if I asked a question about something he would say. Don’t tell me how to build the watch just tell me the time. He wasn’t a patient man, lol.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Whenever Dad was describing someone lacking in mechanical skills, he'd say "That guy couldn't put a cob handle on a file."

With my dad for someone inept it was”couldn’t find his *** with both hands” or “couldn’t scratch his *** with both hands” or “couldn’t hit his *** with both hands” depending on the mood he was in.