www.vallorbe-shop.com
Fun story. Had a tool truck company ask us to quote files. So we talk to a couple file factories overseas including Taiwan, we ask them to quote their absolute best stuff then send samples.
The largest file manufacturer in the world now might be in India.
2nd this. A good file on steel will not remain a good file for long if you pull them and enhance cutting tip wear.
Flexible Vixens? Flexible Vixens!I found out about Boggs from a plane maker, who used to send them new files to sharpen before he used them on his hugely thick irons. This was back before 2003 I think, so not sure the quality of Nicholson at that point.
Boggs is not local for me, but I used a USPS Flat Rate puzzle box @ $20, and shipped them 42# of files, taped to a board so they didn’t escape. These were mostly vintage files, bought at garage and estate sales, some NOS that weren’t stored the best, but a variety of shapes, round, square, pillar, needle, cant saw files, knife edge. Not the normal stuff you’ll find at HD.
Needless to say, it was expensive. Total bill for 128 good files was $210, the 120 crappy, “don’t send these in to us again” was $30, plus $45 return shipping. Total turn around time was under a month, just based on photo dates. Part of that was phone tag, as I was traveling when they called me with the bill.
But, can you buy a single 8” flat ******* file for $2? Much less one of decent quality? I use the crappy ones for stupid around-the-shop projects, drawfiling etc., and keep the better ones for saw sharpening, more major work, and then put them aside with other GS finds for the next order going to Boggs. I’m hooked, and probably set for life, but I’m not a serious metal worker, so your mileage may vary.
And previous advice I had seen on saw sharpening was to only use a triangle file once, and get one big enough that you can do two passes on each face, so three saws per file. I think that was from Pete Taran, founder of the Independence Saw company.
Nicholson came to the same conclusion - I read it in an old manual that they published.
This is the manufacturer that bought all the file making machinery from MOB Talabot.
I remember a u-tube video a while back where the guy did that exact test. Just pushing vs push/pull. To me it appeared to be a good test. The result was that there was no difference in the life of the file.
It may deoend on whether you use the same pressure on the back stroke or not and what material you are cutting. But generally speaking, raking a cutting tooth backwards should not help longevity.
That was part of the test if I recall correctly.
If it was the video linked above, yes, it indicates that lifting does not help much. I am surprised by the result! But there may be a few limitations on that test -- as the guy doing it pointed out: It was done with a soft steel much softer than the file. But given that he was measuring significant wear on the (slow) strokes in both cases, I am not sure whether that soft steel choice mattered much. Heat buildup might be a problem too ... but he was going pretty slow with the machine. You definitely do not want to make the file teeth hot to degrade the temper. I would think less friction on an off material return stroke would help keep the file cooler ... though you might also get less heat transfer by reduced material conduction relative to air.
I bought a bunch of those. They seem really nice, cheap, and made in USA!best deal on file handles:
Lutz File 10103 6" - 8" Short Ferrule File Handle (445-03)
Lutz File 10103 6" - 8" Short Ferrule File Handle (445-03)www.harryepstein.com
YMMV
And they've been around forever. I get them at yard sales.
Would enjoy seeing pics of the files you restored if you are able. I've done some using the same method, but used a brass wire wheel instead of steel.
I don't keep handles on my files when not in use, take up much more space. I have a shoebox plus full of vintage handles, from Lutz, Disston and others, including homemade. I did buy a few new ones from House Handle, available in three sizes.
The only way to make the file hot enough to “degrade the temper” would be if the file were being used in a file machine, and I’m not sure even those go quick enough to heat a file up hot enough.
Not so sure on that one. If you use a lot of pressure (like on a machine) and keep stroking faster than conduction cooling can remove the heat buildup, then you can get significant heating. That would especially be locally true near the edges. In the video he used a machine for consistent pressure with thousands of strokes. I am not sure if he monitored the temperature (skimmed the video) and kept it slow enough (program pauses?) to avoid the issue. Probably most hand filing will be slow and cool.
