I bought a few full toolboxes at an estate sale and pulled out about 15 random USA made files made by Nicholson, Heller, and Black Diamond (I'm in the south). More than half are not marked as to coursness. None of the Black Diamond are marked and the Heller and Nicholsons are about 50/50. So what is the best way to identify the coursness of an unknown file? I'm thinking the teeth per inch would give me an idea, but what do I know?
Identifying file coursness
- Thread starter ram12375
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four.cycle
Well-known member
1908 Simmons Hardware Co. catalog Keen Kutter file ad pp 333
The "FILE" section in this 1936 Henry Disston Saw & File Manual starts on page 34 - There are more recent publications of this manual available at International Tool Catalog Library
This 1885 "Western File" catalog contains some exquisite engravings of different file types
5ubtle
Well-known member
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/tpi-of-*******-cut-metalworking-file.518941/
Apparently, terms like *******, 2nd cut, and smooth cut are only relevant in the comparison of files in the same family. I use TPI for "file coarseness" comparison, but most file manufacturers don't like to document that specification. I measure the TPI of my files myself.
RTM
Well-known member
I'm a fan of this pamphlet.
Heller Brothers Co. Files 1951 : Heller Brothers Co. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
4 p., illus., 26.8 cm, trade catalog
archive.org
neophyte
Well-known member
The TPI varies with the file size and type.
A “Course” cut file in a larger size will likely have a lower TPI than a “Course” cut file in a smaller size.
The type of file may also determine “cut” and TPI.
Certain types of files were always specified in TPI rather than using a generic “cut” specification.
There were also “Swiss Cut” files, which may have been specified in the “Swiss” file numbering system, even when made in the USA.
There are plenty of old file catalogs over on Archive.
Look up the file brand, and then look up the type of file and size to figure out the file cut.
Most old file manufacturers had relatively accurate images of files and the cut TPI illustrated in their catalogs.
Pre-WWII catalogs are probably best to use, since far fewer file designs were kept in production the later you go, with exceptions for certain weird file type like designs laminate and aluminum.
If you can’t find a catalog from a manufacturer, cross reference with Disston, or Nicholson, or Heller/Simonds.
A “Course” cut file in a larger size will likely have a lower TPI than a “Course” cut file in a smaller size.
The type of file may also determine “cut” and TPI.
Certain types of files were always specified in TPI rather than using a generic “cut” specification.
There were also “Swiss Cut” files, which may have been specified in the “Swiss” file numbering system, even when made in the USA.
There are plenty of old file catalogs over on Archive.
Look up the file brand, and then look up the type of file and size to figure out the file cut.
Most old file manufacturers had relatively accurate images of files and the cut TPI illustrated in their catalogs.
Pre-WWII catalogs are probably best to use, since far fewer file designs were kept in production the later you go, with exceptions for certain weird file type like designs laminate and aluminum.
If you can’t find a catalog from a manufacturer, cross reference with Disston, or Nicholson, or Heller/Simonds.
cvairwerks
Well-known member
Then there's this treatise on files:
Thanks guys. Lots of good reads. 5ubtle I read your thread from about a year ago, and I get it. I think the answer I'll accept in my head is that tpi is not the end all be all of file coursness but it's the only thing we have when nothing else is known.