Looking for good files

[Everett_45]

Hey guys, recently I bought a handful of old files, various US brands. There's a 10" USA Nicholson Mill ******* double cut in there. It's a little dull, and makes pretty rough cuts. I am looking for something similar, but a nice single cut for a good surface finish. The only thing close I found online so far is an 8" USA Nicholson second cut on HJE. So basically I would like to find a 10" single cut either US made or another high quality MFG. Thanks in advance!

 

[matt_i]

I have a Simonds that was bought recently and is good, and there are always Swiss files such as Grobet. The Nicholsons I've gotten from McMaster Carr recently have been very good.

 

[jkesselr]

Big fan of the Nicholsons, myself.

 

[doublearon98]

Bahco seems to have real good reviews.

Nicholson are trash now that they moved out of the US.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[Alaniho]

Pferd are another brand worth checking, made in Germany.

https://www.pferdusa.com/products/201.html

 

[woody 73]

Darn too bad you missed my post several years back in it, i talked about Lowes getting rid of every Nicholson file they had; which in turn led me to buy out what USA stock they had.


Like someone else pointed out all the new stock is no longer made in the USA. I would guess one option is looking for old nos on ebay. All the other above names are also top quality but you will pay more for them.

 

[rlitman]

Darn too bad you missed my post several years back in it, i talked about Lowes getting rid of every Nicholson file they had; which in turn led me to buy out what USA stock they had.


Like someone else pointed out all the new stock is no longer made in the USA. I would guess one option is looking for old nos on ebay. All the other above names are also top quality but you will pay more for them.

I remember checking out two local Lowes stores following that post. They only had files from Mexico and Brazil IIRC. I still bought a few.

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

Picked up a variety of Bahco files that were surprisingly well-priced and quality. Not a big file-snob... nor do I use them all that much either.

 

[bwringer]

The Mexican Nicholson files I have seem to work perfectly fine.

Should I tell them they're inferior?


Files are consumables, not heirlooms.

 

[rlitman]

The Mexican Nicholson files I have seem to work perfectly fine.

Should I tell them they're inferior?


Files are consumables, not heirlooms.

I have plenty of files that are indeed heirlooms. I use my Mexican Nicholson files for places where I don't want to abuse the good ones.

 

[ChrisLS8]

I havent noticed a difference from my Brazil and US Nicholson files.

I do like the pferd as well