Hi DRONE7,
That Amazon link doesn't work on the Canadian site, but I searched and am looking at some handles. They are dear! $96 Canadian for 6 handles? I'll keep looking, for $100 I can put the handles back on occasionally. Great idea though. Thank you.
That Amazon link doesn't work on the Canadian site, but I searched and am looking at some handles. They are dear! $96 Canadian for 6 handles? I'll keep looking, for $100 I can put the handles back on occasionally. Great idea though. Thank you.
One wonders, just thinking about it. We use cutting oil for drills, and a file does the same thing. Just linearly on the surface. I have never once put cutting oil on a surface to be filed, I would think it would just make a mess. But the concept valid for a drill bit should hold for the edges in a file.
I do use cutting oil when drilling.
I do use cutting oil when drilling.
Well I sometimes use oil when filing. Only in the last stage of a flat surface (aluminium). I keep the good files also oiled.
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Oil tends to make the file slide on steel.
Talc and chalk probably help stop the file clogging up on alumin(i)um.
It's still a sharp edge biting into material.
I'm not sure, a machinist could tell us I guess. But cutting oil makes drilling easier and extends bit life. WHy wouldn't it do the same for a file tooth? It isn't sandpaper or a friction based method, you are cutting the material I would think.
I'm not sure, a machinist could tell us I guess. But cutting oil makes drilling easier and extends bit life. WHy wouldn't it do the same for a file tooth? It isn't sandpaper or a friction based method, you are cutting the material I would think.
Yes, they're both cutting methods.
There's more pressure (force/area) applied to a drill bit and it cuts continuously and would break through the oil boundary layer, the swarf is also removed continuously, whereas a file has less pressure applied and clogs whilst cutting? Then there's the heat factor, drilling/machining often requires the removal of heat via cutting fluids.
Just been in the garage and tried filing a piece of gauge plate (annealed tool steel) first dry and then with a drop of 3-In-One oil. With oil applied the file tends to slide and definitely cuts worse. Even now when I'm filing, I don't touch the surface being filed in case the oil from my fingers transfers. Maybe a perfectly sharp file would cut through the oil layer?
Back to my apprenticeship days, we had a tapping fluid, DevTap(?) that was the nuts, it even made turning hardened steel easy. I use a drop of brake cleaner type thinners now when drilling aluminum 😉
There's more pressure (force/area) applied to a drill bit and it cuts continuously and would break through the oil boundary layer, the swarf is also removed continuously, whereas a file has less pressure applied and clogs whilst cutting? Then there's the heat factor, drilling/machining often requires the removal of heat via cutting fluids.
Just been in the garage and tried filing a piece of gauge plate (annealed tool steel) first dry and then with a drop of 3-In-One oil. With oil applied the file tends to slide and definitely cuts worse. Even now when I'm filing, I don't touch the surface being filed in case the oil from my fingers transfers. Maybe a perfectly sharp file would cut through the oil layer?
Back to my apprenticeship days, we had a tapping fluid, DevTap(?) that was the nuts, it even made turning hardened steel easy. I use a drop of brake cleaner type thinners now when drilling aluminum 😉
I use methylated spirits when drilling or tapping aluminium. Clean it up or it leads to an old socks smell. Mind you, you need full fat milk for drilling or tapping copper, and that needs serious cleaning up.
That's a new one I've not heard before.
As a long time Jeweller working across a range of metals, including copper, the go-to lubricant has always been Oil of Wintergreen.
Yes! It kind of undercuts the point, apparently. Anyway, the file is now in vinegar and we'll see. I suspect it will just become slightly more 'bitey' on the cutting stroke. I washed it with detergent in case there was oil present.
Those hooks are definitely sharper than the old school ones (I fish and have NOS unused Mustad's from 40 years ago to compare).
This file had some brass and other metals in the grooves so I'll check whether this is removed. Maybe vinegar isn't strong enough.
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No, not vinegar.. you need sulfuric. Some car battery acid if you can't source it elsewhere. (many acids are 'restricted' since meth etc. Gone are the days us Jewellers could rock up to a fertiliser works and carry off their by-product hydrochloric or sulfuric for etching
Somewhere I have containers of both and other naughty/nasty chemicals. If only I could remember where...? 🙂
Somewhere I have containers of both and other naughty/nasty chemicals. If only I could remember where...? 🙂
I have full strength hydrochloric for the swimming pool, but for 'sharpening' I'd read that weak acid is better - I assume it's because it'd be easy to remove too much material. Maybe if you know exactly how long to immerse the file, it may be worth it. No point in wrecking the tool, because there's no going back...
I'm aware the idea for cleaning the file is to dissolve the embedded metal to some extent, and that needs more than vinegar.
Incidentally, it's been soaking all day, around 7 hours, and it does feel sharper when passing it over a fingernail (as if you're filing your nails). Before soaking, it was quite 'slippery'.
I also have hydroofluoric acid, but I'm not using that; too dangerous. Acquired as aluminium cleaner before I knew how bad it can be!
I'm aware the idea for cleaning the file is to dissolve the embedded metal to some extent, and that needs more than vinegar.
Incidentally, it's been soaking all day, around 7 hours, and it does feel sharper when passing it over a fingernail (as if you're filing your nails). Before soaking, it was quite 'slippery'.
I also have hydroofluoric acid, but I'm not using that; too dangerous. Acquired as aluminium cleaner before I knew how bad it can be!
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What on earth is Oil of Wintergreen? OK, I've just looked it up; it's a trendy and expensive poisonous oil either extracted from a plant called Wintergreen (no great surprise there), or (more likely) sythesised. On the rare occasions I drill copper, I'll stick with milk. But interesting to know.
Hydrofluoric acid is astonishingly dangerous stuff; I'm amazed it could be bought by someone who didn't fully understand its hazards.
Regarding the acid; me too! It used to be sold as a product here called Ali Brite some years ago. That product now has a different acid as its base ingredient. I've had the bottle for many years, but had no idea when I bought it how bad it was (and the instructions just had the usual acid precautions mentioned). I can't remember how I used it back then, but I didn't use it much fortunately. I'll dispose of it properly one day via my son's work which deals with all kinds of hazardous stuff.
Now, the vinegar soaked file did come up 'sharper'. Running my finger across the file, it is noticeably more resistant one way compare to the other whereas before it was only slightly noticeable. Whether it has affected the profile or just removed material caught I don't know, but it definitely improved the file (also tried on metal).
Now, the vinegar soaked file did come up 'sharper'. Running my finger across the file, it is noticeably more resistant one way compare to the other whereas before it was only slightly noticeable. Whether it has affected the profile or just removed material caught I don't know, but it definitely improved the file (also tried on metal).
Neutralize it with baking soda, or soda ash will save you the expense. Turns the acid into a salt and water.