Choosing (and finding) the right files?

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BobJackson

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Sep 21, 2015
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I just recently started out making knives, and I've been trying to find a couple decent files. From what I've read, it seems that double-cut and single-cut files are the best choice (for different purposes), and that bastard files are the most course and not very good for anything close to finishing work. Does this sound correct?

I've looked in every store I can think of (I live in Canada), and all I can find are files labelled as "bastard". I saw a pack of 8 or so files, with a mix of types, but all labelled as bastard files. The only files I've seen that actually state "double-cut" are on Amazon.ca, and are from Nicholson. I have no problem ordering these, but I wanted to double check about the difference between bastard and double cut (specifically with the bastard files being too course). On another note, I've been seeing people saying that Nicholson files are fairly low-quality these days. I've heard of Nicholson files being top-quality, but a lot of reviews I've read say they're all made in Brazil/Mexico now, with low standards.

If someone can offer advice on the basic files I would need it would really be appreciated. If it makes any difference, I'll be using them to finish tight areas that my small grinder can't reach, and for shaping bevels, for the most part.
 
Bastard cut files are finer cut than double cut.
The bastard cut will probably be more useful to you in knifemaking.
 
Bastard cut refers to the coarseness of the cut, not the style. A double cut file is always the most rough, so they are most often made as Double cut bastard files. Mill files can be made i as bastard mills, second cut mills or third cut mills. There are also lathe files but you dont need worry about that. For filing bevels you want to remove the most material as fast as possible, so a double cut bastard is going to be what you want. If you are using the Gough jig, be sure you dont get a tapered file "the top is not as wide as the base by the tang" as that will mess up your plunge lines
 
Thanks for the quick replies. That sounds like the pack of files I was looking at (all said bastard), which had a couple single-cut, couple double-cut, and some round and triangle files. So I guess this would be what I'm looking for. And I did have the Gough jig in mind, so I'll have to double-check the taper of the files. When you say taper, do you mean ANY taper? Almost every file I've seen has a slight taper on the last third of the file, but I've also seen pictures of files that taper quite a bit, and some that have no taper at all. To properly use that jig, do I need a truly rectangular-shaped file?

Thanks again for the info.
 
I never used one , but in theroy as long as you only work at the plunge with the bottem of the file you should be fine.
 
Just a recommendation, if your files are starting to feel dull (not killed because you kept using them and really destroyed the cut edge) you can send them here and have them sharpened through an electro chemical etch process. Works really well.

http://www.boggstool.com/
 
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