Files for blade work

B

Boomer_45

Joined
Jan 9, 2005
Messages
10
Being new to all of this I am using some Craftsman files and a couple other files I had laying around. Where do you guys get your files? Is there anything I should know when looking for files?

thanks in advance,
 
Ok,,,,here is my advice,,,,(Now remember Im new to this too, but hear me out)

when I was making just knives I would get from the store the same crappy files that we all seem to be stuck useing....they are good for about one or two knives, then they are flat,,,I try to use them correctly,,,I keep them clean,,,I use that file brush,,,I put them away by themselves,,,But they still just dont cut fast for long,,,,,,

But now,,,,,,,,(here is the important part,,,pay close attention)

But now, I have started to make Japanese Katanas,,,and this type of sword makes me use a file a lot,,,,Now to learn how to make a Katana I got the Wally Hayes video, and on that video Mr Hayes gives me lots of little "tricks" that he uses that really help speed the work up.


Wally Hayes tells us to get a Nickelson Magic Cut file,,,,he says they are the best...

Well I went to the store,,,didnt find any,,,went to all the stores and didnt find any,,,so I went to the best store in town and had them dig out the sales ordering book,,,and yes, there it was,,,,!!!!!

I ordered a 12 inch Magic Cut File,,,,and,,when I got it and tried it out,,,,I was blown away!!!!!!!

The Magic Cut is the best file in the world,,,,I cant believe the way this thing kicks out the metal,,,,,bits of steel are just eaten away by this file,,,

It's hard to understand why they dont know about this file,,,it's hard to understand why no one talks about the Magic Cut here on Blade Forum,,,But I think we should let the word out about this great tool.
 
Truthfully, most knifemakers are "grinder men". Few people in the modern world of electric machinery have ever had incident to use a file. I'm a jewelry designer and manufactuer; I've used files all my life. I'd bet well trained machinest such as Higgins were introduced to files early on in training as well. The trick I've found is to view files just like you do belts: when they don't cut, throw'em away! I like the Nicholson mill cut files really well and Enco seems to have them on sale a lot. An 8 inch mill file is about $4.80? or so?

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PARTPG=INSRAR2&PMAKA=382-1258&PMPXNO=944222

And MSC has the "magicut"
http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNLMK32?PARTPG=NNSRAR2&PMPROD=4&PMK0NO=392895
 
You might be surprised to find out, Mitch, that some of us unsophisticated knifemakers own a file or 200 despite the fact we're neither jewelry designers nor certified machinists! Hell some of us have even found out they come in different shapes and sizes other than "flat" and "chainsaw", and some who live in the city even know they come in different cuts! :p ;)
 
funny you say that... I just went through all the damn files on my bench last night and threw away about five or six!
 
I tend to use Vallorbe (usually in bastard or 2nd cut - not many smooth cut files in my collection), because that's what is readily available to me. What's different about the Magicut?

Peter
 
DaQo'tah, I own one Magicut, a large 12" mill file. When I need rapid stock removal and a file that size it's the one I reach for. They live up to their claim of stock removal like a double cut and finish like single cut. Excellent files.

Mitch, I admit to being a file-a-holic for many years now, since childhood, really. And yes, I probably have 200 files now easily. Lately I have been getting diamond riffler files in different grits for doing carving. I like diamond for that application because they cut non-directionally, becoming more of a shaped, rigid abrasive than a file.

One can never have too many files, IMO, for what we do. To be honest, anymore, I enjoy the solitude and meditative quality of quietly sitting there filing away at something as opposed to the scream of the machines.
 
ESpy said:
What's different about the Magicut?
Click to expand...

you know...Im not sure....
It dont really seem to have teeth that would cut steel like it does... But it has a pattern to the teeth that I have never seen before on a file,,,

All I know is that it works,,,,it gets rid of a lot of steel in a hurry...

one thing more is,,,that most files have a direction that they tell you the file has to be worked in,,,this means you have to pick up the file each time after the stroke so you dont pack or dull the teeth.

But the Magic Cut does not seem to have the problem for me at all,,,I dont think the teeth work like that?...Anyway, for whatever reason, the file does not seem to me to need to be picked up after each stroke...I just grap it and grind away at the steel...
 
As a jeweler I use files constantly.The VALTITAN files are unbelievable.They are the hardest on the market.They are made for platinum work,which dulls regular files fast.They come in sizes to 8",and at a reasonable price.Nicholson files are the best milling files,otherwise.
A friend had just done his first HT himself.He showed me the blade and said to ,"Check it out with a file and see how hard it was." I nonchalantly picked up a Valtitan flat file and proceeded to file away at the edge.His face fell! Then I told him I was using a RC72 file.
 
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