- Joined
- Aug 2, 2010
- Messages
- 1,611
Hey again, and wow, that sounds like a crazy deal for a scope around $450, would be even more crazy if it worked like the real deal. It's funny, I also just recently got through researching and then purchasing a lower priced USB microscope from Amzn (more like a macro-camera) to help me observe the apex and also the burr removal, which on some steels can be a bit finicky and at times hard for me to feel. I think it'll be good to learn by seeing what it is one is actually feeling with their fingers.
So I'm not quite sure about how to "verify" if a file is dull since there are different degrees of dullness, such as it being not as sharp as when first out of the package but still cutting decently, and then still cutting but not that efficiently, and then being pretty much a dud. If the teeth have been dulled a good bit I can usually tell by looking at it in different angles under a fluorescent light, and it usually also helps to compare to teeth in the middle areas of the file to the teeth right at the top and also nearest to the tang, which typically don't get as much use since the top is where it's often held and most people don't do stokes the entire length of the file, at least when hogging metal away.
What type of file did you use on the blade, was it a double cut, single cut, bastard, smooth etc? I know that coarser files will dull faster on harder steel since the teeth are a bit too large to easily bite into the steel and so they mostly get dragged over the surface. I've found that single-cut smooth files work best for me on hardened/harder steel, which is probably harder than the steel on the cheap Chinese knife. Also, did you use a "sawing" motion with the file, or did you make sure not to apply pressure on the back stroke when the files isn't cutting? A sawing motion will prematurely dull a file.
I would just do what you suggested and see how it works of the hot rolled steel you have, which is mild steel and is "soft". On hot rolled steel there is often a mill-scale on the surface which can be pretty hard and even damaging to files, so if you have a cheap rough stone or coarse sand paper etc I would stone or sand through the scale and then try to file the steel. You don't need to do that, but it may not cut as well as it can when it's cutting the fresh steel surface. Also, compare it to another one of the files you bought, but on the brand new files I would definitely get rid of the scale first to not prematurely dull them. I have files in varying degrees of sharpness that I'll use for different task, like a fresh file for the more more delicate or precise fit and finish tasks, a decently used file for hogging off material before finishing with the newer file if needed, and then some fairly beat up files used for random things where I don't want to worry about damaging a nicer file.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not an expert of files or anything lol, I just know certain things from what I've learned over the years of using them and also reading about them. Personal experience will probably always trump learning by reading, so I think going through a few file's lives will also help ya better understand whether or not they're cutting properly or effectively any more. I think the effectiveness of a file could potentially also be a personal thing depending upon just how much filing the person is doing and how important their time is etc, because I personally tend to try to squeeze out all the life I can since I enjoy using and learning about files and also messing around in the shop at times with random projects that I don't want to waste the life of my nice tools on.
Man, I just can't seem to keep an answer to less than four paragraphs lol. Oh well, let me know if that was the type of answer you were looking for.
~Paul
My Youtube Channel
... (Just some older videos of some knives I've made in the past)
So I'm not quite sure about how to "verify" if a file is dull since there are different degrees of dullness, such as it being not as sharp as when first out of the package but still cutting decently, and then still cutting but not that efficiently, and then being pretty much a dud. If the teeth have been dulled a good bit I can usually tell by looking at it in different angles under a fluorescent light, and it usually also helps to compare to teeth in the middle areas of the file to the teeth right at the top and also nearest to the tang, which typically don't get as much use since the top is where it's often held and most people don't do stokes the entire length of the file, at least when hogging metal away.
What type of file did you use on the blade, was it a double cut, single cut, bastard, smooth etc? I know that coarser files will dull faster on harder steel since the teeth are a bit too large to easily bite into the steel and so they mostly get dragged over the surface. I've found that single-cut smooth files work best for me on hardened/harder steel, which is probably harder than the steel on the cheap Chinese knife. Also, did you use a "sawing" motion with the file, or did you make sure not to apply pressure on the back stroke when the files isn't cutting? A sawing motion will prematurely dull a file.
I would just do what you suggested and see how it works of the hot rolled steel you have, which is mild steel and is "soft". On hot rolled steel there is often a mill-scale on the surface which can be pretty hard and even damaging to files, so if you have a cheap rough stone or coarse sand paper etc I would stone or sand through the scale and then try to file the steel. You don't need to do that, but it may not cut as well as it can when it's cutting the fresh steel surface. Also, compare it to another one of the files you bought, but on the brand new files I would definitely get rid of the scale first to not prematurely dull them. I have files in varying degrees of sharpness that I'll use for different task, like a fresh file for the more more delicate or precise fit and finish tasks, a decently used file for hogging off material before finishing with the newer file if needed, and then some fairly beat up files used for random things where I don't want to worry about damaging a nicer file.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not an expert of files or anything lol, I just know certain things from what I've learned over the years of using them and also reading about them. Personal experience will probably always trump learning by reading, so I think going through a few file's lives will also help ya better understand whether or not they're cutting properly or effectively any more. I think the effectiveness of a file could potentially also be a personal thing depending upon just how much filing the person is doing and how important their time is etc, because I personally tend to try to squeeze out all the life I can since I enjoy using and learning about files and also messing around in the shop at times with random projects that I don't want to waste the life of my nice tools on.
Man, I just can't seem to keep an answer to less than four paragraphs lol. Oh well, let me know if that was the type of answer you were looking for.
~Paul
My Youtube Channel
... (Just some older videos of some knives I've made in the past)