How soft should the steel be in order to sharpen i with a file?

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peppen108

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Apr 14, 2012
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Back in the the days files were used to profile the bevel on knives in Sweden. Its a good way to keep the angle from getting steeper on a scandigrind. I have done it on 55 hrc whit excellent result, and on 57-58 hrc with good result. I recently tried it on a laminated 60 hrc steel and it seemed to work. I'm using a cheep chainsaw flat file by Husqvarna. How soft should the steel be in order to sharpen i with a file? Is there a rule of thumb?
 
Yes, but you want the file to last say 20-50 profiling's. The file I use is starting to show some wear so i guess 60 hrc is to hard.
 
Well yes, 60 HRC is pretty hard to be filing on by hand. I don't have much experience hand filing, so I have no idea how long you could expect a file to last. I'm sure someone else will comment though.
 
For sharpening the full bevel of a scandi grind, I'd choose stones over any file.
 
Yes a slow moving water cold grindstone is the weapon of choice. I have a tormek sa 250. The question is semi-hypothetical. My grandfather on my fathers side was a low grade weapons technician for bofors an used a file an then a stone and two stones the last on being a German fine clay lap stone. On my mothers side, slow moving water cooled stone.

A chain saw file is HRC 66 an a chain saw chain is about 56 i think. So a 56 hrc blade should be ok.
 
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