- Joined
- Jun 23, 2006
- Messages
- 2,418
You can find Kelly's price list (I believe this is the most current) and contact info here:
http://home.comcast.net/~eellis2/EllisCustomKnifeworks/steel.html
(I don't know how to link to Darren's steel page from his other site). Kelly is a really great guy with good pricing. If you order enough steel, he'll ship it for free. Even if you don't, I think you'll find he charges the same or less than some place like Admiral.
I use chainsaw files for plunges, notches and the like and flat bastard and half-round files for most rough work. The second and smooth cuts will help you clean up the roughness of the bastard file, but you could also go straight to sandpaper from a bastard cut, it'd just take some more sheets. I think files are something that need to be experimented with to get a good feel for how you like to work. Don't count out a good half-round file, because it can be your go-to file for a lot of work in profiling, finger grooves and stock removing.
You don't need to go overboard to start out, just get bastard cut files and maybe a second cut flat hand file. If you like the second cut and want to go further, pick up another couple. If you buy your files from Sears they'll replace them when they get dull. It's a bit more up front and they don't have as many specialized cuts, but it's worth looking at for your major files. Chainsaw files I try to buy on sale at harbor freight when they're a dollar for three. They cut fine when they're new and they're cheap enough to throw out when you're having trouble cutting with them.
Hopefully some other folks will chime in about how they file, because it's an often suggested but little discussed method.
http://home.comcast.net/~eellis2/EllisCustomKnifeworks/steel.html
(I don't know how to link to Darren's steel page from his other site). Kelly is a really great guy with good pricing. If you order enough steel, he'll ship it for free. Even if you don't, I think you'll find he charges the same or less than some place like Admiral.
I use chainsaw files for plunges, notches and the like and flat bastard and half-round files for most rough work. The second and smooth cuts will help you clean up the roughness of the bastard file, but you could also go straight to sandpaper from a bastard cut, it'd just take some more sheets. I think files are something that need to be experimented with to get a good feel for how you like to work. Don't count out a good half-round file, because it can be your go-to file for a lot of work in profiling, finger grooves and stock removing.
You don't need to go overboard to start out, just get bastard cut files and maybe a second cut flat hand file. If you like the second cut and want to go further, pick up another couple. If you buy your files from Sears they'll replace them when they get dull. It's a bit more up front and they don't have as many specialized cuts, but it's worth looking at for your major files. Chainsaw files I try to buy on sale at harbor freight when they're a dollar for three. They cut fine when they're new and they're cheap enough to throw out when you're having trouble cutting with them.
Hopefully some other folks will chime in about how they file, because it's an often suggested but little discussed method.
