Used files

S

scott475

Joined
Apr 25, 2000
Messages
444
What is a good source for used files, and how do you soften them to make them workable?

-Scott
 

Yard sales, pawn shops and relatives. Heat them with a torch until non-magnetic and let cool slowly(use sawdust or vermiculite) I throw mine in vermiculite with another piece of hot steel to insure a slow cool.

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KSwinamer

Atheism....A non-prophet organization
 
Howdy There....!
I agree that old files are a good source of material, but I would use the better grade of files. I see and pick up dozens of them at the local flea market for dirt cheap, check your local flea markets. I also heat mine until non-magnetic and let them cool slowly in a bucket of sand. This seems to work pretty well. Good luck....!
"Possum"


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Thomas Clegg
 
Nicholsen or Black Diamond don't pay over .50


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Sola Fide
 
Yup, yard sales and relatives and older fishing/hunting buddies and coworkers.

I heat mine with one of the little propane torches with the disposable gas bottle, then stick the file onto a bucket full of stove ashes for an hour or so, until it is completely cooled.

Good luck!

Dave Evans
Tenino, WA
 
I have used a lot of files too,
and I don't find Nicholson files better then say Oberg, Sandvik, Facom, Valor....
They are a good grade of files, but since Nicholson makes a lot of series of files, they've been known to make crap too.
I currently use Sandvik files, and they are more consistent then Nicholson files in quality.
-Grind the teeth off before you use them, this can be done rough with an angle grinder.

-Anneal by letting them cool down slowly. I do this in a big crucible filled with very pure charcoal ashes. Leaves the blades too hot to touch even after 24 hours. If you need to really soft anneal, put a piece of hot metal by it and let it soak for a few days. I have a bar off HSS which I always use for that.

-Always oilquench, as you don't know what steel you are working with. Check hardness, and if it is not fileable, you're dealing with good steel which needs a temper.
If it is fileable, check if the lower layers of steel are fileable too, if they are, this is low carbon stuff and not suitable for knives.

greetz, Bart.

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"If the world wouldn't SUCK, we'd all fall off !"

member of the BKS
http://www.expage.com/belgianknives
 
Bart, you might be right over there, here we see little of the files, you mentioned, and of course chinese junk. The old files marked nicholsen on one side and black diamond on the other are 1.25% carbon nicholson are .95% carbon.
To check for case hardened files break a piece off the end and etch in ferric cholride. You will see a distinct difference in color on the outer "skin" and the center of the file, horse shoe rasps are often case hardened.
Johnson is another brand I see over here, I have no experience working them.

We get some files over here marked made in Austria, no name, quess they didn't think enough of them to put their name on them.



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Sola Fide
 
Yep, black diamond Nicholson.....You'll never see those here. Only the ones whithout the diamond. In austria, Valor and Grobet are the producers of the world finest files. They are mainly used by gun smiths, and are only made to be used on metal. These two brands are among the best (simply are the best) in the world. You'll see if you handel a Valor. on soft steel, this file cannot get dull. They are very expensive too. And I believe only obtainable in Europe.
We also have crappy files here, 0.5 USD for one... And I guess in Austria too.

I once saw a hand bastard by Nicholson, whithout the diamond, off course. Any good for stockremoval an say CPM-440V when it's soft?

greetz, bart.

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"If the world wouldn't SUCK, we'd all fall off !"

member of the BKS
http://www.expage.com/belgianknives
 
Or you can save yourself the trouble of looking for them, removing the handles and grinding the teeth off by buying mill file blanks. Woodcraft sells them or peopel who want to make their own turing tools.
check out www.woodcraft.com. there probably under turning tools or turning accessories.
You could probabyl even get by without annealing them, alhtough they would probabyl need some tempering. Just grind the tang out so its longer and make a stick tang knife. Grinding hardened steel takes a little longer and you've got to be careful about over heating but its not that big a deal and in some cases is easier than sending the work away to be heat treated.

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It'll feel better when it stops hurting.
 
To find old files you can go to the machine shops and talk to the guys that work on the machines,They just throw the files in the scrap pile with the rest of the stuff headig to the recycler....And that leads to the next best and cheapest place to find old files is your local scrap metal yard.Here you will always find some and you buy things by the pound.While you are at the scrap yard pick up a car spring or two and see what other kinds of treasures you can find.I know that I have found 5 post vices 2 old forges and a whole bunch of old tongs I even seen a powerhammer at one once (somebody else had already bought it)..Have fun,Bruce

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Bruce Evans Handcrafted Knives
The soul of the Knife begins in the Fire!!!!!
Member of,AKTI#A000223 and The American Bladesmith Society
 
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