Metal files that is. Been using a nice sharp set of of brand new Nicholson hand files to level and finish a lot of brass. Job is done, time to clean the soft brass filings that are gumming up the works. Conventional file brush, card-type, isn't doing it.

First thought is to just use a wire wheel on the old grinder. Should do it without dulling the files, right? Or wrong?

Don't see the need to send 4 files off to the file-sharpening place everybody loves, heck, they're still sharp, just gummed up. There's gotta be a simple solution. Assuming anyone still files things by hand in this day and age

wire wheel WILL dull it, just use a large stiff bristled wire brush and sorta hammer at the file. It will come clean that way.

Suggestion I saw here, I think, was to use a piece of brass and drag the file just opposite of draw filing, so the travel is parallel to, but backwards to the teeth. This works amazingly well. I finish up by picking hard pinning loose with a nice, soft nail ground to a needle point.

BTW, for those of you in the Southeast, Mike's Merchandise in Guntersville has a nice selection of Nicholson USA files, as well as Blackhawk prybars and chisels. They are not flea market rust bucket prices, but $5-9 for a good BRAND NEW USA made file is not bad at all. Prybars were about $8 and chisels were $2-8. I walked with $70 worth.

Do not- repeat do not use a power wire brush- you WILL dull the files.

Take a piece of brass, about 1/16" thick, and about 1/2" wide. Push the flat side of the end of this diagonally across the file, following the angle of the teeth. First couple strokes wont do much but then small ridges will form in the brass and effectivly clean the material between the teeth. Wont harm the teeth, and is the quickest way to clean a file.
Been doing this for over 40 years.

Herb Kephart

I've used a really sharp scriber to pick the really tough chips out of a file. I don't say it will not harm the tooth in that row, 'cause it does So try not to drag it the full width of the tooth, just pick the chip out.

Best thing is to card those chips out immediately, don't take another stroke as soon as you feel it happening.

Don't press hard when filing to break sharp corners. Gentle pressure and frequent brushing with a file brush is one preventative measure to stop galling.

Lubricating the file with soapstone also helps reduce the tendency to pick up firmly embedded chips for a few extra strokes. Choosing a coarser file for broad surfaces would probably also help reduce the problem.

YES!

That's the only way I know of to clean a file properly. Takes a little while but you save your file.

As a side note, I learned to file brass with a new file before filing steel. The reason given was that a new file has very very sharp teeth. If it's used straight away on steel the teeth can chip; if used on brass first the sharp tips of the teeth are dulled ever so slightly and the file will last longer.

Yes, use new files on brass first. Also, it's best to have seperate files for brass and steel. A worn file will file steel fairly well but it's best to have nice sharp ones for brass. For this reason, new files are used exclusively for brass then 'demoted' to steel when they stop cutting brass well. That's easy for me to say because I only use 2 kinds of metal in the clock shop - brass & steel!


Rich

Pretty much any old chunk of hardwood will do the trick nicely:



Not long ago I made myself a snazzy little handle to hold 3/16" slabs of bamboo cut from my back yard - bamboo is my fav for cleaning files - the stringy fibers poke right in there along the file teeth:



Cheers,

Frank Ford
HomeShopTech

Rio Grande (the jewelery tool people) offer a fine wire steel bristle brush (#113-171) that is the quickest, most effective tool I've ever found. It's really part of the filing process, not a tedious clean-up chore. It not only keeps the file clean, but it does wonders for the surface finish of the material being filed.

After two or three strokes across the metal being filed, do a quick "scrub" of the file surface and continue filing. Just repeat the process until the desired finish is achieved.

This procedure also prevents (or at least minimizes) clogging of the file since the material has no opportunity to build up. Te file starts clean and ends clean.

Try it, you'll be very pleasantly surprised, I think.

The wire diameter is about 0.003" to 0.005". I can brush my arm all day with this thing and not feel it. It's designed for use on jewelry.

I have a canned speach I've bored generations of apprentices with and in it I declare that the wire side of a file card is made to sell new sharp files because all it does is ruin them. .

Files will "pin" (the little hard bits of metail that stick in the teeth.) Remove these with a cheap scribe by picking under them and lifting.

Remove the caked in swarf with a hardwood stick sharpened like a chisel as Ford illustrates.

Files have many cutting teeth and if they are abraded they will dull (Duh!). A dull file while still usable is less efficient than a well cared for sharp file.

Files are expensive. A good 14" bastard cut mill or half round file costs $11 and up. A fool can render a file useless in 20 minutes but a well kept file can last for years of regular use.

Use no metal bristled brush (brass is excepted) to clean a file no matter how careful you think you are using it. The spring tempered bristles will dull the teeth.

Store files in a wood comb or a roll that keeps them separated. I automatically bat anyone in the head if I visit their shop and find files tossed in a coffee can or loose in a drawer. So be warned. Same with drills and reamers.

There's more. Someone look into "care of files"

That is definitely the Porsche Carrera of file cleaners. No Corvair that.
Very nice, Frank, its a museum piece.

LFLondon

Pretty much just like I would do after learning about it here years ago.

I tend to use pic number 1 though. I don't have a fancy handle yet.

Nice Frank

I'm not sure all brushes should be excluded. These bristles measure 0.0045".

Their primary attraction lies in the way in which they improve the file's performance, but I think each serves the other.



Anyway, it has it's place.

JMHO.

Rub some chalk into the file and it reduces this.

I have a holder that makes a pen like tool, now antique...

A few gentle strokes will be enough, there is likely some abrasive quality to the chalk, but light pressure should do little damage compared to time saved from cleaning.

Need to check as go to keep it chalked.

My old Welsh neighbor taught me to how to use the "Armstrong Milling Machine" properly when I started making knives. He does not own a milling machine, but is surrounded by files of all shapes and sizes in his workshop.

He ALWAYS chalked his files, especially when draw-filing.

He made sure that the brass ones were clearly marked.

To clean his files, he used cheapo brass BBQ grill brushes, and dug out pinning with a brass needle or plastic scrap.

He gave me a respect for files I will never forget, when I see what he has done with nothing but an egg-beater drill and some files. Treat them with respect and they will serve you well.

Someone once told me of "rust sharpening files". This is where the file is allowed to rust, then the rust is removed with a power brush, exposing fresh edges on the teeth. Is this BS, or fact.

Thanks, Greyson

I've been filing silver and gold since 1971. 6" Swiss pattern, half round, various pillars, and needle files. Mill bastard for good measure. Modern technology has given way to sophisticated grinding technology and some very good sheet sandpapers and discs. Straight and draw filing skills are still very important in our work. When i started, 2 things were clearly stated. File no brass or steel with your regular files, and no brass or aluminum on the bench grinder!! Cleaning files was done with german silver, which does not have any silver in it, or nickel. We still do it this way. As similarly stated by others, wood or metal, thinned down at the tip, and pushed in the direction of the pattern. We hammer the metal out on an anvil to a very thin edge. Pushing it across the file makes grooves that fall into the file and clean it out. Oins are removed with a sewing needle / nice and pointed. A quick trip to the ultrasonic cleaner and blow it dry. Also, breaking in a file properly can define it's usefullnes too.
Payson.

Flatten the open end of a good sized cartridge brass .

Makes the best file scraper ever! The handle is built in!;-)

Oh! I went to buy a couple new files at the local hardware the other day. Files now are supplied "pre- clashed". all in a box and no wrapping paper. Jeesh! I wouldn't buy them and told the clerk why.

I guess storing old ones in a coffee can is approved now.

You beat me to it. I usually use aluminum sheet stock as it's around. If I'm filing something that tends to clog the file, I'll take a piece of common blackboard chalk and apply it to the cleaned file-then it won't clog for a while.

Very nice tool Frank that's my project for this weekend.

Marci

I learn something new almost every time I log into PM...I'll be trashing my file card when I get home from work.

Thanks!