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WTB: File Chains for GROB FAB18 Filing Machine

IvanAlbarran

Plastic
Joined
Jul 6, 2020
I´m looking for a complete set of file chains for the GROB FAB18 model.

Both the Heavy Duty (Set of 20, 5" x 1/2") and the Light Duty (Set of 33, 3" x 1/4") sets are useful.

Heavy Duty set would be good, both of them would be great

I´m located in the LA area.

I'll add a link to the brochure in a reply.
 
I used to have one of those and 20 years ago when I called Grob, they still had a few styles of files available but not the styles I was after. I'm betting it will be impossible to find an entire set of files. It might be hard to find even 1 new one. I'm talking full length files, not just individual segments. Even sharp segments could be tough.

They do make quick work of truing up shapes coming off a band saw. But not when the files are dull. Hope I'm wrong, but I'm thinking they're all becoming boat anchors.

The literature above was fun to look at, but it doesn't mean anything is available.
 
I am the supervisor at Grob, and we do have some NOS file chains available, but like 13Engines said, they are limited. We no longer have the ability to make them, so the machines are getting more and more obsolete. Unfortunately, the most popular styles are all gone, so we can't even use them in house any more. Shoot me an email at [email protected] and I can let you know what we do have available.
 
I am the supervisor at Grob, and we do have some NOS file chains available, but like 13Engines said, they are limited. We no longer have the ability to make them, so the machines are getting more and more obsolete. Unfortunately, the most popular styles are all gone, so we can't even use them in house any more. Shoot me an email at [email protected] and I can let you know what we do have available.

Surely you could find a good source for them, maybe even....gasp "overseas", dig up your old drawings,
and stuff them into some e-mails.

And simply become a re-seller of them, instead of simply saying "NO".
 
Surely you could find a good source for them, maybe even....gasp "overseas", dig up your old drawings,
and stuff them into some e-mails.

And simply become a re-seller of them, instead of simply saying "NO".

I agree with the sentiment but we don't know how many calls they get, and whether those callers would pay the price for what it would cost to even have someone look into it

Unlike me who thinks nothing of looking in the file cabinet for a 20 year old drawing, they have to pay someone to find a drawing that is on paper moved from which building?

when?

I have personally seen one of those once, over 20 years ago. Thought it was cool
 
I agree with the sentiment but we don't know how many calls they get, and whether those callers would pay the price for what it would cost to even have someone look into it

Unlike me who thinks nothing of looking in the file cabinet for a 20 year old drawing, they have to pay someone to find a drawing that is on paper moved from which building?

when?

I have personally seen one of those once, over 20 years ago. Thought it was cool

I see them for sale all the time, and some people still have uses for them.

I guess one could buy some flat files, have them wire EDM's to the proper shape and add the hole.
Buy a bandsaw blade, grind off the teeth, and start riveting them on.

Or Grob could sell the drawings, knowledge, and whatever machines/fixtures left to some little shop.
Maybe a saw shop.

And agree to send all inquiries to the new vendor.
 
Or Grob could sell the drawings, knowledge, and whatever machines/fixtures left to some little shop.
Maybe a saw shop. And agree to send all inquiries to the new vendor.

This would be a great project for you to take on. Then we can hear about every five years or so when you get an inquiry for a band file you can complain nobody will pay the price.
 
This would be a great project for you to take on. Then we can hear about every five years or so when you get an inquiry for a band file you can complain nobody will pay the price.

Search the archives twinky breath.....
 
Admittedly, we get VERY few requests. We maybe have 3-4 a year. These machines, while very useful for many applications, have been made near obsolete with the advance of lasers, waterjet, plasma, and any other amount of CNC machinery. Vertical band saws are a dying breed themselves, especially quality machinery. As far as the overseas aspect, we are VERY proud of the fact that we are made in America. The machinery to make the file chains has been scrapped decades ago. The file chains themselves have a ridiculous amount of pieces, all heat treated, and made with die sets that are long gone as well. The cost of the chains is not overly high right now, because the ones we have in stock have been here for 40 years.

Trust me, if there was enough demand and the money we could make on them was good, we would consider making them again. But neither of those conditions exist. I wish the OP luck in finding what he is looking for.
 
I see them for sale all the time, and some people still have uses for them.

I guess one could buy some flat files, have them wire EDM's to the proper shape and add the hole.
Buy a bandsaw blade, grind off the teeth, and start riveting them on.

Or Grob could sell the drawings, knowledge, and whatever machines/fixtures left to some little shop.
Maybe a saw shop.

And agree to send all inquiries to the new vendor.

pics here
where can i get a replacement for this ? (metal files on chain link)

not a simple thing really

I am sure they are around, and that they are useful
 
For what it's worth, we had them in several shops I was in and never in 25 years did anyone ever step up to those machines, there were simply other ways to achieve the required ends, all cheaper and faster.

Now that being said, my ex partner sliced his way into one of the Grob band file machines very neatly with a plasma torch and turned it into a very very nice three wheel band saw that has seen daily use in a fab shop for the past decade.
 








 
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