How to build a file rack?

Im going through drawers and tool boxes and dug out my files. A good

75 or more of them, Mill files, knife files, rasps, half round, triangular, square, cant mill bastards etc etc

Ive been keeping them in IBM punch card drawers...laid on top of each other..not a good thing.

What method have yall found to be really good for storing files, ready for use? About 1/3-1/2 have handles. I was at a swap meet some years ago and bought some 20 or so Nicolson handles, all new red plastic and have installed them on the most used files..and a bunch of the other files came with handles.

Files run in length from 6"-20" long. Some of the woodworking rasps are pretty big.

Many of the handles have holes in them so I could..could hang them from spikes..but not all do.

I dont use files a hell of a lot..but when I do..I like em sharp and not have to hunt for them.

Ive been the one to snag the files from machine shops that go out of business..so I have a bunch of them, and a fair number of duplicates.

Oh..any good suggestions for sharpening the few that need it? I know that many places dip them in acid. What kind and at what concentration? A box of battery acid perhaps?

Thanks!

Gunner, back to file carding aluminum from some files (GACK!!) and a bit of rust on one or 3

The methodology of the left has always been:

  1. Lie
  2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
  3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
  4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
  5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
  6. Then everyone must conform to the lie
Reply to
Gunner
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I slide them into bits of bicycle inner tube. But I only have a dozen files.

Dunno about sharpening -- I'd like to hear the answer.

When my dad did a lot of bodywork he sent his files out to be sharpened by a guy that reground them, and was pretty contemptuous of the folks that used acid -- but lead files are much coarser than regular files, and none of the ones I saw were diamond pattern.

Reply to
Tim Wescott

Sharpening a Vixen file is one hell of a lot different than trying to sharpen a mill bastard. Acid really is the only choice, so long as you address the hydrogen embrittlement that results from its use.

If you make the decision to use acid, give your files a roast at 375 degrees for a couple hours afterwards, to eliminate hydrogen. Sulfuric, nitric or hydrochloric (Muriatic) acid will do the job. Might be hard to get nitric, however.

Don't use any of these acids in your shop. The resulting fumes rust the hell out of everything ferrous.

Harold

Reply to
Harold & Susan Vordos

Gunner fired this volley in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

You never heard of chalking a file to prevent pinning?

If you have any use for a file at all, put a handle on it, put a hole in the handle, and hang it from the hole -- with a plastic or cloth scabbard to help keep it clean.

Keep the rest rolled up in oiled paper -- just like Nicholson ships 'em.

Acid 'sharpening' takes a real knack, and isn't a good sharpening, anyway. In practice, you run the file flat and backwards over a piece of oiled fabric stretched tight around a sharp edge of a table or block.

That oils just the tips of the teeth as a sort of "resist" for the acid. Hydrochloric acid dissolves iron (muratic).

You etch JUST the right length of time with JUST the right amount of agitation to undercut those protected edges.

It never worked for me, and to hear old guys tell it, it never worked all that well, anyway.

Lloyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

I've seen references to "sharpening" files in a vinegar bath, pickling vinegar was mentioned which I believe is stronger then table vinegar. And, also reference to "battery acid". Apparently a variety of acids work.

Reply to
John B.

I have no good suggestions for storing.

As far as handles, I get golf balls at garage sales , drill a hole in themo and use them for handles. Maybe not as good as regular file handles, but much better than no handle. And the price is right.

Dan

Reply to
dcaster

I made two wall racks for them. The one for the files I use most is a sheet aluminum U channel with nibbled slots far enough apart that I can grab the handles. It also holds the dial caliper. The second, denser one is a plank with two columns of angled finishing nails, for the less commonly used files with no or smaller handles (wire nuts etc). The excess and large taps and reamers are in drawers inside heatshrink tubing or taped cardboard sleeves. I brush them clean before putting them away so the heatshrink won't be contaminated with conductive metal particles when I need it for wiring.

Then there is one of these near the mill and over the lathe for their files, brushes, screwdrivers and wrenches:

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The tools in the front row keep the lathe toolholders on the back step from sliding off. It's a convenient place to put the chuck key. A row of L hooks under the lathe rack holds spring calipers and square-hole Armstrong wrenches. jsw

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

If you're filing aluminum, you don't need chalk. That's for filing steel.

With aluminum, just oil your file. Or spray it with WD-40 -- one of the few uses for WD-40 that's worthwhile.

I keep separate files for aluminum and brass versus steel, for just that reason. Once you've oiled a file you REALLY have to strip it clean before using it on steel or it will skate, as you're well aware. An oiled file won't skate on aluminum.

Nitric is much better for sharpening files. Yes, I've used both. Nitric takes a faster bite, and seems to be less inclined to preferentially round the cutting edge. It bites everywhere.

I hate having nitric anywhere in my house. I keep it in the garage.

Reply to
Ed Huntress

Sure I have. The problem was...the previous owners didnt from the looks of things.

Thanks for the info. I know a couple companies out there do that ..cheap enough. I just didnt know how effective it was

Gunner

The methodology of the left has always been:

  1. Lie
  2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
  3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
  4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
  5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
  6. Then everyone must conform to the lie
Reply to
Gunner

Thanks!

Ive got a couple of those red tool holders tucked up here and there. One in the shop is identical to yours, another is a blue one with a bit better layout and is pegboard compatible, in the electronics shop

Gunner

The methodology of the left has always been:

  1. Lie
  2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
  3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
  4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
  5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
  6. Then everyone must conform to the lie
Reply to
Gunner

I'm finally getting around to putting handles on my older files. It makes a much more usable file.

Got a spare Nicholson 49 (or 50) in that stock you'd like to part with? How much do you want for it?

So drill them. 'Taint rocket surgery. Hanging is the best way I've found. Pound some 16d nails through a tubafore and mount that to the wall. Grind the points off the nails and bend them up slightly to hold the files.

Another possible way is taking lengths of PVC pipe and sticking them in that. Tie 'em together with a band clamp and make them short enough to see the file tooth pattern on each.

Nice!

A woodworking buddy (Steve Knight, a retired hand plane maker from Portland) used a service in HelL.A. area, Boggs Tool. He liked the results.

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Soft, sticky types of aluminum are hell to get off files, aren't they? I hate that. Doesn't lye eat aluminum?

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Ed Huntress fired this volley in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

No, but it will get oil on the work. Sometimes you don't want that. I'll oil if I'm roughing, but chalk when I'm working with clean, nearly finished stuff -- even aluminum.

I, too, keep separate files for separate work... but sometimes the roles and treatments blend a little. Lloyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

So, time to make a bunch of knives?

Reply to
Tim Wescott

That's true, but we get oil on work all the time in many types of metalworking. I've never considered it to be a hardship with filing, but then again...

Sure. Most of my files are kept dry, and I chalk them if I'm getting any pinning. But I'll oil them when I'm just working on aluminum or brass.

The file cuts cleaner and easier, too.

Reply to
Ed Huntress

I make cardboard scabbards for 'em, with staples on the seams (and if I think of it, a tape wrap to keep the staples from biting). Then it's OK to pile 'em in a drawer.

Biggest drawback: they all look alike in the scabbards, so there's a few minutes sorting through the collection to find the right shape and tooth for a job.

Reply to
whit3rd

With a heat sealer (like, eg, "Impulse Heat Sealer 12 Inch", ) you can divide plastic bags etc into parallel pockets. Eg, top-loading polypropylene notebook sheet protectors divided into 3 or 4 pockets are ok for storing files. The translucent bags from cereal boxes work ok too.

Reply to
James Waldby

I may have a couple 49s..not sure about the finer 50. Free to you of course, if I have them.

I dont have an EDM machine to drill them. Oh..the handles. Blush..

Yaknow..thats not a bad idea at all. Ill check into that!! Indeed!

Boggs is one of the names. And its in my service range.

Thats what Ive been considering using. Got some Draino in the lue..might make up a bit and soak the bad ones.

Ive been cleaning and oiling the files..yeah..not supposed to oil them. Shrug. Got some very very very light gauge oil in a spray can that lost its propellent so popped a hole in the can and put it into a pump oil can. Paint brushed em with that gauge oil and set a bunch of them in a small plastic tub last night and let em drain. More today.

Its a very very light oil. Runs like water. Almost kerosene.

If I find the oil to be an issue if I use one..got carby cleaner at hand all the time. Spritz and the oil is gone.

Gunner, making a note to check for #49/50 rasps

The methodology of the left has always been:

  1. Lie
  2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
  3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
  4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
  5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
  6. Then everyone must conform to the lie
Reply to
Gunner

That is indeed a concern. Hummm..Ive got or can get some of that net material that they shop hydraulic fittings in to protect the threads...that would work as well.

Gunner

The methodology of the left has always been:

  1. Lie
  2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
  3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
  4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
  5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
  6. Then everyone must conform to the lie
Reply to
Gunner

Hey! Thats good too! I have a sealer..couple of them in fact.

Thanks!

Gunner

The methodology of the left has always been:

  1. Lie
  2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
  3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
  4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
  5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
  6. Then everyone must conform to the lie
Reply to
Gunner

Larry...got (1) Nicholson #49 and a Tome (Portugese) version of the #50. The Tome is not as sharp as it should be..shrug..but it will still cut well enough.

Email me your shipping address and Ill see about getting them out to you.

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You will need to find your own handles...chuckle

Gunner

The methodology of the left has always been:

  1. Lie
  2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
  3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
  4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
  5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
  6. Then everyone must conform to the lie
Reply to
Gunner

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