How to build a file rack?

Right. It's a last-ditch procedure to give them a little more life for rough work.

I haven't done it for 30 years, since I inherited a pile of new, unused files.

Ive done just that..and it works surprisingly 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

I agree. My Service Master is still going strong..though I did change out the case to a Chicago Poly Pro when it started getting too small for the tools I need to have immediately on hand. Now the case is in the inside shop on a shelf.

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

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

I dunno... maybe it's just my reluctance to NR stuff. I was brought up in a family - both sides - of NR-ers, and never had a sense of what nice tools and a good working environment could be until I got into Navy ECM electronics. It was sort of funny -- my dad was a high pressure steam vessel weldor, and could make welds so pretty they'd almost make you cry; but everything else he built or bought, other than welding equipment, was less than half-done.

So now I spend quality time UNdoing so-called 'shop fixes' on used gear. I never deliberately add such features to my shop.

I'm not a bit afraid to permanently modify a tool to suit a job (mostly hand tools), but can't bring myself to intentionally make a good tool look and feel like it belongs in a museum of primitive folk art.

Lloyd

...it it works..it aint stupid.

Hell..the vise on my vertical mill has a golf ball on the end of the handle. The ball was missing when I got it..so I put another one on.

One of the knobs was missing on the feed handle of my Hardinge TFB...golf ball again. Know what Hardinge Wants for those black knobs?!!!!

Some of us have Stuff readily available. Some of us dont. So one simply does the best one can with whats on hand... to make it work.

Which is why I dont care about paint..cabinet rust or anything that doesnt interfer with the use of any particular machine. If I were a Machine Collector..it would be all nice and pretty and looking factory new.

I am a Machine User..and am not in it for the sake of having Pretty Stuff. Just Usable Stuff that gets the job done.

Oh..I care about the Pretty Stuff...but its far far lower on my priorities list than having the machine(s) ready to use and accurate.

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

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

You don't get it. Most of my tools are heavily used, and show it. I can't afford the time down to re-paint every machine that needs it. I also can't afford the time each day to scrub every machine down with solvent and/or soap and water. I clean up chips and coolant, clean out t-slots, and generally make sure the machine is lubed and ready for another day. Then I 'rag it down', and that's it. But my attitude about working parts is about 'right', not 'pretty'.

Using bolts or golf balls for handles, using bungees to fasten loose covers, clamping shit together with c-clamps instead of fixing the broken weld that was supposed to do the job, bodged-on welds that could have been nicely blended with just a lick of the angle grinder... that's the kind of crap I hate.

Instead of wrapping baling wire around something to hold it on, replace or FIX the damned thing. If you fix it, fix it right, so it looks as good and works as well or better than the original part.

I have hundreds of golf balls in shag bags. They aren't machine parts. I do NOT have a warehouse of spare parts for my machines. But almost all of them are a day or two away from online vendors.

Lloyd

Amen!

I don't understand keeping dull files. I only use 3 or 4 different files and keep the ones in use in a felt-lined wood tool chest drawer along with a box of kid's sidewalk chalk and a file card. When a file gets dull or I don't like the way it cuts anymore, I go to the cabinet that has boxes of new files and pull one out! The old one goes in the bin. Files are cheap, even the good ones that I buy by the dozen. I figure that time is worth more. I guess a hobbyist one has time to fuss with them and enjoy resurrecting them to 50% and be able to use them.

Sell all your old files to somebody that treasures them and buy and use new ones as needed.

Have seen the PVC file rack in a few magazines. Just never had enough room to put one up. My dad's place had a workbench with a file rack, just a piece of lath tacked over some spacers at the bottom of the tool rack on the wall. Wouldn't take a whole lot of weight and needed a 1x2 below so the handleless ones didn't slip through but worked for

Stan

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Why anyone in their right mind would use hydrochloric acid on anything they didn't want to rust is beyond me. I give your idea a definite thumbs down. The damage caused isn't worth the short lived shine.

Harold

snip----

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

Yeah, the stuff and aluminum in any form can cause fires, too.

------------------------------------------------------------ Don't think so. Nitric (a strong oxidizer) does not dissolve aluminum, therefore it (aluminum) does not contribute to fires.

Harold

So using a golf ball as the end of a handle is the same as using bungee cords to hold a cover in place. Interesting world view.

Golf balls dont work as handle ends? Really?

I just remembered..the off/on knob on my Clausing 1500 lathe is a golf ball too. The one down on the long traveling shifter. Perhaps I should spend the $150 that Clausing wanted for the proper knob and assembly

When can I expect your $150 donation?

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

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

Maybe they do. I wrote "looks as good and works as well or better". They don't look 'right', and are not designed to be handles for an item that requires relatively fine control. I'll bet they don't work as well as a properly-attached file handle.

But you still don't get the point. Yeah... actually you probably do.

You seem to be trying real hard to make it sound like you'd rather NR something just to get it behind you, than to take on the task of making it right.

LLoyd

I look at golf balls as a spherical item made with a elastimor core and a tough white covering textured for better grip. They may not look as good to you, but I thunk they look better than the commercial file handles and give better control than the commercial handles. I do not like the commercial wood handles, as they do not clean off as nicely as golf balls. I also prefer the spherical shape. I do admit I would prefer a different color. So if I am the one doing the judging, you lose your bet. But it is not something of great import. If you like golf balls as file handles , use them. If you like the commercial handles better, avoid using golf balls.

But I am curious about the abbreviation NR. Does not ring any bells with me. And no one else has asked what it means, so i will. I am guessing it is close to kludge.

Dan

How much is the bet?

Indeed I am. For the same reason Ill use a brush and oil rather than turning on the coolant pump when machining a part and having to do much more cleanup afterwards.

Sometimes its simply not worth going the full monty.

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

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

Both, Don, there's something to be said for "evolution of design". If spherical handles worked better for files than the present general shape, they'd be spherical by now.

Gunner, sloppy work habits yield sloppy work.

Lloyd

snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Lloyd, I guess NR means "make shift". Now there are all range of services out there and there is always that share of society that caters to make shift, be it out of costs, time availability, etc... But welcome to make shift (or re-welcome to it). I bet most of the world is make shift. It will always be out there. Always has been, always will. Barking at it won't do anyone any good for long.

Transition Zone fired this volley in news:99b63dc4- snipped-for-privacy@7g2000yqy.googlegroups.com:

Didn't really think it would, but when it's offered up as a "standard of work", it evokes a response.

Lloyd

I guess it all goes down to self worth. I shudder to think of some of the environments, job sites, etc... that I've been in in the past. You try to say things, but the response usually stays the same or gets worse just to spite. But that's what you're going to find most every place you go. Very few people choose to put their money and time on the high road ... in anything.