What are Riffler Blades Used For ?

When I tried to look at it the URL could'nt find anything, so I am not sure about "blades". I am more familiar with riffler FILES. These are like small needle files. I do not have a set of riffler files, but do find some sort of small files necessary to modeling. I am on my second set- they last a long time, but I have a hard time cleaning them. But then I do a lot of soldering of brass, and solder really clogs up the small files. Much less problem filing plastic, resin, or wood. I sometimes find files better for sanding seams than sandpaper or drawing a knifeblade along the seam. The round ones are great for seams near wing fillets and such where you need to get inside a hollow area.

on 12/8/2007 11:15 AM snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.net said the following:

They are files to get into tight or difficult places. Could be somewhat useful for plastic models, but are mainly for wood and marble projects.

on 12/8/2007 11:21 AM Don Stauffer in Minnesota said the following:

The sanding item I use the most is a double sided fingernail emory board. One side is rough and the other smoother. I just run the file across the piece, or run the piece across the file. They are cheap, but last a long time with plastic, and available at any drugstore.

Another alternative is to simply glue the grit of sandpaper you'd like to use to a strip of basswood or a chunk of dowel - I do that (particularly with a chunk of dowel) to make a sanding tool that not only may fit in an unusual area, but that also conforms to the shape I'm trying to achieve. You can also glue a handle to the backside of the dowel to make it easier to grab/work with. Works great.

Other than that, I prefer my straight needle files (a triangular one, mostly) and my dentist's cavity file for most work.

i bum the 4 or 6 faced nail boards from beauty shops. the stages will take scratches out and the finest will leave a polished plastic surface. i got a few from tom, and his are amazing. but a shine on a baby's butt.

Riffler files are small double ended files of different shapes and cuts used by die and tool makers for fine detail and to get into difficult places.

They come in different cuts (course /fine teeth) they are also available for use on wood in rasp cuts ,used by wood carvers and sculptors.

They are useful for modeling ,in the finer cuts .Needle files are also very handy.

I make my own sanding sticks by gluing popsicle sticks to the back of different grades of carborundum paper with pva glue . You can glue around 30 sticks to one sheet and then glue another sheet on the opposite side ,even have two different grits . Then get a box cutter and cut the sheets up between the sticks. It takes no time to make a large number of sanding sticks.

Bill the files are a little differnt though, they are intended to get into noks and crannies that cannot be got to by straight edged sanding tools of any type. They do this because they are curved at there ends. Think of a scimitor sword and thats what the end of a Rifler file looks like. They are not intended for general use but getting to thos hard to reach places.

Ray

on 12/9/2007 9:21 AM fokkereiv said the following:

Yes, I know what the riffler files are used for, as I responded in my other message. In the above message, I made a mistake in referring to the emory boards as 'files'. I don't have any rifflers, but I do have a set of warding files and a set of modeling files. They have the same assortment of files, but the warding files are a little larger.

Rifflers are small (3/16" diameter) files with bent and shaped ends. They're used for shaping concave sections, inside corners, slots, etc. Some are round in section, some are square, triangular or oval. Some have pointed tips. They are available with regular file teeth or with diamond grit, and can be single or double-ended.

I use fine diamond rifflers for shaping and touching up resin castings, PE and styrene. Unlike teeth, the diamond grit works in all directions, just like sandpaper. It also cuts faster and leaves a somewhat rough surface that needs wetsanding before painting. Paint clogs the grit quickly; so they work better with plastics, metal and resin. Diamond rifflers have a pretty short life, but they're not expensive.

Shop around; both kind of rifflers are available from several sources on the Internet.

Diddy