Replies

1. 
   BioHaz1906 | Jun 12, 2008 05:30am | #1

   Get the little variety pack you can get at a Lowe's or Home Depot type store.  I think I paid 9 or 10 bucks for the set.  I don't know how good or bad they are but they shave the wood off and I use them so infrequently that I can at least say they are adequate. 

2. 
   flairwoodworks | Jun 12, 2008 06:03am | #2

   Short of a tool with a blade (saw, plane, etc) I don't think you can do much better than the Microplanes for rapid stock removal.  Have you looked at a Four-in-hand?  It's about 9" long and has a half-round profile.  One end has coarse teeth for more aggressive stock removal and the other end has fine teeth for smoothing.

   Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com

    - Success is not the key to happines.  Happiness is the key to success.  If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer

3. 
   SARGEgrinder47 | Jun 12, 2008 07:31am | #3

   I get the Nicholson files from HD. You don't have to get all at once.. Get what you need now and get the rest as you need them. I have used the Nicholson's for many years and they work fine. And.. there are very few projects that have curves that they don't see use. Great for building 1/2 MDF templates also.

   Good luck...

   Sarge..

4. 
   MikeHennessy | Jun 12, 2008 02:50pm | #4

   Flea markets are a great place to find files, etc.

   Mike Hennessy
   Pittsburgh, PA

5. 
   bigfootnampa | Jun 12, 2008 05:36pm | #5

   I'll just say in general that the best strategy for saving money on files and rasps is to buy the finest ones on the market!  Grobet files (Swiss) are about the finest and most expensive available.  Pferd files are much cheaper though quite on the same level of quality (as an example I have found that one Pferd chainsaw file will outlast about five of other brands... though similar in cost). 

   Here's a link to Pferd:    http://www.pferdusa.com/products/201/index.html

   High quality files will be used much more often and will get your work done so much faster and better that their purchase price is meaningless in considering their overall costs.  The cost of finding alternate methods of work and of painfully slow progress will inflate the overall costs of cheap files to astronomical amounts.

   One last bit of advice; make handles for each file or rasp and attach them before ever using them.  Scraps of wood shaped with a coarse sanding disc on the 4 1/2" grinder are all that is needed.  It should take no more than 5 minutes to handle each new file or rasp.

1. 
   dkellernc | Jun 12, 2008 09:01pm | #7

   A comment - I saw a very clever file "handle" in use at the Old Salem joiner's workshop when I visited a while back - corn cobs!  I was told this was an historically-accurate method based on a few files found inside a wall in a period building that was renovated.

   While not as nice as a turned boxwood handle, a dried corn cob makes perfect sense - they won't crack or split, the interior is soft so the file goes in easily, and the outer surface is corrugated for a good grip.  Gotta hand it to our frugal ancestors - sure beats using them as a substitute for toilet paper (ouch!).

1. 
   joinerswork | Jun 13, 2008 01:01am | #9

   dk,

   My dad used corncobs for file handles as well.  And I have a couple old soldering "irons" (hand forged shaft, copper tip) with corncob handles.  They are good insulators for heat, too.  Not an elegant solution, but sort of a Southern chic, oncet you're used to it.

   Ray

1. 
   derekcohen | Jun 13, 2008 09:19am | #10

   I now have a nice selection of Auriou rasps. They are wonderful to use and they certainly make life easier. However I used cheap Nicholson files and sandpaper-glued-to-sticks/dowels very successfully before they cam to live with me.

   Note that rasps are not recommended to be cleaned by a wire brush, since this can wear the teeth. Rather use a hard natural bristle nailbrush or scrubbing brush. Store them carefully so that the teeth do not become damaged.

   I have had good service renewing files in citric acid - left for about 7 days in a mild solution they come up sharp. I assume that this will also work for rasps?

   Regards from Perth

   Derek

1. 
   joinerswork | Jun 13, 2008 04:43pm | #11

   derek,

   You're telling a guy who has corncobs for handles, about Aurious?  Arrogant, I calls it!  Namedropper.  :-)

   I've read about using muriatic, or battery acid for file sharpening as you describe.  Never tried it myself. 

   Rubbing a file with chalk is supposed to keep the teeth from clogging.

   I was taught to never drag a file backwards over the work, but to lift it at the end of each stroke, to prevent dulling the teeth.  Also, a new file supposedly will remain sharp longer, if it is "broken in" on softer metals, copper and brass, before being brought to bear on iron and steel.

   For storage, I keep all my files in a file cabinet.

   HahahahaHA

   Ray

2. 
   dkellernc | Jun 14, 2008 06:46pm | #15

   I'd definitely recommend against using muriatic acid for cleaning anything that's made of steel.  Muriatic acid is a trade name for hydrochloric acid, and chlorine-containing acids are very bad for anything made of iron or its alloys.  The reason is that the chlorides cause a specific type of corrosion that leads to pitting of steel and iron surfaces.  These pits can be quite deep, and will potentially ruin a tool.

   A much better acid in the mineral family is phosphoric.  This is the acid found in Naval Jelly, and it reliably removes corrosion on steel surfaces without attacking the underlying, un-oxidized iron.

   That said, all mineral acids, including phosphoric and (especially) "battery acid" (which is a common name for sulfuric acid) are quite dangerous in concentrated form.  All of them will burn exposed skin in seconds, and can react very violently with other materials, up to and including producing an explosion.

   Citric acid for the purpose of removing rust is far, far safer.

3. 
   joinerswork | Jun 14, 2008 06:59pm | #16

   dk,

   The home remedy I referred to was for "sharpening" a dulled file, not for cleaning, per se.  But as I said, I've never tried any of the "recommended" acids, in any concentration, for that purpose. 

   Ray

4. 
   Tony Z | Jun 14, 2008 07:40pm | #17

   Sometime ago I tried some muriatic acid on some rasps.  It was left over from masons cleaning the bricks on my house addition.

   The rasps were auction box lots with little or no value.  Rasps I tried cleaning were a "Dragon" style Chinese rasp that I believe was made from stainless steel, an old 4 in 1 and a couple of pretty beat up down and dirty rasps.  I let the rasps soak in full strength acid for an hour or so and rinsed off in water.  I did not notice any pitting, etc., but then again the soak time was only an hour.  Can't recall the strength of the acid, but it was used undiluted from the original container.

   Results were mediocre at best and I have not tried sharpening at home again.  I have used Boggs File Service a number of times and for the cost, it is not worth the time or aggravation of trying to do it yourself.

   For cleaning rasps, if it is wood you want to remove, a quick flash from a butane lighter will lightly char the debris making it easier to brush out, but don't hold any flame too long over any one spot.  For files, chalk before using and don't mix the use:  one file for steel another for aluminum.

   T.Z.

2. 
   SARGEgrinder47 | Jun 13, 2008 07:46pm | #12

   Me thinks we need to be very careful here with the corn-cobs as I probably never saw a soldering iron or many files that didn't have them before I was in my twenties. I would never use them of course (in public view :)..) as we have just in the last few years convinced everyone that we in the south wore shoes.  

   Yep.. admitting to using corn-cobs would set the south back another 20 years. And I certainly have no idea what you would be talking about if you accused me of living a block from Charlie Mc Kelvey's corn mill or Mr. Mc Elroys black-smith shop across the street from June-bug Oak's mule trading barn when growing up in the 50's. That accusation would be totally ridiculous and an insult to my families blue-blood heritage.

   BTW.. about half way through "On Combat" and so far.. so good. Not a lot I hadn't already concluded long ago from necessity in my case... but a very en-lightening read for those that have never been on both ends of a weapon of any nature.

   Regards...

   Sarge..

1. 
   joinerswork | Jun 13, 2008 08:41pm | #13

   Sarge,

   "Yep.. admitting to using corn-cobs would set the south back another 20 years."

   Well...We won't even mention the dish towels, curtains, and, yes, dresses, our mamas made out of those printed cotton feed sacks, then, will we?

   In my neck of the woods, it was Aylor's mill, Cook's garage (not a blacksmith, but service station with the glass-topped pumps, and a sign above the door that said "In God we trust.  All others pay cash."  Evenings, old man Cook wiped the grease from his hands, and stepped thru the door to run a beer joint connected to the garage.  One-stop shopping), and Bunt Craig was the livestock trader.  You also called him to haul away the cow that the vet couldn't save.

   As David Allen Coe says, If that ain't country...

   I thought you'd appreciate Grossman's insights into not only the what, but the why.

   Best regards,

   Ray

2. 
   yotonyb | Jun 13, 2008 11:11pm | #14

   "...I'll kiss your adze."

   tony b.

   ...whose old man was NOT covered with tattoos and scars...

6. 
   mwenz | Jun 12, 2008 06:40pm | #6

   Call or email Bogg's:

   http://www.boggstool.com/

   Tell him what your wants are--and budget. And when they get dull, send them to him to be renewed. They will come sharper than the factory anyway.

   I personally would get a Nicholson #50 and three good half-round files in different levels of coarseness/lengths. That will use up your budget and you will be able to do most (if not all) of your shaping needs.

   I use rasps and files quite a bit. I depend on them. MicroPlanes are great in the kitchen, less useful for long-term shaping of wood. Buying fewer good rasps and files is better than buying a bunch of junk that will simply be replaced later.

   Take care, Mike

7. 
   SawdustSteve | Jun 12, 2008 11:19pm | #8

   Along with the files, purchase a 'file card.' It is a short, stiff wire brush used to get the crud out of the teeth. DO NOT use a wire wheel for cleaning files. Do not let the files get rusty, and finally, keep the files hanging seperately on your tool board. Smacking the file teeth into other tools only kills their cutting edges. The files I use most often on wood are: 6" and 10" Rat Tail (round tapered files) 8 and 12" , half round cabinet files and 8 and 12" half round rasps. If the budget does not allow for all this stuff, get a 'Four-In-Hand' file. It's a handy tool for lots of wuick work.

   I generally avoid the flea-market files as they are generally rusty, and by extension, DULL.
   SawdustSteve Long Island, NY (E of NYC)