sharpening files

[brightspark]

heres the proof : the acid can burn 1 and a half though per inch in 1 hour off the surface just make sure there not absolutely knacked perfectly clean and no oil or grease on them .all my files are british made good quality branded names . they can be picked up from autojumbles and sales for peanuts as most sellers selling them wouldnt know a good file iif it smacked em in the face

 

[the artfull-codger]

I must fully endorse brightsparks file sharpening as I have done it myself for years & I can assure everyone that it does work, not quite as good as a brand new one but still a lot better than throwing them away,[or annealing them & turning them into form tools for the lathe] I believe the file card[brush] was originally used in the textile industry & then later used for files.the best way to clean out a blocked up file is to use a piece of brass about 1/2" wide & 1/16"" thick put it at right angles to the teeth of the file & rub it up & down, it takes on the shape of the teeth & cleans it out better than any brush,of course once you have used a file on steel for a while they are not so good on brass anymore which is why I keep dedicated files for brass only.



slan go fol

 

[mr migwire]

sent the mrs to b&q she came back with jeyes fluid brick and patio cleaner,
if you want a job done rite do it yerself........

well impressed with that brightspark, i was continplating speanding a small fortune on new files, now i only have to get a couple of rounds

 

[MrFluffy]

There is the slighty less exotic version of this which is to leave the blunt file outside in the weather for a few weeks. Usually in the garden, also using vinegar is mentioned in places.
Its a very old trick, mentioned in some very old books and does seem to work too. Sometimes you have to repeat a few times.

How does it work? dunno exactly, all I can do is speculate that its not even to start with, so the acid or rust action erodes it away unevenly restoring the peaks to the teeth. Do know Ive done it a few times and it seems to work nicely for me.

 

[graffian]

Or you could try putting them in a pyramid, the orgone
energy will sharpen then, so I am told;-)

 

[brightspark]

Or you could try putting them in a pyramid, the orgone
energy will sharpen then, so I am told;-)

drat i was in egypt earlier in year and went into the pyramid. could have taken em over with me
that would have saved me knaking me jeans with acid

 

[JimM]

I haven't tried acid sharpening myself but have seen several sites confirming it works. However it would appear that sulphuric acid is the way to go and not sure how well muriatic acid (ie brick acid) will work

It also makes difference what strength the acid is, stronger is not necessarily better. More info at the bottom of this thread

http://swingleydev.com/archive/get.php?message_id=157711#message


Jim