The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1901-11-06
HANDMADE FILES.
AN INTERESTING DESCRIPTION OF A
DELICATE PROCESS.

AN INTERESTING DESChIf lION OF
DELICATE PROCESS.
Workmen Become SO Accurate That They
Could Go on II They Became Blind-Me-
chanics Held It to Be an Art In Which
Machinery Gould Not Compete.
Rasps and files in the hands OF first
GLASS mechanic rise to the dignity OF too!s
of the first order in a machine shop: 10
lille square" is test Of skill which mas
caused many braggart to lower MS crest'
and an A wise hand is treasure In q
shop where finishing Is done on the penon.
To file square means to file true; to nnlsh
the face of the work without marrlng IL
with scratches and rounding surfaces, ana
to do this as regular everyday thing, Is
an art to be won only through practics
and long experience. Files ruin thousands
of dollars worth Of work, and hles ado
thousands of dollars to the value OF manu-
] factured product.
In some Of the machine shops OF Ch1oa-
go are gray haired mechanics who nave
worn overalls for 40 years and more. Ihey
remember we'll the time when maonlne
made files were held up to ridioule ano
scorn and when all first class, well known
makes of files were cut by hand. Some OF
these old fellows still insist that machine
made files are not and never can be as
good as the files which are cut by hand,
and they carry this prejudice to such an
extent that they declare they cannot do
good work with the machine cut files.
1t would be difficult for them to tell the
difference between the two makes Of files,
for within comparatively few years ma
chimes have been making files that cannot
be approached by the most expert hle cut
ters of Sheffield. Files and many OF them,
are still cut by hand, and file cutter is
probably the most expert user OF ham,
mer and cold ohisel in the Industrial world.
Files and rasps are made Of steel which
varies from the "blistered" steel for the
poorer quality of files to the best crucible,
or least cast" steel, for the higher grades.
The blanks are prepared for the file cutter
| BY forging the "tang," or tapered point
for the handle, and shaping the steel to
the proper form under die or press. The
blanks are thoroughly annealed or soften
ed, and are perfectly clean and free from
| SCdl0 Wu6u ldAu Ou ullo DohSh VI oho VIVA
man who cuts the teeth.
A file cutter generally works on the
same kind Of q "cut" year In and year
out. This gives him mechanical perfec-
ton which cannot be secured In any other
way, and 1t is said that workman's
hand becomes so accustomed to the spac-
ing that were he to become blind he could
cut just as we'll.
Files are made of many forms to suit
the great variety Of work which they are
called upon to do, but the "cuts" which
give coarseness and fneness to files are
comparatively few. They are known as
trough, ""bastard," "smooth" and dead
smooth" These are the common "cuts."
Floats" are single cut files, and double
cut files are made by crossing the first
cut with second cut, thus changing the
parallel, unbroken cutting edges OF the
floats into numerous points.
When face, or one or more edges on q
file, is left uncut, 1t Is said to be safe"
No matter what the form of the file Is,
whether fat, square, round, half round,
rat tail, three square or knife edged, the
cutting Is done the same way. A short,
light, sell cold chisel, with a broad,
strais lifting edge, is used. The ham
mer q curious looking affair, for 1t Is
our i somewhat, and the handle Is IN
serted we'll toward the smaller end. The
hammer weighs from one to six pounds.
In striking the workman gives peculiar
pulling blow which raises the "bur" and
gives the particular cut characteristic OF
files, and it was this cut that for nearly
200 years prevented inventors from design
ing machinery which would cut o fle
equal to the hand cut article.
The workman sits on low bench which
comes out from long wide bench. Before
him Is his anvil, usually stone block or
a slab of iron. The blanks are held In
place by straps which pass over the tang
and point, and then form loop or stlrrup
under the anvil. The workman puts his
foot in the loop, and thus holds the blank
secure while he is cutting It, He holds the
ehisel between the finger and thumb OF
the left hand, and after each cut moves the
blank slightly for the next cut. He does
this by lifting the chisel over the bur and
then pressing the point Of the tool against
the raised edge just out, at the same time
loosening the strap so that the blank can
be moved.
In cutting small files or smooth or dead
smooth files the hammer blows, movement
of the chisel, loosening the straps, moving
the blank, tightening the strap and strlk-
ing the next blow are done so rapidly that
they are nearly simultaneous. The float
ont is made first, and then the second cut
Is made. In making the second cut the
workman strikes the chisel with less force,
thus making shallower out. If the file Is
to be cut on the other side, the out side Is
laid upon plate Of lead or pewter to pro-
teot the cutting edges. II the file Is other
than a fiat shape, the lead or pewter Is
grooved or followed out to ft the shape.
After cutting, the files are hardened, for
the annealing makes the steel 80 soft that
the first use Of the file would bend the out
ting edges. Some files are curved before
being tempered. This is done by heating
the cut files to q dull red and bending
them to the required curve over q wooden
block with q wooden mallet. The files to
be hardened are first covered with mix
ture Of salt and some sort Of carbonaceous
substance. This covering serves tWofold
purpose-it prevents the teeth from oxida-
tion and from losing the carbon In the
steel, and by fusing indicates the proper
heat for tempering. 1t also serves to pre-
vent cracking when the file is suddenly
plunged into the cooling liquid which
gives the file the temper.
Naturally heated file suddenly cooled
will warp moro or less according to Its
form. This Is prevented by giving the ME
"set" in the other direction before 1t Is
tempered, SO that the tendency to warp
actually straightsns the file. When tho
steel has reached the proper heat, the file
Is lifted from the fire by the tang and sud
denly immersed in cold water, and before
1t has grown cold it Is withdrawn and put
In q screw clamp. which keeps 1t from