The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1901-08-21
HANDMADE FILES.
AN INTERESTING DESCRIPTION OF A
DELICATE PROCESS.

DELICATE PROCESS.
workmen Become So Accurate That They
Could Go ON If They Became Blind-Me-
chanics Held It to Be an Art In Which
Machinery Could Not Compete.
Rasps and files in the hands Of first
GLASS mechanic rise to the dignity OF tools
Of the first order in a machine shop. To
lille SQUARE" is test of skill which has
caused many braggart to lower his crest,
and an A wise hand is treasure In
shop where finishing is done on the bench.
To file square means to file true; to finish
the face of the work without marring 1t
with scratches and rounding surfaces, and
to do this rs regular everyday thing, Is
an art to be won only through practice
and long experience. Files ruin thousands
of dollars worth Of work, and files add
thousands Of dollars to the value Of manu-
faotured product.
In some Of the machine shops Of Chica-
60 are gray haired mechanics who have
worn overalls for 40 years and more They
remember well the time when machine
made files were held up to ridioule and
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 file out
ters of Sheffield. Files, and many Of them,
are still cut by hand, and q file cutter Is
probably the most expert user OF a ham
mer and cold chisel in the industrial world.
Files and fasps are made of steel which
varies from the "blistered" steel for the
poorer quality of files to the best crucible,
or "cast 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
scale when laid on the bench of the work
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 It is said that q 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, OF one or more edges on
file, Is left uncut, 1t Is said to be "safe."
No matter what the form Of the file 1s,
whether fiat, square, round, half round,
rat tail, three square or knife edged, the
cutting is done the same way. A Short
light, steel cold chisel with broad,
straight cutting edge, Is used. The ham
mer is curious looking affair, for 1t Is
curved somewhat, and the handle Is in
serted well 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 out characteristic OF
files, and it was this cut that for nearly
900 years prevented inventors from design
ing machinery which would cut a file
equal to the hand cut article.
The workman sits on a 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 stirrup
under the anvil. The workman puts his
foot in the loop, and thus holds the blank
secure while he is cutting 1t. He holds the
shisel between the finger and thumb OF
the left hand, and after each cut moves the
blank slightly for the next cut. He dos
this by lifting the ohisel 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 strik-
ing the next blow are done SO rapidly that
they are nearly simultaneous. The float
cut 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 cut side Is
laid upon plate of lead or pewter to pro-
tect the cutting edges. If the file Is other
than q fiat shape, the lead or pewter Is
erooved or followed out to fit the shape.
After cutting, the files are hardened, for
the annealing makes the steel so 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 wooden
block with q wooden mallet. The files to
be hardened are first covered with mix
ture of salt and some sort Of oarbonaceous
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 more or less according to Its
form. This is prevented by giving the hle
q 'set" in the other direction before 1t Is
tempered, so that the tendency to warp
actually straightens the file. When the
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
it has grown cold it is withdrawn and put
In a screw clamp. which keeps 1t from