and not the kind of files that the first million google hits are talking about –
been cleaning up and sorting out the shop – I’ve got a bunch (50?) of files of differing configurations and, ah, grits(?) (what word describes the varying coarseness of files?)
I hate to just throw them in on top of each other – gotta be bad for the sharpness, and they’ll work on each other everytime the drawer is opened and closed –
anybody got any good techniques/tricks for storing files?
“there’s enough for everyone”
Replies
mouse pads or foam work great. stacking w/ pads inbetween layers will protect them
Can you hold the laser level while I shave?
ya - I'm looking for a system that keeps them separated but still exposed and easy to scan and grab - I've seen tips and tricks sometime in the distant past, but can't remember...."there's enough for everyone"
how 'bout a tacle box w/ those double trays that open to eiter side?
edit: never mid, that's a lot of files, but something like that
Can you hold the laser level while I shave?
Edited 3/22/2008 11:42 pm ET by andyfew322
I pile mine together in the garage toolbox. I don't think they will dull each other too much in a drawer. I wouldn't do that in a portable box.
David,
Some simple wooden cleats screwed vertically to the shop wall with a angled kerf every 1 1/2" or so. Also works in the horizontal plane with straight kerfs. You can even kerf a wider board then rip into strips.
Worked in my old shop... Haven't gotten around to it here...
- Kit
I made some cleats similar to what you describe for wrenches in my new (old) tool boxes - that may be the hot set-up for the file drawer too - while day-dreaming in church this AM (forgive me lord...) I remembered the file storage tip that escaped me yesterday - that was to us a couple of long springs layed in a drawer, slide the files, on edge, into the spring and they'll be held apart and upright, but visible and accessable - I'm thinking about it - I may like your idea better -
thanks -
D"there's enough for everyone"
OK, Duane - how many 3/4" mill bastard files do I need - they're the only ones with a real surplus - 11 of them, near identical, tho check out the variety of manufacturers >>1 - GOLD MEDAL U.S.A.
2 - JOHNSON MADE IN U.S.A.
3 - Kearney & Foot MADE IN U.S.A.
4 - NICHOLSON U.S.A. MADE IN U.S.A.
5 - BLACK V WORKS G & H Barnette BEST CAST STEEL MADE IN U.S.A.
6 - ARCADE (scribed inside a horseshoe) MADE IN U.S.A.
7 - SIMONDS U.S.A.
8 - BLACK DIAMOND U.S.A.
9 - DISSTON U.S.A.
one duplicate Nicholson
one unmarked - "there's enough for everyone"
3 are obvious recognizable brands to me..Funy they are also saw makers.
I like a few spares, I'll take a file and make a "safe" edge by grinding away the side teeth, I have some that I had to remove the tang and mount on a block of wood with epoxy..one can't have too many SHARP files..and flat..like I said.
Lutherie and Organ work had me cobbling up tons of tools for certain jobs, and spatial conditions.
For a general purpose shop..wrap a few in oiled paper and staore them warm and dry..they keep for yrs. LOLSpheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
David,In reguards to the number of files you have, and all made in the USA maybe it would be wise to frame them and hang them over the fireplace. Years from now you could regale the grandkids with stories of how americans actually used to make things in America.They would be astonished and probably wouldn't even beleive you, if not for your framed display of USA made files.gk
David,
Although, mouse pads and tackle boxes seem like great ideals (:-S) I use a regular old 18" metal tool box. Inside are a denim and a canvas tool roll; also a couple of file cards, extra handles, some sandpaper, a couple of rasps, some picks, etc, misc. that is good to have while using files. Each file has it's own pocket and most are grouped by file type. This also makes it more portable as I can bring the whole toolbox or simply a single roll.
cheers
gk
I used to need to be portable, but now I'm pretty well fixed in place, at least for mechanical/metal work I finally, just in the last week, unloaded my pair of portable boxes and cleaned out all my shop drawers, re-organizing the shop into the new (old) roll around tool box - I had files in three different places - and metric wrenches here and 3/8" sockets over there - had most of the files in a shop drawer, and if I pile all the files back into it, it'll fill the drawer about a third full and individual files will be hard to find - stirring the drawer looking for the right one will be hard on the edges - the canvas roll is good, but I don't want an extra step of takingthe roll out of the drawer, unrolling, etc - lazy, I know - thanks - in a portable box, I think the canvas roll strategy is just right -
D"there's enough for everyone"
Glue up some scrap lumber and make a block that stores the handle out just like you see kitchen knives being stored.
Jon Blakemore
RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
DW sews tool rolls for me out out of canvas. Made some by just sewing more lines in cloth nail aprons.
For flat and half-round files I sometimes make individual sheaths using cereal box cardboard and duct tape. Cover the entire sheath with duct tape. Quick and tough.
For round and three cornered files I use the soft, clear plastic tubing found in the plumbing dept. Cut it to length and you have an instant sheath.
Wire nuts for handles on the smaller files.
I like the individual sheath idea, especially for some of the larger files - thanks -
D"there's enough for everyone"
Do your self a favor. Teat each one for sharp, try it on a known test sample of general steel, like a lawnmower blade, not a casehardend shaft..if it don't cut..TOSS IT.
Then check em for FLAT..use a straight edge. If the file is not flat, AND dull..toss it. It can transfer error if it isn't true. Much like a dished out sharpening stone can. NFG.
That said, if it is handleless I have a series of holes in the back of a workbench..insert by the tang, so the profile is visable. Can't see it or find it, you'll never use it.
If they are handled, I have a 1x8 board mounted at an angle, like about 38 degrees..just two uprights with the board spanning them..screwd together like a small bench with a slanted seat.
I place a slew of various sized holes in that , both plumb and perp. to the slanted face..chisels, files, screwdrivers , tapered reamers, nut drivers..all that I use frequently live in this "Handle farm" as my wife calls it. It is not attached to the bench and is portable , altho a bit tipsy . I have memorized the placement and handle configs so that I can just reach over and get what I need with out searching, the chisels stay up off the bench top by being in the highest back row, and shorter drivers and such can be interspersed..I did have to make a SLOT for 1.25 / 1.5 wide chisels, cuz the handle would not hold it up out of such a large hole diameter.
Maybe I can get ya pic in few..my bench is buried as I am asembling a 9' tall, by 5' wide frame and panel bookcase in a shop room of 14'x16'..not too roomy at the moment.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
ya - I've already culled the the files, got a whole bunch of poor ones in the scrap metal bin - the pict shows some rusty colored ones, but they are still quite servicible, in fact, I was out in the shop at midnight last night carding/cleaning/WD-40ying -
some real interesting little rifflers -
everything from hoof shapers to one that's so fine I thought someone had polished it on a stone - but it's sharp - last step before burnishing, I guess -
anyway - your system is kinda OK, but I hate storage that takes up bench space - I'm working hard to keep the benches clear for work -
In the woodshop, I've got a set of shelves that I started several years ago, and I've spaced a board under a couple of shelves to hold 'flat' tools - screwdrivers and chisels and knifes and such -
View Image
wanted to build a new set of shelves like a hanging toolbox, but I've run out of time this cold season - It'll have to wait till next year -"there's enough for everyone"
You do know old files can be resharpened somewhat with acid.
That works marginally one time, I ruined a fine cabinet rasp doing that with some special fluid sold for that reason..NEVER again..ever price a new Nicholson Cab. Rasp? pricey as hell.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
I suppose there is a trick to it. But what to do with a dull rasp? And good ones are mucho expensive for some reason.
ya, actually I did - I remember several years ago, when I used to hang out at Knots also, someone posted about it and even had a link to a company that would do it for you (supposedly they might know what they're doing more than an amateur attempt at home) - I haven't figured out how to google 'file' information - like googling 'apple', a million hits come up, all computer related - I don't know how to differentiate for the tools we are talking about here - "there's enough for everyone"
Here's a start.
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGLJ_enUS253US254&q=files+steel+resharpening
well done, thanks - think I'll peruse the homemade strategies just for giggles - as little as I use files, I doubt I'll be spending much time or money sending them off - "there's enough for everyone"
David-
for storing files, I cut a series of dadoes in a scrap of wood, wide enough to fit the file blade in, and far enough apart so the the blades don't bang into each other. For the files with handles, the dadoes need to be a bit further apart.
I put the notched piece of wood in a drawer, and put the files in. The notched wood is only at the end of the files.
I have a large automotive-style metal tool cabinet that has one drawer devoted to files, but I imagine that this can be adapted to any kind of tool box.
Here's my "system". I have a few larger models hanging on nails.
Here ya go..sorry about the mess..LOL
If my bench is too clean, everybody sees it and says " So, uh, not too busy huh?"
Front,,,,,View Image
From the back..I think you can see the back panel of the bookcase..way back there by the stairs.
View Image
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
hmm, whats that small object/pipe to the right of the hearing protectors?
Don't be a dope!
The license plate says" first in flight" Thats the launch pad !!!
That too! Ever toke on walnut dust? Yum..cough..LOLSpheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
I haven't partaked in close to 20 years.
i used to consume mass quantitys
Oh yeah..same here, then it got, like, expensive..hadda quit.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
In the Native American tradition I share the Peace pipe with my soon to be Object D'art. My shop space is a creative sanctuary of contemplative serenity, not a screaming production of dust and chaos. (G)
And mostly, that pipe is full of some kinda tobacco. But it had a hell of a former life as a resin clogged buzz maker..it still has stains in the stone..I made it out of soapstone back round '76 or so.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
I use a half dozen plastic silverware trays. I found some large ones at a dollar store. They are not the brittle plastic but sort of rubberized. They sit on a shelf under one of my workbenches. I cobbled some guides for them and used cord for pulls. A screw through the plywood from underneath keeps them from pulling out. They are protected from impact and dust/grim, and nicely sorted.
very good, Lee! you just might possibly have more files than I - but it's close - might you tell the story of how you ended up with so many? your system looks good - what's the odds that my local dollar store has trays like that? - real slim, I'm betting - thanks - "there's enough for everyone"
Wife just told me that I got the trays from Odd Lots or Big Lots, not a dollar store.
Gramps was a cabinetmaker, Pop was a tinner. I ended up with all their tools plus all the ones I have purchased over the years. My two daughters will split up everything when I kick-off. Both of them can and will put them to good use. The ancestors will be proud.
Try IKEA Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
I keep mine in a few recycled tin cans which I have filled with various diameter pieces of scap PVC conduit. They used to call me dirt cheap - now they call me environmentally sensitive.
Kind of a vertical round pigeon hole system.
The PVC is soft enough that it will not hurt the files and it keeps them from banging into each other.
Jim
OK - done - 'good enough for who it's for' -
thanks all -
View Image"there's enough for everyone"
Now what do you do with all the junk that was in that drawer?
well, that was the file drawer - I threw out about half the files, gather in the various files that were residing in various odd locations, lined the drawer with mall-wart yoga mat, kerfed some poplar 1X1, and wal-la! there ya go - cleaning shop - organizing - it's just wonderful - "there's enough for everyone"