Small File Cleaning

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Frank Ford
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Joined: Sun Dec 16, 2007 12:41 pm
Location: Palo Alto, CA
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Clean 'em? Sharpen 'em?

Post by Frank Ford »

Not long ago, I sent a box of 70 files of all kinds to be resharpened. Cost was low, and results amazing.

Check out BOGGS TOOL & FILE SHARPENING COMPANY: http://boggstool.com

Needle files came out great, big double cut files sharper than new. And, just as they advertise, the ones they "rejected" were sharp and ready to use, way better than I sent them, if not as good as new.

All you have to do is wrap them up, send 'em in with a note saying how many are in the box, and just like magic, they come back clean and sharp with a little bill.

Worth checking out the process - it's something like 140 years old and consists of steam blasting a fine abrasive. Boggs has been doing it for over 80 years!

Blast from the past:

"The time required to sharpen a worn out 14-in. bastard file is about four minutes, or proportionately less if sharpened before being entirely worn out. Smooth files require much less time. About 4 horse power of 60 lb. steam used during four minutes, and one pint per minute of sand (passed through a No. 120 sieve), and the time of a boy are the elements of cost of the operation.

Engineering, an Illustrated Weekly Journal, London, 07/28/1878"
Cheers,

Frank Ford
Rolland
Posts: 302
Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2006 11:45 pm
Location: Camp Verde, AZ

Re: Small File Cleaning

Post by Rolland »

I concur with Frank I have used Boggstool and the files are returned in excellent shape and sharp. My swiss files sets are better than when they were new if that is possible. and very cost effective
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ctwo
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Location: Silly Cone Valley

Re: Small File Cleaning

Post by ctwo »

That's cool, they even have pricing on their site, and seems quite reasonable, cheap!
Standards are so important that everyone must have their own...
To measure is to know - Lord Kelvin
Disclaimer: I'm just a guy with a few machines...
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NP317
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Location: Northern Oregon, USA

Re: Small File Cleaning

Post by NP317 »

ctwo wrote: Fri Apr 20, 2018 7:22 pm small brass brush - quick, one direction movements...
Same technique I use.
~RN
SteveM
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Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2005 6:18 pm
Location: Wisconsin

Re: Small File Cleaning

Post by SteveM »

Thanks for the heads up Frank Ford. I have them bookmarked, but I have never heard from anyone that has used them.

Nice to see good results. It's a lot cheaper than buying a quality new file, and cheap files just aren't worth the time.

Steve
Rich_Carlstedt
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Location: Green Bay Wisconsin USA
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Re: Small File Cleaning

Post by Rich_Carlstedt »

I haven't tried Frank's source yet but it seems to be an excellent resource.

For needle files, i use a sharp needle and a 10 power pocket magnifying glass. long and tedious , but it works.
For larger files I use a Hard Maple 1 x 2 wood sanded to a chisel shape to clean out file grooves.

Please know this:
1. If you use a file for alumnum, never use it on parts that will be hard or soft soldered. (It contaminates the joint
2. Acid attack steel , so soaking the file in Sulfuric acid erodes the file on all surfaces. this can be good !
3 Alkaline (Lye) does not attack steel, but does attack/desolve Aluminum. So if your file is loaded with alumnum stoick , spray some oven cleaner on it and it will not touch the file itself. Note that some oven cleaners are not lye based so cjhoose accordingly

Rich
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