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  1. #1
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    May 2010
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    Default Saw File a dud, need advice

    Well that Nicholson triangular file was useless. Bought it at the monster store and first time using it to resharpen and old cross cut saw (a Nicholson USA by the way), this happened

    Nicholson File.jpg
    So the question of you gentlemen is where oh where does one buy a good file???

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  3. #2
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    Dec 2005
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    South Australia
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    Default

    It looks like it was a fake, in saying that Nicholson are not what they used to be, but you should get more than one use

  4. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by China View Post
    It looks like it was a fake, in saying that Nicholson are not what they used to be, but you should get more than one use
    Well it came in Nicholson packing with a Nicholson handle

    Oh well, if I can find a receipt I'll be taking it back. But if anyone has a tip on good quality files that'd be appreciated.

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
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    Melbourne
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    Default

    Unfortunately finding good files these days is getting harder and harder.
    I’ve brought a few NOS boxes off eBay and at swap meets.

    But there a lots of guys looking for them and the prices can be high sometimes.

    I will look for the eBay seller I’ve got some from in the states and post here if I can find him.

    Cheers Matt,

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
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    Sydney,Australia
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    3,157

    Default

    I think you will have to import your own if you want quality. Tools for Working Wood in the US & some Lee Valley files are made in Europe and they actually care about the quality of what they sell, unlike Fleabay. It is easy to make fake packing and load it up with dud goods.

  7. #6
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    Dec 2005
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    South Australia
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    If you want really good files then buy Vallorbe, although they will cost at least 4 times the price of a Nicholson

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
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    San Antonio, Texas, USA
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    3,070

    Default

    Any Nicholson file new enough to have a bar-code on the packaging is likely garbage. Any Nicholson file you buy new at retail is garbage. Some of the older boxes of Nicholson files carrying bar-codes are okay, but just.

    If you want to use Nicholsons the best to have are the Black Diamond without bar codes.

    I like Corradi saw files, good durability and relatively inexpensive compared to most other decent modern offerings. Sharpening Files - Corradi Shop, High quality files and rasps
    Innovations are those useful things that, by dint of chance, manage to survive the stupidity and destructive tendencies inherent in human nature.

  9. #8
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    Mar 2010
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    US
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    Default

    Bahco saw files. Nothing else is better at this point, and the only issue with them is that they have a slightly wider edge (makes a more rounded gullet) and there are no xx slim available in some or all places (I can't get them here in xx slim profiles).

    Those two things by themselves aren't a problem, but together they mean that you'll need another make for dovetail saws.

    Not sure what bahcos cost in australia, but they're about $6-$8 each in packs of 10 here, and maybe a little more for some sizes from folks who sell them individually.

    In terms of the nicholsons, I've used some more recent mexican nicholsons, and they're fine. Not as good as bahco, but fine. The place were "OK" files get separated from "good" ones is hard saw plates.

    No matter how low quality of file yours is, it shouldn't get a groove that clear - something else is wrong here. Either that file is not properly hardened, or you've got parts of a saw that are overhardened or not properly tempered (which can be true on very old (pre-1890 or so) or cheap saws.

  10. #9
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    Just checked, there's a drop shipper in the US selling some of the more common size of bahco now for about $3.50-$4.50, but would imagine that if you order one, you'll find that you need to buy 10 because they won't split a box.

    In the world of being in the wrong place, the same file that is $3.31 in the US is 13 pounds 50 in the UK. I think I'd buy something else if I was in England, but here in the states as an avid user, I don't mind buying a box of 10 for common sizes, because you really never know when those files might go out of production.

    Three times in the past, I've ordered indian made files that are "guaranteed to match western made files", and all three times, they've been junk out of the box. Same for Grobet's files that are labeled anything other than swiss made (and the expensive swiss made files don't hold up as well as bahcos).

  11. #10
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    Apr 2012
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    Quote Originally Posted by D.W. View Post
    Just checked, there's a drop shipper in the US selling some of the more common size of bahco now for about $3.50-$4.50, but would imagine that if you order one, you'll find that you need to buy 10 because they won't split a box.
    Any chance of sharing a link?

  12. #11
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    Mar 2004
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    Don't get too excited, Bahco haven't been any better than Pferd or any of the other supposed 'European' files, in my hands. They are stupidly difficult to buy in Aus., and sizes are limited. Importing sucks. By the time you go to all the bother of finding someone in the US who will ship here, especially with the new GST rules, you'll be grizzled & past caring! The worst thing about all files you buy new is the variability - they are either too hard & chip to bits on sawplate, or dead soft like the one the OP showed, and lose their corners on the first few strokes. I used a supposedly Portugese-made file yesterday on an old, moderately hard saw & it gave up on the first or second stroke - literally - I couldn't believe a file could be so useless. Occasionally, just occasionally, you strike a file that is just right & it lasts thtrough several saw sharpenings, but they are so rare it is a complete surprise when it happens.

    Perhaps the most reliable files I've used these last few years were Japanese made. They are not "American pattern" but have straight sides from tip to handle end - beginners may find them a bit hard to place in the gullet, but you can get used to it. In general, they tend to have finer corners than equivalent sizes of American pattern files, so you can use a bigger file for finer teeth.

    Vallorbe files are great, I use their needle files for very fine-toothed saws & they outlast anything else I've tried. Their larger files may be good, but are so stupifyingly expensive here, I haven't been tempted to try one.

    New old stock files are the most reliable, as Matt suggested, but they ain't making them any more, and the supplies are dwindling fast. Until there are enough saw-filers making enough clamour, I don't hink the situation is going to change much.

    Cheers,
    IW

  13. #12
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    Mar 2010
    Location
    US
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    abolox tools (haven't used)
    mltools (haven't used)
    auto tool world (I've bought about 60 files from them - they're just a drop shipper)

    I mention the other two because they have a lower price than auto tool world (for example, 6" slim taper are about $35-$40 per box of ten)

    Ian is probably right about price. For some reason, bahco's files are made in portugal (they are now owned by snap on, a US brand manager which may explain this), but they're far cheaper here than anywhere else. However, if shipping is ungodly to australia (which I've noticed it to be), and someone imports pferd there (a brand that can't be found that reasonably here) and ian says they're about the same, then buy what's local to you.

    I'm glowing about bahco because they're cheaper than a lot of the other imports, better than the domestic nicholsons we had here in recent years (before they went to mexico), better than the grobet swiss saw files, and I've yet to get a bad one in 12 years. When you get a box of 10, they're all straight, and the corners are identical (something others sold here seem to have a problem with sometimes, but it's important if you're resharpening the same saw as you might if you're doing a lot of ripping by hand - the corners match the gullet and you can touch up a rip saw in less than five minutes. If the gullet doesn't match the file you're using, especially if your file has finer edges than the last sharpening, it's a nuisance.

  14. #13
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    victor harbor sa
    Posts
    315

    Default

    BB,

    sorry to hear about your poor experience with the Nicholson saw file,
    but as others have said good quality new files are hard to come by.

    Have you looked at the 'Saw Files Test Report' posted by FenceFurniture
    at the top of this forum, it has some very useful information about files.

    Over the years I've managed to accumulate dozens of new old stock files
    such as Oberg, Simonds and Wiltshire from ebay, swap meets and garage sales.

    I reckon as the demand and market for saws diminished the need for
    saw files has also diminished.

    So if you see any nos files don't hesitate, grab em quick or I'll beat you to it.

    Graham.

    t

  15. #14
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    McBride BC Canada
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    3,543

    Default

    I don't think it's fair to suppose that a file will outlast the user. Just a slightly harder than usual piece of steel.
    I buy Swiss-made "Oregon" chainsaw files in several sizes. Boxes of a dozen. They are disposable.

    I revise farrier's knives for wood carving.
    I chalk the files and I do not get 2 farrier's knives roughed out before I've ruined a CS 7/32" file.
    That's as good as it gets. I'm disappointed but the resulting wood carving tools are worth it.

    What ever you do, don't buy files one at a time in the local hardware store.
    Those are 3X what I pay in a business that caters to serious forestry.

  16. #15
    Join Date
    May 2018
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    507

    Default Wiltshire files

    These ones definitely don't have a barcode on them20180711_142727.jpg

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