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Thread: Isaac On Sawfiles
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25th March 2015, 01:49 PM #91
David, I first used the 'jewellers' files quite a while back, when I had a rush of blood to the head & tried making some very fine-toothed saws. A 4" DEST file just doesn't cut it, so to speak, when you get into the 20-25 tpi stratosphere (it's ok, I've since realised the error of my ways & renounced such conceited foolery! ). The Groberts are good to very good files, they cut well, wear well, & have consistent edge dimensions, so it wasn't long before I started using them on larger teeth, up to 15 tpi, as the availability & quality of smaller saw files went south. I hesitated to use them for anything larger, because of a fear that the sharp gullets might be too prone to stress cracks. In fact, there was quite a discussion on the topic a few years ago when I first mentioned I was using the needle files. I was warned my saw teeth would all crack off in short order!
Well, I'm relieved to report that stress-cracked teeth have NOT been a problem. And in case you think I don't put my saw teeth in harm's way, they are expected to cut woods that probably have no parallel up your way. For e.g., one of the woods I like to work with is called "Bull Oak" (Allocasaurina leuhmanii), which is reputed to be the hardest wood in the world! Another Forumite (planemaker) says he uses needle files for all teeth from 12 tpi & smaller, & I think will go that way myself, unless I can start sourcing some decent small 'regular' saw files. Trying to cut teeth or sharpen a saw using a file that starts shedding its cutting edges on the first or second swipe makes it darned-near impossible to keep strokes even & regular! By comparison, the needle files cut smoothly & evenly (& go on doing so for a decent length of time) - the difference is huge. The downside is they cost me nearly twice as much, each. But given they a) do the job better, and b) last at least twice as long on average, I guess it's a no-brainer. Unless the files I just ordered turn out to be a good deal better than the last lot, it'll be the last lot of 'regular' small files I buy....
Cheers,IW
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27th March 2015, 11:59 PM #92GOLD MEMBER
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Makes sense if they have consistent corners, because nothing else seems to here in small files. At least not of good quality. The bahcos are the inexpensive option here for anything with teeth of reasonable size, but obviously given Isaac's list of files he uses, nothing really satisfies in the smalls.
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28th March 2015, 12:02 AM #93GOLD MEMBER
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I did get my files yesterday. They again came direct from williams tool with "auto tool world" listed as the customer and me as an alternate shipping address (i.e., they're drop ship).
Thankfully, ATW is using bahco's part numbers for the files so that when williams gets the order, it should be pretty difficult for them to get crossed up and send the wrong size files (it hasn't happened to me in about 6 orders).
They come from Georgia here, which is not close to me, but a couple of days away UPS.
If I was smart, I'd get more sizes at a time, but they're not expensive enough to worry about it and I'm trying to get out of the mode of buying every good full plated high quality saw I see for a decent price.
Most importantly, though, the bahco files that came yesterday are beautifully made with a very smooth blank, just like the others I've gotten. And cheap.
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