Very interesting instruction. Was a pleasure to see you in action, and the ergonomics of the operation. I now understand how to use those oddly shaped hammers I've occasionally seen. Thanks for posting👍
Thanks very much for that. A great-grandfather of mine (born 1825) was a Sheffield filesmith - the closely related (but separate) trade which was employed either side of this file-cutting process. I believe the smith made the blank, then it went back to the forge for hardening after the soft blank was cut like this. I knew about this process and knew just how fast the cutting was done but up until now had never seen it done by hand. So, again, thanks. I admire your obvious skill.
ovajoyd my great great grandfather, William Crookes, came to Providence, Rhode Island around 1850 from Wharncliffiside, West Riding Yorkshire. He worked as a file cutter and also became a Freewill Baptist minister. He was born in 1824.
great video , has that chisel one edge on it or two , ie do you set the spacing for every file tooth or does the chisel set the distance ,, like gun stock chequering ?
This is fascinating. I'm going to start apprenticing as a blacksmith and making more delicate tools like files are really something I want to get into. I love the specialised equipment you need just for this job as much as the idea of making the final product! I'm a trainee welder fabricator so I get the attraction of making jigs :D
Absolutely FASCINATING!! I saw another video where it was said that women did this work in Sheffield. They must have had arms like weightlifters. I kept hoping you wouldn't slip and whack your fingers.
Awesome. I've read about it, but I've never seen it until now. For your next video, show us the heat treat! Do you coat the teeth with something to prevent decarb during the HT?
Yes, a salt pot is a good solution if you have one. :) I'm not thinking of case hardening, actually, although the anti-decarb recipes I've seen would probably work for that as well. One I just found in several references consists of charcoal, table salt and flour. Nice work on the hammers. Thanks again for posting this.
I don't know if you are still around as I just found your file video. If you are my question would be how they made a chisel hard enough to do all that cutting without either being so soft it dulled quickly or being so hard that it would chip easily? Carbide wasn't available in the middle ages I would guess and even if it was it would chip immediately under the impact of the hammer blows. I know my Proto cold chisels would not make anywhere near that many fine cuts without dulling. There are many many cuts on one file and the chisel seems to do them all with no resharpening. Very interesting video answering how the pre power tool age made files. Thanks. Doug
@Douglas Thompson The metals used for files is a tool steel meaning it has a certain amount of carbon in it making it hardenable. To cut a file the steel is annealed (softened) the post-cutting hardened and tempered. You are correct to think a file would dull quickly because without hardening it would be softer than the material it's trying to cut. Without tempering the file would be too hard and break or chip a tooth. Example dropped a modern file on a concrete floor by accident it shattered into 3 pieces. Was too hard. Hope this helps.
As stated above, all work was done on annealed metal and then hardened. Tool steels were not available 100 years ago, much leas no steel available 400 years ago. Most likely...They used a wrought iron and after cutting the teeth, they would "case Harden" the file. Also, they would case harden the chisel used to cut the teeth. Here is an EXCELLENT video describing it in detail. th-cam.com/video/SOw9WqMOHjA/w-d-xo.html
Thankyou for posting. Very interesting. Did you make the cutting chisels? Your hammers are amazing. How did you know to work out the shapes of the heads?
What sort of steel are you using for stock? What's your quench medium? And finally, where did you get the hammers?! I seem to recall reading something in either The Art of Blacksmithing or The Complete Modern Blacksmith about coating the teeth with some sort of organic compound to prevent decarb during hardening. That could be why your files aren't turning out as hard as you'd like. I'll try to find the details.
It is the same concept as the the coatingthat the japanesesmiths created tomake the Hamon ontheir blades. Usually a high carbon mud mixed with the slurry/tailings of of a grinding stone or from the pit the GREAT BIG ROUND stones were mounted in.
How do you quench without warping it and is warping avoidable a 100 percent or theres always gonna be a small warping that is not seeable with our eyes
recently below I've asked the % of carbon in hand files the reply I`ve got was a family secret I must add dear sir we living in the 21fst century if I want go in competition with you an industrial chemist would find out very quickly but I already know it, anyway I wish you all the best
the need for the "file onfile" isonly for double cut file end product. The double cut file is an evolution of the single cut file. so, imagine that single cut files had already been around for some time, then some bloke gets the idea to make a more agressively cutting file by adding a second series of cuts. the first series are probably so high that they interfere with cuting the second series of cuts. so, the intrepid inventor of the double cut file se that he or she needs to knock of some of the height of the first series of cuts and thinks to himself, "if I only had something laying around here that could cut burrs off of metal, hmmmmmm....." sincerely, husband of the owner of this ewetoob acct
Very interesting instruction. Was a pleasure to see you in action, and the ergonomics of the operation. I now understand how to use those oddly shaped hammers I've occasionally seen.
Thanks for posting👍
Thanks very much for that. A great-grandfather of mine (born 1825) was a Sheffield filesmith - the closely related (but separate) trade which was employed either side of this file-cutting process. I believe the smith made the blank, then it went back to the forge for hardening after the soft blank was cut like this.
I knew about this process and knew just how fast the cutting was done but up until now had never seen it done by hand.
So, again, thanks. I admire your obvious skill.
ovajoyd my great great grandfather, William Crookes, came to Providence, Rhode Island around 1850 from Wharncliffiside, West Riding Yorkshire. He worked as a file cutter and also became a Freewill Baptist minister. He was born in 1824.
great video , has that chisel one edge on it or two , ie do you set the spacing for every file tooth or does the chisel set the distance ,, like gun stock chequering ?
Great to see some of the old skills aren't all lost! That is an interesting hammer. Ergonomic design! Thanks!
I grew up near the old Simonds/Heller file factory. I would love to learn enough to start making some of my own files
This is fascinating. I'm going to start apprenticing as a blacksmith and making more delicate tools like files are really something I want to get into. I love the specialised equipment you need just for this job as much as the idea of making the final product! I'm a trainee welder fabricator so I get the attraction of making jigs :D
Fascinating. How do they make half-round files? Thank you.
Absolutely FASCINATING!! I saw another video where it was said that women did this work in Sheffield. They must have had arms like weightlifters. I kept hoping you wouldn't slip and whack your fingers.
Well, there are all sizes of files and rasps! Also, our grandmothers might have been more rugged, you know?
Awesome. I've read about it, but I've never seen it until now.
For your next video, show us the heat treat! Do you coat the teeth with something to prevent decarb during the HT?
Yes, a salt pot is a good solution if you have one. :)
I'm not thinking of case hardening, actually, although the anti-decarb recipes I've seen would probably work for that as well. One I just found in several references consists of charcoal, table salt and flour.
Nice work on the hammers.
Thanks again for posting this.
I don't know if you are still around as I just found your file video. If you are my question would be how they made a chisel hard enough to do all that cutting without either being so soft it dulled quickly or being so hard that it would chip easily? Carbide wasn't available in the middle ages I would guess and even if it was it would chip immediately under the impact of the hammer blows. I know my Proto cold chisels would not make anywhere near that many fine cuts without dulling. There are many many cuts on one file and the chisel seems to do them all with no resharpening. Very interesting video answering how the pre power tool age made files. Thanks. Doug
@Douglas Thompson The metals used for files is a tool steel meaning it has a certain amount of carbon in it making it hardenable. To cut a file the steel is annealed (softened) the post-cutting hardened and tempered. You are correct to think a file would dull quickly because without hardening it would be softer than the material it's trying to cut. Without tempering the file would be too hard and break or chip a tooth. Example dropped a modern file on a concrete floor by accident it shattered into 3 pieces. Was too hard. Hope this helps.
Harden it and then temper to a dull yellow.
As stated above, all work was done on annealed metal and then hardened. Tool steels were not available 100 years ago, much leas no steel available 400 years ago. Most likely...They used a wrought iron and after cutting the teeth, they would "case Harden" the file. Also, they would case harden the chisel used to cut the teeth. Here is an EXCELLENT video describing it in detail. th-cam.com/video/SOw9WqMOHjA/w-d-xo.html
@@pinhead1304 250 * F ?
Thankyou for posting. Very interesting. Did you make the cutting chisels? Your hammers are amazing. How did you know to work out the shapes of the heads?
I have never seen that before! Very interesting indeed! Never seen that before. Thanks much, subscribe now.
Bravo Maestro !!👍👍
What sort of steel are you using for stock? What's your quench medium? And finally, where did you get the hammers?!
I seem to recall reading something in either The Art of Blacksmithing or The Complete Modern Blacksmith about coating the teeth with some sort of organic compound to prevent decarb during hardening. That could be why your files aren't turning out as hard as you'd like. I'll try to find the details.
It is the same concept as the the coatingthat the japanesesmiths created tomake the Hamon ontheir blades. Usually a high carbon mud mixed with the slurry/tailings of of a grinding stone or from the pit the GREAT BIG ROUND stones were mounted in.
Archaic but fascinating. Where did you get those hammers?
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing this!
Rapid tap in the shop, must be Canadian.
Awesome! Can this be done on stainless steel?
WOW ! Very interesting ! Please show us more :)
How do you quench without warping it and is warping avoidable a 100 percent or theres always gonna be a small warping that is not seeable with our eyes
Thank you for video.
Cool technique - it needs some skill, and practise:)
AFDter cutting the teeth the file is heat treated?
when shtf and no electricity, these guys will be rich
recently below I've asked the % of carbon in hand files the reply I`ve got was a family secret I must add dear sir we living in the 21fst century if I want go in competition with you an industrial chemist would find out very quickly but I already know it, anyway I wish you all the best
1.2-1.3 % of carbon.
@@Zaratustrov 1% will do
Using a file on a file what happened when the first file was made. There wasn't another file to file the file so what did they use ?
52memor a stone probably...
the need for the "file onfile" isonly for double cut file end product. The double cut file is an evolution of the single cut file. so, imagine that single cut files had already been around for some time, then some bloke gets the idea to make a more agressively cutting file by adding a second series of cuts. the first series are probably so high that they interfere with cuting the second series of cuts. so, the intrepid inventor of the double cut file se that he or she needs to knock of some of the height of the first series of cuts and thinks to himself, "if I only had something laying around here that could cut burrs off of metal, hmmmmmm....."
sincerely, husband of the owner of this ewetoob acct
The ancient astronauts brought them a file.
very nice you have a subcriber.
can you please tell me what type of steel to use to make files?
I would suggest O1 tool steel or something relatively simple that oil hardens
@@aimlessdude9735 1% plain carbon steel, such as 1095 or W1. will do. !/4 inch or under will harden in oil. .
Where do you get the tools to do this?
He probably made the cutting tool himself and had a blacksmith or specialized company do the hammers.
can you tell me please the % of the carbon content of Nicolson files?
There's an Alec steele video in which he mentions carbon content in files to be around 0,95%. It's the video in which he made a flint.
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