Oh boy you are such a bastard.... Square and oh so abrasive... With your rasp voice, packed teeth and tapered hair... A good lapping ought to polish you right up.... 😂😂🎉
Yep. Spot on. It was a real world then. My first files, most of the ones mentioned above, first passed through my hands exactly fifty years ago. Okay, I'm only a youngster, but it does take me back a bit. I love these old documentaries. Thanks for the journey in time.
@@n7346e We made the stuff that won the war. Other countries sent men to war, but we sent men with stuff to war. We sent more stuff per man to war than any other country.
For the first half of our first year in school metal shop all we did was file metal in a vice. Scribe a line, grab the right file, and file, file, file. Then draw file to a nice finish. Then emery cloth to a shine you could see your face in. Great memories.
@@alejandrovidal1607 I always thought you would build a hammer with a forge out of an Ingot like a black smith what did you have to file off of it? Or did you use like a big hunk of metal and cut into yourself?
I am a Machinist of 45 years. I saw this video, and instantly knew I had to watch it. Because, it is a basic, Professional skill. I knew I would get something out of it. I have CNC mills, manuals, all kinds of options... But, without the basics... One is ignorant. And man, I was right. Particularly on draw filing. Thank you so much for preserving this and sharing it.
Sounds like my dad. "Stroke it, don't rub it - it's for cutting, not for starting a fire". Same with hand saws. "Long strokes, give _every_ tooth a chance to cut",
Every understanding of how modern machine tools cut can be learned by hand filing. Even today's welders, engine mechanics, and woodworkers benefit from this knowledge. This is great.
I live in the UK and did my apprenticeship at the railway and have fond memories of filing like this, it's a shame the only thing we make now is coffee.
My Dad did his time at the BSA in Birmingham, he taught me so much. I have some of his old tools, in velvet lined boxes with his name on. The beauty of such precision is no longer appreciated.
@@angowTI used to work in a skip yard and you would not believe the amount of old tool collections that people had thrown out! My guess is either an old boy passed away or somebody had a divorce and lobbed a life time collection out.. With this in mind I hope you have a child in the family to pass the tools onto, it is true that tools aren't made anywhere near as good as they used to and nothing pained me more than seeing decent tooling being thrown into a scrap bin. We even had two second world war, Royal Navy medals and a couple photo albums at the yard! The photos I still have as it looked like the few missing must have been kept by the family, the medals we sent back to the Navy.
In East-Germany, we had a school subject named "practical work", where the pupils went to actual places of work and were instructed in certain crafts. Since we had to go to a shipyard - which was an airplane factory in WW2 - we had to do a year of working in the so-called "file-bunker", where we had to deburr draft numbers for further welding. Long story short: our tools still showed the remnants of a German Eagle holding some kind of symbol, which was erased somehow. I like these old instructional videos.
@@tookitogo That's nice, I had to research a little before I put that phrase together - the main issue was if it was right to use 'deburr' in this context.
@ I would assume so. Once one realizes that you mean large numbers cast out of metal, deburring makes sense. (Amusingly, the English and German synonyms for deburring - “breaking edges” and “Kanten brechen”, respectively, mean the same things!)
Grandpa was a machinist and showed me how to use files properly..now at 39 i own many and cherish using them in my projects and machine wrk.. my favorite it breaking an edge while at the lathe or mill.. or maybe cleaning up some burrs from a cut..
@@chrismaurer2075 Since schools no longer teach these skills it is up to those who did learn from such classes to pass on that knowledge to today's generation. If our country is in a "downfall" we have no one to blame but ourselves.
@@DonariaRegia Kid's aren't interested in doing this type of work even for a hobby. I've tried to get young people involved in working with hand tool's like making hand saws etc but no interest.
My Toolmaker Father told me to never use a steel wire brush to clean a file as the steel used can be harder than the file and blunt it. Rather use the end of a strip of brass to push across the teeth at the same angle as the teeth to push out the pinning. The file cuts lines into the brass edge that fit on to the teeth enabling you to push out the material caught in the teeth. Doing this is proper metal therapy.
I was also told not to use those file cards. Anyway, a piece of brass usually works better at getting out pieces of metal that really get stuck in the file.
Loving on the vise at 4:54, this video is a great reminder even if you know somethings, you might not remember all things about filing in the machine shop. Always learning is a big reason I enjoy these vintage videos, thank you for providing them. Lance.
These videos are are absolute gold. I watched another just the other week on 'Metal Scraping'. True masters we had in this country when it came to manufacturing as well as other industries back then combined with clear concise narration. Look where we are now...even our Presidents can't put a sentence together like this narrator. And thats even when sending our sons (never theirs) to get their heads blown off in some sleazy under handed war
I noticed the Charles parker vice in use. Got one in the workshop. This is a great engineering skill that once mastered, you don't forget. Great video.
I'm saving this for any time someone tries to tell me I should never run the file back and forth, only forward. I remember what my instructors taught me.... As long as you're only keeping slight pressure on the forward strokes it helps you cut more evenly/flat.
my God....this takes me back to 1977-78 when I was an apprentice Fitter in Limerick, Ireland...First Year Off The Job training at Anco (then the State Training Agency), Dock Road, Limerick.....we had great instructors...
We now know two things that weren't known when this video was made: 1) file cards are bad for your file - they dull the teeth. A piece of soft wood works just as well. 2) contrary to what your shop teacher told you, dragging the file on the return stroke will not harm the file. We know this thanks to a few folks right here on YT who did the careful research.
My grandfather taught me these things at a fairly young age always did as told because it was the way I was told but now I understand the principal, thanx for the knowledge
This video helped me understand that I needed to upgrade my filing system. Now, the information is well organized, easy to access, and, I can find it quickly. 🎉💖
Using files like they did in the early 1900s was hardcore. A lot of that skill is lost, but we wouldn’t have the quality of life we do now if we hadn’t moved away from it.
This is gold. In the early 1960s in New Zealand, although it was a bit sexist :-) for two years all the girls did cooking and sewing classes, and all the boys did woodwork and metalwork. I still have both the skills I learned, and some of the things I made.
Thankfully, by the late 70s in New England anyways, not sure about the southern red states, everyone took cooking, sewing, and wood shop in Jr High and all classes were open choice in High School including car shop and metal.
@@az55544 Hmm, that would be great. I can sew a patch on my jeans, but I sort of had to rely on general knowledge. I can still see to thread a needle :-)
@@tedecker3792 Good for her! It is interesting that to us at the time, it wasn't a matter of "Rules", any more than it was a Rule that pens were for writing, or food was for eating. I do recall they banned us from playing touch Rugby in the breaks, boys vs girls. We were indignant and felt it was unreasonablr.
In Australia we were given a small block of mild steel to make a small G clamp. Drill out the bulk then file to within a couple of thousandth , square, smooth and square. Argh!
I enjoy filing, I find it therapeutic no need for ppe Pretty sure I learned from a similar film as an apprentice boilermaker late 70s BHP Newcastle Aus.🤙 🇦🇺 ✌️
in Australia and UK system, the people who were not wanting academic work, left school age 16 to technical schools, girls left to go to nursing or secretarial training) 17 for machinists and higher skill (including draftsmen and technical illustrators) technical work, and the final year of high school was only for those who wanted to join public service or university.
Not entirely true, some high schools still have good metals programs, but filing has sadly become a rarity in these programs, one of the dying arts. The techniques are still taught in many art programs focusing on Fine Art Metals though.
@@AlexJohnson-s5u VERY few high schools have any shop programs at all, you're more likely to find it in a vocational school, but only those that involve metalworking, which are few.
Great video- but I'm surprised by the suggestion to apply oil. Unlike machine driven tools, files don't build up heat. Oil would cause more labor by making the teeth slip over the work and also cause a buildup of fine debris in the teeth. I sometimes use acetone or carburetor cleaner to insure the file is clean and DRY.
I remember when I took the machine shop class in college for the first time, one of the first things our teacher taught us was how to use files. He gave us a chunk of metal and told us to file a perfect square out of it. By the time we were done, we knew how to use a file lol.
A perfect example of how hand operations are trivialized by managers in shops today. The importance of proper filing is ignored, as well as the skill to do so in the hurry to ship.
I've always been fascinated by the file, I think it's the best tool after the hammer, I've been using it since I was 5-6 years old, today I'm 38 and for the first time someone explained to me how to actually use a file
Now THAT is a lost (because it's niche) art. All this was common knowledge, in my experience. But I'm dutch, maybe that's why. All the commenters going on and on on how they finally learned something, and I'm just thinking, come on now, didn't you pay attention in shop class? We still have it in the Netherlands.
My old shop floor instructor would have pulled ears in the late 70s if one of us had held a file like in the video. Visual check which side is convex. Use it when approaching the finish dimension. Thumb on top of the handle. When roughing and semi finishing using larger files, palm rests on the end of the file. Use your body, not only your arms when roughing with big files. Your back will thank you.
My Grandfather who was a machinist at Wright Machinery in Durham NC his whole life, 13 years old to Retirement age. If there's one thing I learned about filing, it's that you don't file in reverse stroke. It slowly dulls the teeth.
the same skills that my father taught me, still using them today, and a wooden handle should always be fitted to a file, in case you slip and impale yourself upon it
@tookitogo oil does the job intended, some are designed to be lubricants, and some are cutting agents(less of a lube and more of a coolant to maintain cool temps and not wear out the cutter,) filing, however, used to span the gap from hoging out material to a finishing step prior to finish, and if you have oil on the surface and in the pores of the metal it has to be cleaned before bluing and painting, this can be a royal pain to do if at every step of the filing process someone doused the work in oil
I feel like shaping with a file is more accurate than almost anything driven by an electric motor. There’s something about repetitive hand eye coordination. Like sculpture.
I have a toolbox that is identical to the one used in this film. At least I now know one of the years that it was in use. I'd kind of like to know what year the toolbox shown here was first used.
Like alot of people say these old timers knew how to use manual tools. These are the folks that bulit the Saturn rocket by hand and the lost knowledge is one reason we cant build one easy along with the cost of such labor know.
@@bigoldgrizzly The 1" brass cube I made as an apprentice in 1956 is sitting on my bench, I checked it the other day and it is square on all surface and spot on 1" whichever way you measure it. Not bad for only using a hacksaw and scribing block and the appropriate files.
@@bigoldgrizzly Ah, well, the reason we had to make one was to make a 4" square, 1" thick steel female for the brass cube to fit into. Marks were deducted for any gaps and measurements over 0.0001" - and same for any out of square where the examiner could poke feeler gauges through while holding a lab-grade square against it and also for finish - everything had to be mirror-like shiny. Oh, nearly forgot - it all had to be done in under a certain time, any minutes over that were marks off too!
the trade test in the 50s was to produce a 3 3/4 inch square x7/8 block of steel out of 4x1inch with a 7/8 hole in the centre. also, to make a 1x1 inch square out of a piece of 2 inch round bar. this was done using a scriber ,rule, hammer, chisel and file. Points were deducted for poor dimensions, poor finish.
The world has changed, not for the better. I spent a lot of my youth hanging around "old timers" to figure out what they knew. Now I can't get a young person to listen to a half a minute in instruction. No one wants to learn to do anything. Only concern is the damn "smart phone". This film demonstrates why the country became great, now we are sliding down the road of trained monkeys with a lighted electronic banana in there hands.
What you describe is not my experience, in the Netherlands, however the world is a large place and I don't know your situation. But it sounds like your instructions come from a place of spite ("At least I tried to learn from old people", stress "I"), if the youngsters won't listen. I've plenty of great experiences transferring much more arcane knowledge than the simple use of files (cutting angle geometry, internal stresses, unrelated: chromatic abberation, CCD Elektrodynamics, you name it) - this film was just way too slow and far from information-dense. I learned nothing I didn't already know from secondary school. 12 minutes of trivial (literally, learned at secondary school) material, unclear pointing and vague terms like "bastard", saying "perpendicular" and not seeing anything close to perpendicular, really nothing specific. Kids these days are perfectly capable of absorbing way more, way more technical and precise information than this introductory bore of a "can-you-get-to-a-clear-point-already" film. They'd love to hear what amount of teeth per centimeters are useful for how much material removal in volume per stroke distance, know about what range of cutting angles are acceptable (instead of the not-so-perpendicular demonstration, utterly confusing), wonder about how metal can cut metal, learn about modern metallurgy and hardening. And ones that drift away during such theoreticals are perhaps better off being asked what they like to do, then you offer them a related metal project for them to work on (if they like music, perhaps a one-piece metal xylophone, or if they like computer gaming, a metal case for their PC - get creative) and hand them a selection of files. Then let them experience directly what every file does. Thén talk theory. Every kid learns differently; don't push for the idea that they should all be jumping in excitement from this video.
3:17 Imagine cutting that block with a hack saw, soft steel or not, I don't care if that's aluminum, it seems like it would take forever to get through
steverlord Power Hacksaw was universal in WW2. Use good quality HSS blades in a good frame and using good practiced technique - - you'd be surprised how fast a handheld hacksaw can cut. That piece in the film would be too big for a regular 12" blade. Hard to get a proper full stroke. However say a one inch square piece can usually be cut in a minute or so. Invest in quality blades and buy from a trade source.
After two years of bench work getting my gunsmithing certification I would use a hacksaw anytime I only needed one piece of stock it’s only worth setting up the bandsaw if you need multiple pieces
Don't listen to at least one part of this. That is on the names of files. The bastard cut is the most coarse for any particular size of file. By that, I mean that a 12 in. bastard cut is more coarse than a 6 in. bastard cut. Edit: I was wrong. Machinery's Handbook list four grades of fineness for American pattern files. Coarse, bastard, second-cut, and smooth. Sorry 'bout that.
If the video is instructional and has that static-y popping noise, its going to be absolutely gold information.
Oh boy you are such a bastard.... Square and oh so abrasive... With your rasp voice, packed teeth and tapered hair... A good lapping ought to polish you right up.... 😂😂🎉
Yea, Americans used to make stuff. 😢
Yep. Spot on. It was a real world then. My first files, most of the ones mentioned above, first passed through my hands exactly fifty years ago.
Okay, I'm only a youngster, but it does take me back a bit. I love these old documentaries.
Thanks for the journey in time.
@@n7346e We made the stuff that won the war. Other countries sent men to war, but we sent men with stuff to war. We sent more stuff per man to war than any other country.
Absolutely! You should see the one about correct use of the apostrophe, it's gold.
These old machine shop training videos are the best ! If you want to learn something new study the old, its amazing
For the first half of our first year in school metal shop all we did was file metal in a vice. Scribe a line, grab the right file, and file, file, file. Then draw file to a nice finish. Then emery cloth to a shine you could see your face in. Great memories.
did you really use chalk in the fine draw files like in the tutorial? I've never seen emery cloth in use...!
yep, here in argentina it was the same. 6 months for making a hammer, file and file and kepp filing. i still have the hammer i made 33 yrs ago!! 😁
Mine was , well I graduated in 1969 so I probably actually saw this. But it's how I learned.
Me too. And my school was St John Fisher.
@@alejandrovidal1607 I always thought you would build a hammer with a forge out of an Ingot like a black smith what did you have to file off of it? Or did you use like a big hunk of metal and cut into yourself?
I am a Machinist of 45 years. I saw this video, and instantly knew I had to watch it.
Because, it is a basic, Professional skill. I knew I would get something out of it.
I have CNC mills, manuals, all kinds of options...
But, without the basics...
One is ignorant.
And man, I was right.
Particularly on draw filing.
Thank you so much for preserving this and sharing it.
My grandfather always told me, "I paid for both ends of the file, not just the middle". Now I get to say the same thing.
Good one!
Sounds like my dad. "Stroke it, don't rub it - it's for cutting, not for starting a fire". Same with hand saws. "Long strokes, give _every_ tooth a chance to cut",
...mine said that about the hacksaw..
Mine was “hit the damn nail in, don’t try to scare it in!” 😂
@@jenngill7772😂 thats a good one.
Every understanding of how modern machine tools cut can be learned by hand filing. Even today's welders, engine mechanics, and woodworkers benefit from this knowledge. This is great.
I live in the UK and did my apprenticeship at the railway and have fond memories of filing like this, it's a shame the only thing we make now is coffee.
Omg 🙄😫
Luckily I still work in manufacturing, in the UK, but I agree, the UK is going down the toilet with regards to industry.
My Dad did his time at the BSA in Birmingham, he taught me so much. I have some of his old tools, in velvet lined boxes with his name on. The beauty of such precision is no longer appreciated.
@@angowTI used to work in a skip yard and you would not believe the amount of old tool collections that people had thrown out!
My guess is either an old boy passed away or somebody had a divorce and lobbed a life time collection out..
With this in mind I hope you have a child in the family to pass the tools onto, it is true that tools aren't made anywhere near as good as they used to and nothing pained me more than seeing decent tooling being thrown into a scrap bin.
We even had two second world war, Royal Navy medals and a couple photo albums at the yard!
The photos I still have as it looked like the few missing must have been kept by the family, the medals we sent back to the Navy.
I had similar training to this during my apprenticeship with the CEGB. Unfortunately skills like these are being lost these days..
In East-Germany, we had a school subject named "practical work", where the pupils went to actual places of work and were instructed in certain crafts. Since we had to go to a shipyard - which was an airplane factory in WW2 - we had to do a year of working in the so-called "file-bunker", where we had to deburr draft numbers for further welding.
Long story short: our tools still showed the remnants of a German Eagle holding some kind of symbol, which was erased somehow.
I like these old instructional videos.
Sorry, you had to deburr _what?_ I’m assuming “draft numbers” is some mistranslation. What’s the German word? (Ich spreche fliessend deutsch. :) )
@@tookitogo
Tiefgangszahlen musste ich entgraten.
@@11Kralle Ohhhhh, sorry, that makes sense. Your translation was correct all along!
@@tookitogo
That's nice, I had to research a little before I put that phrase together - the main issue was if it was right to use 'deburr' in this context.
@ I would assume so. Once one realizes that you mean large numbers cast out of metal, deburring makes sense. (Amusingly, the English and German synonyms for deburring - “breaking edges” and “Kanten brechen”, respectively, mean the same things!)
Well I never knew 90% of that!!!! Now I will look at my files in a totally different light! Thanks for the video!
This Films are Gold. Thank you!
This film upload is pure silver! (I'd say gold, but the film lacks color).
I'm not a metal worker, but I found this video fascinating. Thanks.
now you are prepared to become one.
An every one shop tool that no ones really understand. Good tutorial, tks for sharing this on YT.
Grandpa was a machinist and showed me how to use files properly..now at 39 i own many and cherish using them in my projects and machine wrk.. my favorite it breaking an edge while at the lathe or mill.. or maybe cleaning up some burrs from a cut..
I love old tools, the vise at 5 minutes is a beauty!
Looks like a Wilton Shop King.
I was never taught how to properly use files. I really appreaciate you sharing this video.
Wood and metal shop used to be taught in school it's a shame practical, useful life skills aren't taught anymore.
@@Jims2517 Just one of the many thing's that have changed that is responsible for the downfall of our country.
@@chrismaurer2075 Since schools no longer teach these skills it is up to those who did learn from such classes to pass on that knowledge to today's generation. If our country is in a "downfall" we have no one to blame but ourselves.
@@DonariaRegia Kid's aren't interested in doing this type of work even for a hobby. I've tried to get young people involved in working with hand tool's like making hand saws etc but no interest.
Wipe flip wipe flip for you simple guys like him
My Toolmaker Father told me to never use a steel wire brush to clean a file as the steel used can be harder than the file and blunt it.
Rather use the end of a strip of brass to push across the teeth at the same angle as the teeth to push out the pinning. The file cuts lines into the brass edge that fit on to the teeth enabling you to push out the material caught in the teeth. Doing this is proper metal therapy.
Although I was taught to use a card, I'm inclined to agree with you. I started out in tool making in the mid seventies.
The file cards at work have brass bristles. I thought that was the norm for them.
@@markgregory5962 I’m going to have to say…
If a steel wire is harder than a file, you need to stop buying your files at the Dollar Tree.
I was also told not to use those file cards. Anyway, a piece of brass usually works better at getting out pieces of metal that really get stuck in the file.
You all can not imagine how I miss these master in this country where I am.
Loving on the vise at 4:54, this video is a great reminder even if you know somethings, you might not remember all things about filing in the machine shop. Always learning is a big reason I enjoy these vintage videos, thank you for providing them. Lance.
Nice to hear from you 😊😊
These videos are are absolute gold. I watched another just the other week on 'Metal Scraping'. True masters we had in this country when it came to manufacturing as well as other industries back then combined with clear concise narration. Look where we are now...even our Presidents can't put a sentence together like this narrator. And thats even when sending our sons (never theirs) to get their heads blown off in some sleazy under handed war
Was it colonel Smedley Butler who wrote book: "War is a Racket" ?
I forgot we had a president. Bring back American manufacturing - I'm so sick of "Made in China".
I couldn't agree more. God bless.
@@jensdavidsen4557 it's exactly the same in the UK too. Greedy executives sent our manufacturing abroad and the politicians were complicit in it.
You think inflation is bad now. Wait until we stop importing from other companies.@@jensdavidsen4557
files are underappreciated tools
Not for people who use them.
Yeah, and mistreated too. 😖
Maybe for some people. I use them daily.
I noticed the Charles parker vice in use.
Got one in the workshop.
This is a great engineering skill that once mastered, you don't forget.
Great video.
I'm saving this for any time someone tries to tell me I should never run the file back and forth, only forward. I remember what my instructors taught me.... As long as you're only keeping slight pressure on the forward strokes it helps you cut more evenly/flat.
Blast from the past! Did my fair share of filing during my aprenticeship in the 80s!
Thank you sincerely. This is Heritage of humanity ,
I love filing the bevels into my hand forged knives it is very relaxing for me.
Word. When you get it nice and flat you can just feel it in the file as you go. (Chef kiss)
We need more videos like this. This is a great stuff.
my God....this takes me back to 1977-78 when I was an apprentice Fitter in Limerick, Ireland...First Year Off The Job training at Anco (then the State Training Agency), Dock Road, Limerick.....we had great instructors...
We now know two things that weren't known when this video was made:
1) file cards are bad for your file - they dull the teeth. A piece of soft wood works just as well.
2) contrary to what your shop teacher told you, dragging the file on the return stroke will not harm the file.
We know this thanks to a few folks right here on YT who did the careful research.
Fireball tool has a great video on the backstroke myth.
This is glorious ❤
Great video. Anyone just getting into metal work should be watching this.
Information from start to finish!
You can make anything with a file ....... except a profit
I love these old films. Thanks for posting.
As an NCB apprentice we spent weeks filing a block of steel to accurate diminsions at SHERWOOD TRAINING CENTRE AT MANSFIELD WOODHOUSE
Make this cube a sphere. With only files and a square. 😊👍
Best video ive seen in weeks
Very instructional and clear video - thanks for sharing!
My grandfather taught me these things at a fairly young age always did as told because it was the way I was told but now I understand the principal, thanx for the knowledge
This video helped me understand that I needed to upgrade my filing system. Now, the information is well organized, easy to access, and, I can find it quickly. 🎉💖
AI replies are wild sometimes
Using files like they did in the early 1900s was hardcore. A lot of that skill is lost, but we wouldn’t have the quality of life we do now if we hadn’t moved away from it.
Amazing close ups for the time.
German apprentice mechanics used to take a chunk of steel and had to hand file it to a perfect square of a specified size.
This is gold. In the early 1960s in New Zealand, although it was a bit sexist :-) for two years all the girls did cooking and sewing classes, and all the boys did woodwork and metalwork. I still have both the skills I learned, and some of the things I made.
Thankfully, by the late 70s in New England anyways, not sure about the southern red states, everyone took cooking, sewing, and wood shop in Jr High and all classes were open choice in High School including car shop and metal.
@@az55544 Hmm, that would be great. I can sew a patch on my jeans, but I sort of had to rely on general knowledge. I can still see to thread a needle :-)
My mother was a teacher who got the rules changed so both boys and girls could choose which class they wanted to take.
@@tedecker3792 Good for her! It is interesting that to us at the time, it wasn't a matter of "Rules", any more than it was a Rule that pens were for writing, or food was for eating.
I do recall they banned us from playing touch Rugby in the breaks, boys vs girls. We were indignant and felt it was unreasonablr.
Great upload thanks
I can honestly say, this was the best 12min of my life **
Maravilhozo as terramentes antigamente😊❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
This was informative and made me very glad that we have so many different options for reshaping metal nowadays.
These videos are gold
In Australia we were given a small block of mild steel to make a small G clamp. Drill out the bulk then file to within a couple of thousandth , square, smooth and square. Argh!
I enjoy filing, I find it therapeutic no need for ppe Pretty sure I learned from a similar film as an apprentice boilermaker late 70s BHP Newcastle Aus.🤙 🇦🇺 ✌️
I love this. Back in the day when simple toil was enjoyable. These jobs are all gone now.
As a note: the steel mill makes “hot rolled steel” which is the least expensive kind. “Cold rolled steel” is more expensive.
It used to be, you would learn this in shop class. But they've taken all the shop classes out of schools, so nobody knows this stuff any more.
in Australia and UK system, the people who were not wanting academic work, left school age 16 to technical schools, girls left to go to nursing or secretarial training) 17 for machinists and higher skill (including draftsmen and technical illustrators) technical work, and the final year of high school was only for those who wanted to join public service or university.
All bloody computers and mobile phones.
Not entirely true, some high schools still have good metals programs, but filing has sadly become a rarity in these programs, one of the dying arts. The techniques are still taught in many art programs focusing on Fine Art Metals though.
@@AlexJohnson-s5u VERY few high schools have any shop programs at all, you're more likely to find it in a vocational school, but only those that involve metalworking, which are few.
Where you live I guess
"File" this under, Seriously valuable esoteric Information from the past!
Really informative, great upload❤
Great video- but I'm surprised by the suggestion to apply oil. Unlike machine driven tools, files don't build up heat. Oil would cause more labor by making the teeth slip over the work and also cause a buildup of fine debris in the teeth. I sometimes use acetone or carburetor cleaner to insure the file is clean and DRY.
I remember when I took the machine shop class in college for the first time, one of the first things our teacher taught us was how to use files. He gave us a chunk of metal and told us to file a perfect square out of it. By the time we were done, we knew how to use a file lol.
A perfect example of how hand operations are trivialized by managers in shops today.
The importance of proper filing is ignored, as well as the skill to do so in the hurry to ship.
I would love to see a clip or two on restoring the kitchen knifes edge.
Great video A/V Geeks 16mm Films! 🔥 Thank you! 💯
The best video on filing no doubt about jt
I've always been fascinated by the file, I think it's the best tool after the hammer, I've been using it since I was 5-6 years old, today I'm 38 and for the first time someone explained to me how to actually use a file
Should have covered burnishing files for the smoothest surface and work hardening in the process.
Now THAT is a lost (because it's niche) art. All this was common knowledge, in my experience. But I'm dutch, maybe that's why. All the commenters going on and on on how they finally learned something, and I'm just thinking, come on now, didn't you pay attention in shop class? We still have it in the Netherlands.
I never knew we needed a video for filling😂❤
My old shop floor instructor would have pulled ears in the late 70s if one of us had held a file like in the video.
Visual check which side is convex. Use it when approaching the finish dimension.
Thumb on top of the handle.
When roughing and semi finishing using larger files, palm rests on the end of the file.
Use your body, not only your arms when roughing with big files. Your back will thank you.
Huh. I actually learned a lot. That was unexpected 👍🏻
Amazing work..thank you
My Grandfather who was a machinist at Wright Machinery in Durham NC his whole life, 13 years old to Retirement age.
If there's one thing I learned about filing, it's that you don't file in reverse stroke. It slowly dulls the teeth.
Wartime stories-I like.
the same skills that my father taught me, still using them today, and a wooden handle should always be fitted to a file, in case you slip and impale yourself upon it
thank goodness for cnc machines
I used to do a lot of that, but now a machine can do an even better job in far less time.🤯
Never allow the working face of a file to get knocked about and prevent rust by oiling your files. Rust dulls the cutting edge of the teeth.
Right. You can protect them if stored in a drawer so they don't strike against each other.
Also wrap in a twist of VPI paper.
My new filing technique is unstoppable
I was taught to use chalk, Chalk won't contaminate the surface like oil will.
Yes. We were taught to chalk a file, especially if filing soft metal,like aluminium, to stop it clogging the file.
Yes, I was also taught to use chalk, especially on aluminum.
How does oil contaminate the surface? Or rather, why is oil OK for milling and drilling, but not for filing? (Just curious. I’m not a machinist.)
@tookitogo oil does the job intended, some are designed to be lubricants, and some are cutting agents(less of a lube and more of a coolant to maintain cool temps and not wear out the cutter,) filing, however, used to span the gap from hoging out material to a finishing step prior to finish, and if you have oil on the surface and in the pores of the metal it has to be cleaned before bluing and painting, this can be a royal pain to do if at every step of the filing process someone doused the work in oil
@@cmasailor OK, so it’s just an issue of the amount of “decontamination” required before bluing or painting. Thanks!
I feel like shaping with a file is more accurate than almost anything driven by an electric motor. There’s something about repetitive hand eye coordination. Like sculpture.
No AI was harmed doing this movie.
Que material fantástico
chase parker vise...made down the road from where i grew up
Thank you so much for this.
We don’t even make quality vises like the one in this video 😢.
Really hard to file a complaint here.
Holy Cow......check out that vise!!
That's MY vise!!
I love a bit of filing.
Stance is wrong, you'll damage the elbows like this. Power comes from the legs when removing a lot of material. Maybe in later, finer stages.
3:30 That's what I keep telling my kids. Choose the right file for the right job. ;)
Would be nice if they had shown how to work the surface flat and square. Just checking for flat and squareness usually doesn't help so much.
I have the same vise only bigger, Parker 956.
I have a toolbox that is identical to the one used in this film. At least I now know one of the years that it was in use. I'd kind of like to know what year the toolbox shown here was first used.
Thank you for the video
I've always wanted left handed files!
I love how matter of fact the instructions are
We should pull our boys out of school and make them watch these vids all day.
More than a few girls would like this, too.
🌍 Excellent 🌎 These videos
Give Respect
To internet...
Thanks to
RUclips 👀.
Like alot of people say these old timers knew how to use manual tools. These are the folks that bulit the Saturn rocket by hand and the lost knowledge is one reason we cant build one easy along with the cost of such labor know.
Oh, that's weird...The last excuse I heard, was because they "Lost the Technology."
Ahhh this takes me back to my machining days...... :)
aye, filing a rough cut lump into a one inch cube with a max tolerance of one thou
@@bigoldgrizzly The 1" brass cube I made as an apprentice in 1956 is sitting on my bench, I checked it the other day and it is square on all surface and spot on 1" whichever way you measure it. Not bad for only using a hacksaw and scribing block and the appropriate files.
@@fredfarnackle5455
A seemingly pointless exercise to a young lad, but the benefits last a lifetime ;
@@bigoldgrizzly Ah, well, the reason we had to make one was to make a 4" square, 1" thick steel female for the brass cube to fit into. Marks were deducted for any gaps and measurements over 0.0001" - and same for any out of square where the examiner could poke feeler gauges through while holding a lab-grade square against it and also for finish - everything had to be mirror-like shiny. Oh, nearly forgot - it all had to be done in under a certain time, any minutes over that were marks off too!
the trade test in the 50s was to produce a 3 3/4 inch square x7/8 block of steel out of 4x1inch with a 7/8 hole in the centre. also, to make a 1x1 inch square out of a piece of 2 inch round bar. this was done using a scriber ,rule, hammer, chisel and file. Points were deducted for poor dimensions, poor finish.
The world has changed, not for the better. I spent a lot of my youth hanging around "old timers" to figure out what they knew. Now I can't get a young person to listen to a half a minute in instruction. No one wants to learn to do anything. Only concern is the damn "smart phone". This film demonstrates why the country became great, now we are sliding down the road of trained monkeys with a lighted electronic banana in there hands.
I just learned The Fundamentals of Filing from my electronic banana. I bet your choice of file is the bastard cut. You know nothing John Snow!
What you describe is not my experience, in the Netherlands, however the world is a large place and I don't know your situation. But it sounds like your instructions come from a place of spite ("At least I tried to learn from old people", stress "I"), if the youngsters won't listen. I've plenty of great experiences transferring much more arcane knowledge than the simple use of files (cutting angle geometry, internal stresses, unrelated: chromatic abberation, CCD Elektrodynamics, you name it) - this film was just way too slow and far from information-dense. I learned nothing I didn't already know from secondary school. 12 minutes of trivial (literally, learned at secondary school) material, unclear pointing and vague terms like "bastard", saying "perpendicular" and not seeing anything close to perpendicular, really nothing specific. Kids these days are perfectly capable of absorbing way more, way more technical and precise information than this introductory bore of a "can-you-get-to-a-clear-point-already" film. They'd love to hear what amount of teeth per centimeters are useful for how much material removal in volume per stroke distance, know about what range of cutting angles are acceptable (instead of the not-so-perpendicular demonstration, utterly confusing), wonder about how metal can cut metal, learn about modern metallurgy and hardening.
And ones that drift away during such theoreticals are perhaps better off being asked what they like to do, then you offer them a related metal project for them to work on (if they like music, perhaps a one-piece metal xylophone, or if they like computer gaming, a metal case for their PC - get creative) and hand them a selection of files. Then let them experience directly what every file does. Thén talk theory.
Every kid learns differently; don't push for the idea that they should all be jumping in excitement from this video.
3:17 Imagine cutting that block with a hack saw, soft steel or not, I don't care if that's aluminum, it seems like it would take forever to get through
I was thinking the same thing. Maybe I need training on The Hacksaw because if I cut that block, it would take me days and several blades!
steverlord Power Hacksaw was universal in WW2. Use good quality HSS blades in a good frame and using good practiced technique - - you'd be surprised how fast a handheld hacksaw can cut. That piece in the film would be too big for a regular 12" blade. Hard to get a proper full stroke.
However say a one inch square piece can usually be cut in a minute or so. Invest in quality blades and buy from a trade source.
After two years of bench work getting my gunsmithing certification I would use a hacksaw anytime I only needed one piece of stock it’s only worth setting up the bandsaw if you need multiple pieces
Don't listen to at least one part of this. That is on the names of files. The bastard cut is the most coarse for any particular size of file. By that, I mean that a 12 in. bastard cut is more coarse than a 6 in. bastard cut.
Edit: I was wrong. Machinery's Handbook list four grades of fineness for American pattern files. Coarse, bastard, second-cut, and smooth. Sorry 'bout that.
Yes but did the film makers make a mistake or have naming conventions changed over time or location?
Yes.I always thought a ‘bastard’ cut file was very coarse.
this is great!
I'd like to see how they make a file.
❤❤❤❤❤ exelent video thanks!!!