Coming here and seeing that almost 50,000 people watched this video makes you feel not so alone with these questions that seem pretty old-fashioned these days. Cheers to you all!
I wondered how files were made, just because i'm a curious fellow. I clicked this video, saw how this gentleman was dressed and that was all I need to subscribe!
This is just the video I needed to get the rest of the basic knowledge i needed for making these things. it's annoying when a file gets damaged, and knowing how to make something means you know ways to repair. thank you.
You can extend the life of files by carding and thoroughly washing then dipping them in a strong sulfuric acid solution for a few hours or overnight. Pull them out of the acid and neutralize with lime or sodium bicarbonate dry with compressed air or by any available means and test it, if it doesn't cut to your satisfaction repeat the process.
Thank you, Ken and the collection trust, for preserving this old-world knowledge and experience. I couldn't even fathom the collective knowledge of the intricacies of file hardening in that one room @ 4:48. This is one of the arts that built humanity. We're best off to not lose the thousands of years of knowledge our ancestors have passed down to us.
Yeap I wonder if @Mr.Ken Hawley is still alive n still working on this old stuff 🤔🙏 I hope he is cuz he is a very intelligent about this old world skills
My dad born in Sheffield 1930 remembered women "doing the sours" as he called it, at home in their cellars. It was a way they could work from home while looking after the family
I've been using files for a lot of years and never gave a thought to how they were made before mechanization. Fascinating. I wonder if this is roughly how rasps for wood and shoeing horses were made also.
I believe the processes are similar. There are still rasps that are advertised as "hand cut", so there should be a video of it, somewhere. Edit: Found one! ua-cam.com/video/gQ09O3d8y9Q/v-deo.html&si=rWdibW2POf1tO37_
DIY people, who are looking for a way to make things in a cheap an accessible way seem to mostly look in the wrong place. If you want to make something cheap and accessible then look into the past. They've been doing things in a very cheap and efficient way. It's a shame that this knowledge has been somewhat lost. Thanks to the internet some of it seems to be comming back, which is great.
In the past, labour was cheap and materials expensive. It might take half a day to make something using a file, saw and chisel that a CNC machine can do in seconds. My basic training ( REME ) required us to be proficient in using hand tools, before allowing us to use lathes, milling machines etc., and even then we had to be able to sharpen twist drills, and produce lathe tools from HSS stock. One thing that these types of videos omit is setting up the height of the vice, even before you start working, or you'll end up filing uphill or down. You stand next to it and shim the thing so that the top is the same height as the bottom of your elbow, or fractionally lower. Raise your lower arm to horizontal.They you'll be able to file flat without contorting your body to achieve the correct result. Also, to set an anvil at the correct height, clench your fist, let your arm hang down, and adjust the height to some point lower, depending on the size of your favourate hammer. Your fine adjustment, if forging thick steel periodically, is to raise your working height temporarily by standing on a wooden duck board.
He mentions that in another of the videos - here's a peg in the log that allows him to set his leg at the right height for the left arm to rest on, for better stability and control when striking the chisel.
I've been using files since I was six years old, I can produce stuff that people think it's machine made but unfortunately at 55 years old my eyesight is failing me, besides there's no money to be made in filing precision stuff anymore. As of passing knowledge to the next generation well, no one seems to be interested in that type of work anymore; kids nowadays want machines that will print what they need while they play videogames or watch TV, lol!
If you're still around, would love some tips and tricks, if you're willing to share. I am not very skilled in file work, good enough for my needs, but would love to improve.
@@autumn5592 Unfortunately I can't help you much through this venue. All I can tell you is that you keep a firm stance with separate feet and use your upper body, particularly shoulders, to follow through the pass when filing larger flats. That way your arms and hands stay in position to support the file as flat as possible in relation to the work. On a flat surface, place the file flat on the work and pick it pup just enough to make a pass as you forcibly "land" the file against the work while filing forward, pick up and repeat. When removing small amounts of metal on closing in to the final shape, use a thick black or blue fiber marker on the surface of the work to see where you are removing material. Put chalk to your fine cut files to prevent loading. For some work, single cut files (lathe files or even 8' chainsaw flat files) work best. Remember that files remove material in the forward movement, so pick up slightly for the rearward movement. Practice a lot and concentrate on rythm and precision rather than speed and pressure, remember that material, once removed cannot be put back on.... Use a good quality vise with nice, parallel jaws as they will help you to reference your work. Then there is draw filing and round filing which is similar to flat filing but... round, lol!
@@chapiit08 Even though I already knew all that, I do appreciate you typing it out, thanks. I suppose my issue is not lack of knowledge, but lack of developed skill, guess I just have to practice more.
Coming here and seeing that almost 50,000 people watched this video makes you feel not so alone with these questions that seem pretty old-fashioned these days. Cheers to you all!
knowledge is disappearing fast. almost nobody creates with their hands anymore. its all computers.
I wondered how files were made, just because i'm a curious fellow.
I clicked this video, saw how this gentleman was dressed and that was all I need to subscribe!
This is just the video I needed to get the rest of the basic knowledge i needed for making these things. it's annoying when a file gets damaged, and knowing how to make something means you know ways to repair. thank you.
I am sure you know how to clean a file with a wire brush when it loses its edge.
You can extend the life of files by carding and thoroughly washing then dipping them in a strong sulfuric acid solution for a few hours or overnight. Pull them out of the acid and neutralize with lime or sodium bicarbonate dry with compressed air or by any available means and test it, if it doesn't cut to your satisfaction repeat the process.
Thank you, Ken and the collection trust, for preserving this old-world knowledge and experience. I couldn't even fathom the collective knowledge of the intricacies of file hardening in that one room @ 4:48. This is one of the arts that built humanity. We're best off to not lose the thousands of years of knowledge our ancestors have passed down to us.
This gentleman has forgot more than we will ever know. God bless the old ways. Someday we will need them
That is correct sir.
an excellent presentation by an excellent, knowledgeable craftsman...am so glad to have viewed these posts...be well, good sir
That’s a fabulous film. What a skilled craftsman he is. A shame that those old skills are being lost forever.
There is a file company here in the colonies that still makes files by hand. I saw a show about them recently.
@@Dannysoutherner
I didn't know the crown still had colonies.?
Thanks for sharing this video, is a wonderful presentation and I have always wondered how this was done before mechanization!
Good work!
It will down through the generations!
Interesting knowledge he is passing on there.Thank you sir.
What a nice old man. Nice work !!!
Yeap I wonder if @Mr.Ken Hawley is still alive n still working on this old stuff 🤔🙏 I hope he is cuz he is a very intelligent about this old world skills
Priceless knowledge, thank you.
Thanks, Mr. Hawley for preserving this
Coincidentally, you too
My dad born in Sheffield 1930 remembered women "doing the sours" as he called it, at home in their cellars. It was a way they could work from home while looking after the family
God I love that old guy! I wish I could meet him. Could you guys make a video and show the edge geometry of the chisels used to cut the file teeth?
I'm afraid mister hawley passed 15 August 2014
@@ryanrosenblum2552 I'm truly sorry to hear that. It's definitely the world's loss.
I've been using files for a lot of years and never gave a thought to how they were made before mechanization. Fascinating. I wonder if this is roughly how rasps for wood and shoeing horses were made also.
I believe the processes are similar. There are still rasps that are advertised as "hand cut", so there should be a video of it, somewhere.
Edit: Found one!
ua-cam.com/video/gQ09O3d8y9Q/v-deo.html&si=rWdibW2POf1tO37_
Up until recently schools used to send send their files away to be reconditioned in the holidays, New Zealand
And that's how my 19th century Sheffield was hardened, and why it is such a fine blade.
DIY people, who are looking for a way to make things in a cheap an accessible way seem to mostly look in the wrong place. If you want to make something cheap and accessible then look into the past. They've been doing things in a very cheap and efficient way.
It's a shame that this knowledge has been somewhat lost. Thanks to the internet some of it seems to be comming back, which is great.
Fabuloso, excelente artesano.
Excellent!!!
In the past, labour was cheap and materials expensive. It might take half a day to make something using a file, saw and chisel that a CNC machine can do in seconds. My basic training ( REME ) required us to be proficient in using hand tools, before allowing us to use lathes, milling machines etc., and even then we had to be able to sharpen twist drills, and produce lathe tools from HSS stock.
One thing that these types of videos omit is setting up the height of the vice, even before you start working, or you'll end up filing uphill or down. You stand next to it and shim the thing so that the top is the same height as the bottom of your elbow, or fractionally lower. Raise your lower arm to horizontal.They you'll be able to file flat without contorting your body to achieve the correct result. Also, to set an anvil at the correct height, clench your fist, let your arm hang down, and adjust the height to some point lower, depending on the size of your favourate hammer. Your fine adjustment, if forging thick steel periodically, is to raise your working height temporarily by standing on a wooden duck board.
He mentions that in another of the videos - here's a peg in the log that allows him to set his leg at the right height for the left arm to rest on, for better stability and control when striking the chisel.
Holy hell, look at that file bar at the left.
I've been using files since I was six years old, I can produce stuff that people think it's machine made but unfortunately at 55 years old my eyesight is failing me, besides there's no money to be made in filing precision stuff anymore. As of passing knowledge to the next generation well, no one seems to be interested in that type of work anymore; kids nowadays want machines that will print what they need while they play videogames or watch TV, lol!
I wish of could learn from you
@@savi6048 Thank you!
If you're still around, would love some tips and tricks, if you're willing to share.
I am not very skilled in file work, good enough for my needs, but would love to improve.
@@autumn5592 Unfortunately I can't help you much through this venue. All I can tell you is that you keep a firm stance with separate feet and use your upper body, particularly shoulders, to follow through the pass when filing larger flats. That way your arms and hands stay in position to support the file as flat as possible in relation to the work. On a flat surface, place the file flat on the work and pick it pup just enough to make a pass as you forcibly "land" the file against the work while filing forward, pick up and repeat. When removing small amounts of metal on closing in to the final shape, use a thick black or blue fiber marker on the surface of the work to see where you are removing material. Put chalk to your fine cut files to prevent loading. For some work, single cut files (lathe files or even 8' chainsaw flat files) work best. Remember that files remove material in the forward movement, so pick up slightly for the rearward movement. Practice a lot and concentrate on rythm and precision rather than speed and pressure, remember that material, once removed cannot be put back on.... Use a good quality vise with nice, parallel jaws as they will help you to reference your work. Then there is draw filing and round filing which is similar to flat filing but... round, lol!
@@chapiit08 Even though I already knew all that, I do appreciate you typing it out, thanks.
I suppose my issue is not lack of knowledge, but lack of developed skill, guess I just have to practice more.
Classic! Thanks
Very interesting
Awesome
why is the presentation cut into short impractical pieces?
he's got really good skin
Interesting.
KEEP IT UP
He's not old, he's mildly aged!
Great, have to buy whale oil now.
whale oil beef hooked
Back when skill was involved.
Now its buttons on machines.
It's a shame.
Why would they want to use poop? Lol
It has the right viscosity for the job.
Because it was free and readily available