Old Files -- Is the Steel Good For Anything?

[Tom LaRussa]

I've got a bunch of rusty old files I found while cleaning out the garage of my 98-year old great uncle. They don't cut for beans. But some of them are pretty big hunks of metal, so I'm wondering if the steel can be used for anything or if I should just toss them?

[Greg Heppeard]

If you are into making knives....great blades

[Martin Shupe]

Greg hit the nail on the head.

When I worked at Philmont, the blacksmiths in the backcountry were always seeking old files to make into knives. The high carbon steel of a file apparently makes a good knife blade.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Hi Tom-

As the others said, they make good knife stock. You could also forge a chisel or a carving gouge out of them or almost any other tool which requires a good quality high carbon steel. As they are now, they are brittle and any attempt to shape them is dangerous- they could shatter. Heat them up to about 450F in the oven after the wife goes to bed and leave them there for about an hour to fully anneal them and make them workable. If they are files, they are curently hardened all of the way through except for the tang. If they are rasps, they are case hardened only part way through and have a soft inner core. Either way you wnat them soft before you shape them, it's both safer and easier.

[Alan Turner]

Dave,
Then, after the baking step, and the shaping, do you reharden them with the Mapp torch and the magnet trick?
I have some old homemade (not by me) molding planes, and the irons were of old files, I can tell.
Alan

[Dave Burnard]

Baking at 450F won't come close to fully annealing high carbon steel, that takes something more like 600-700C (1100-1300F). It should allow you to cut the partially softened file with another file though. After a bake 450F the file will still be about Rockwell 55C which will still be slow to cut with a file.

If you stick the old file in the embers of a dying wood fire and let it cool overnight, then you'll truly anneal it.

[Aaron Kline]

If their old files, thats fine, but many new ones are simply case hardened mild steel, and when annealed will lose their hardness. Lawn mower blades and leaf springs are a safe bet. They are 5180 tool steel, .8% carbon content, these are oil hardening. On a side story, the settlers who traded hatchets with the Natives used file marks to trick them out of a good tool. The blacksmiths would forge the whole head of wrought iron initially. The Natives realised it was not as hard and tough as the settlers hatchets which had "file marks" on them, suggesting they were made of tool steel from old files. The blacksmiths then began to heat the heads up and imprint file marks on them to trick the Natives into thinking they were of quality tool steel, but were simply wrought iron with some file marks.

[Tom LaRussa]

If their old files, thats fine, but many new ones are simply case hardened mild steel, and when annealed will lose their hardness.
How old do they have to be?

These probably date to WWII or earlier.

[Tom LaRussa]

If you stick the old file in the embers of a dying wood fire and let it cool overnight, then you'll truly anneal it.
I'm using a charcoal fire. I put them into a very hot fire about five hours ago and shut the lid. Will let them sit overnight.

[Aaron Kline]

pre ww2 is perfect! Thats before everyone started the skimp on quality. A small note though, are you using the bagged Kingsford type charcoal or the real deal old school charcoal? If using Kingsford, it can emit noxious gases and put impurities in your steel.

[Tom LaRussa]

pre ww2 is perfect! Thats before everyone started the skimp on quality. A small note though, are you using the bagged Kingsford type charcoal or the real deal old school charcoal? If using Kingsford, it can emit noxious gases and put impurities in your steel.
I'm using Kingsford, but I'm not worried about noxious gases because I keep my barbeque outdoors. :rolleyes:

Also, I would think that the impurities-impartation problem would only arise if I were actually going to work the steel on an anvil, i.e., fold it, bang it back together, etc?

[Dan Gill]

I know you have already started down the path to making chisels from your files, but I found another use when I was vacationing in New Mexico/Arizona/Colorado this summer. I was at a pawn shop and saw a box of short sections of files, mostly ground down to about 1/4 inch wide. I asked what they were for, and the proprietor said they were silver stamps. The Navajo and Pueblo silversmiths cut these old files down and grind their stamp patterns in the ends.