george wilson
06-23-2011, 8:13 PM
Nothing special,just a few of the type tools to make when they are needed. Thee is a double cut,and a single cut bottoming file I used mostly to smooth off the bottoms of things like violin pegheads. Gunsmiths also use them for inletting actions. I may have used them on flintlock pistols.
The curved tool is a checkering file,pretty much like commercial ones you can buy,but just quickly filed out of 01 and hardened and drawn(left pretty hard). I didn't make the handles,but I wish I could recall where I bought them.
You can easily make these type files if you buy a metal checkering file from someplace like Brownell's Gunsmith Supply. They come anywhere from 75 lines per inch to 16 lines per inch. The double cut file was done with about a 20 LPI checkering file. The teeth are not ideal form,but for filing and smoothing recesses,they work fine. You don't really need to even harden the files. An old gunsmith friend used to make them,and when they dulled,he'd just give them a few swipes with the checkering file to resharpen them. At least DO use 01,or some decent tool steel,as mild steel will not be as tough,and will wear quickly.
These are silver soldered to their shanks and quenched afterwards while red hot. If you don't want them hardened,bury them in hot sand after soldering. Heat the top of a can full of sand,and bury the head of the tool to cool it slowly. If you want them to look clean and gray,rather than dark,get some PBC No-Scale from Brownell's. It coats the tool while heating it red hot,and scrubs off later,leaving the surface like a new file. Protects sharp teeth,too,which can be dulled by getting them red hot.
I must warn you to not get the PBC near your solder while heating. It is a terrific flux,and will draw the molten silver solder all over the place.
The curved tool is a checkering file,pretty much like commercial ones you can buy,but just quickly filed out of 01 and hardened and drawn(left pretty hard). I didn't make the handles,but I wish I could recall where I bought them.
You can easily make these type files if you buy a metal checkering file from someplace like Brownell's Gunsmith Supply. They come anywhere from 75 lines per inch to 16 lines per inch. The double cut file was done with about a 20 LPI checkering file. The teeth are not ideal form,but for filing and smoothing recesses,they work fine. You don't really need to even harden the files. An old gunsmith friend used to make them,and when they dulled,he'd just give them a few swipes with the checkering file to resharpen them. At least DO use 01,or some decent tool steel,as mild steel will not be as tough,and will wear quickly.
These are silver soldered to their shanks and quenched afterwards while red hot. If you don't want them hardened,bury them in hot sand after soldering. Heat the top of a can full of sand,and bury the head of the tool to cool it slowly. If you want them to look clean and gray,rather than dark,get some PBC No-Scale from Brownell's. It coats the tool while heating it red hot,and scrubs off later,leaving the surface like a new file. Protects sharp teeth,too,which can be dulled by getting them red hot.
I must warn you to not get the PBC near your solder while heating. It is a terrific flux,and will draw the molten silver solder all over the place.