Good examples of file storage?

[Mike Manning]

I've read that the worst way to store metal files is laying on top of each other in a drawer. Guilty, by the way. I'm wondering what are some of the best methods of home shop storage keeping space restraints in mind? I'm talking DIY by the way.

[Scott Winners]

I inherited a drawer full of files and rasps that my grandfather had kept in a drawer touching each other. Not a sharp tooth in the lot when they got to me.

I cut small slits in the ends of the plastic packaging on mine for now so they can lay in a drawer not touching each other.

Look forward to a more elegant solution.

[Thomas Wilson]

I inherited a drawer full of files and rasps that my grandfather had kept in a drawer touching each other. Not a sharp tooth in the lot when they got to me.

I cut small slits in the ends of the plastic packaging on mine for now so they can lay in a drawer not touching each other.

Look forward to a more elegant solution.

How about a piece of 2x8 with 1/4 inch dado kerfs spaced 1/2 inch apart. Make the length of the board the same as the depth of the drawer so it does not rattle around. Or you can angle the kerf and hang it on the wall with the files horizontal. May not be elegant.

[Derek Cohen]

I have a cabinet in which my rasps and files-for-wood hang. These are the ones I want close at hand. This is an oldish photo - it is a little fuller these days ...



The drawer has a couple of rolls for all the files-for-metal. This enables them to be stored in a way which protects the teeth.

I have had some of the files for a few decades, and have sharpened them with citric acid. I only clean the teeth with a bristle scrubbing brush and never metal teeth.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Thomas Wilson]

I have a cabinet in which my rasps and files-for-wood hang. These are the ones I want close at hand. This is an oldish photo - it is a little fuller these days ...

...

Regards from Perth

Derek

Derek, you would have the elegant solution. Very nice. It looks like the rasps are suspended by the handle. Do the handles ever come off the rasps?

[Jim Koepke]

My solution for one batch of files & rasps was to hang a drawer at the top of a shelf that had a bit of head room:

j Drawer Front.jpg

Vertical dividers were mounted on a base to keep the files & rasps separate:

h Filed Away.jpg

This is the post of making the divider:

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?274913

This drawer holds my best files & rasps. A few more drawers with dividers need to be made for the rest of my files & rasps.

jtk

[Derek Cohen]

Derek ... Do the handles ever come off the rasps?

Thomas, not so far It's only been about a dozen years for this lot, however. I'll wait a little longer before being categorical about this.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[David Eisenhauer]

An idea Mike:
1. On the TS, run a dado (to the width and depth that will accommodate the file main thickness) down the length of a piece of 1x or 2x? scrap. Note: File to stored on edge.
2. Move the TS fence over to the amount of the gap between the stored files desired. Run another dado. Continue till you run out of scrap.
3. Depending on how many files you have to store, may have to dado multiple lengths of scrap.
4. After all dados are completed, crosscut the scrap lengths into shorter (1"?) pieces.
5. Position and fix the shorter pieces to a backer (or drawer bottom) board such that each file will have a minimum of a short piece at each end of the file.
6. May have to put some finish on the short pieces because wood holds moisture and finish may prevent rust/corrosion to the files.

[Mike Manning]

David,
I think that's a great solution!

Thanks!
Mike

[Art Mann]

For a minute there, I thought this was a computer question!

[andy bessette]

Mine are kept in a tool roll with individual pockets for each file.

[Bruce Page]

This is probably viewed as sacrilegious by some. As a machinist, files were never treated with kid gloves. They were pulled out of a toolbox drawer, used, and tossed back in. Good quality files are very durable.

[Osvaldo Cristo]

My 30 year old wood and metal files are hanged on my tools panel.

My needle files are into a box without dividers because their small mass will not compromise their functionality if they eventually move inside.