[TheForge] Effective filing

[xlch58 at swbell.net]

The classic fine file cleaning tool is a cartidge case pinched flat on 
the end.   Think this was an old gunsmith kink.

Charles

Andrew Vida wrote:

>
>
> Steve Smith wrote:
>
>> When you do have to use one, a file card is only useful on a coarse 
>> enough file. If you have a fine file, it won't do a thing except dull 
>> the file.
>>
>> Instead, take a piece of brass or copper tubing and flatten the end. 
>> Use this as a tool to shove through the teeth. You want to push the 
>> copper along the file in the easiest possible direction, quite a 
>> different angle from when you are filing. You aren't trying to file 
>> the copper!
>>
>> The idea is that the copper is soft enough that it quickly shape 
>> itself to the trough you are running it along, and cleans all the 
>> junk out. It is really amazing how much better the file works afterward.
>>
>
>     Another great tool for cleaning out fine files are finger nails, 
> though it can be painfully slow and rather hard on one's nails.
>
>     Never tried the copper idea, but it sounds like a good one for the 
> reference file.  I'll have to try it.