I use a small metal files to smooth out the sprue remnants on pieces of styrene plastic when building kits.
How do you clean out the ridges on the files to restore the sharp metal edges?
Rich
Alton Junction
I use a small wire brush (from MicroMark) to clean out larger files, and have used an old toothbrush with some success with smaller files. Brush with the direction of the grooves.
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
get yourself a file card. it is a special stiff wire brush type of gadget made just for cleaning files. also try the tip of a number 11 hobby knife blade for stubborn crud stuck in the grooves. chalking the file first helps prevent material from sticking so tight. just use any stick chalk you have handy.
charlie
As Ray says, a wire brush will clean the material out of the grooves. If the filing edges are dull, there really isn't anything you can do to restore the file unless someone in the vicinity has a file grinding machine. I would think a new file is the way to go.
For many years I have used a common file card. They are made specifically for cleaning files. I doubt any model railroaders would ever wear out a steel file.
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
What usually happens is the grooves are filled which makes people thing the file is worn.
There may be really cheap files being sold. No idea.
The file card is essentially a wire brush with very short bristles.
http://tinyurl.com/9jkl7oh
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If you want more info, search for file card brush.
Ace hardware (and I would guess most hardware stores) have File Cards.
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/
Thanks for all of the valuable info, guys.
I have to chuckle at the thought of a file card. I have had one for years, had no idea what it was used for, and no idea what is what properly called. I have always referred to it as a "wire brush" which I have used on occasion to remove paint chips from wood surfaces around the house.
In fact, i have no idea where it came from, when I got it, or who might have given it to me. I suspect that it came from my father years ago who often brought over a tool in my early years of home ownership.
That said, I will give it a try to restore my metal files to their original condition.
richg1998 For many years I have used a common file card. They are made specifically for cleaning files. I doubt any model railroaders would ever wear out a steel file. Rich
Mini files may not wear out using them on just plastic or wood, but if they're used on any metal, most of them will wear out pretty quickly, as most of the $5-$15 sets are not high grade tool steel, but they are cheap enough to buy new sets as they wear out.
Jay
C-415 Build: https://imageshack.com/a/tShC/1
Other builds: https://imageshack.com/my/albums
Rich, you may be confusing a wire brush with a file card. A wire brush has "bristles" about 1 inch long and a file cards bristles are only about 1/8" long and stick out of a flat piece of wood about 1/4" thick.
Bruce in the Peg
Blind Bruce Rich, you may be confusing a wire brush with a file card. A wire brush has "bristles" about 1 inch long and a file cards bristles are only about 1/8" long and stick out of a flat piece of wood about 1/4" thick.
Bruce,
You are right. I did confuse the two. When I clicked on the link provided earlier in this thread, I saw the wire brush photos and assumed that they were file cards. It looks like some of those tools are combination wire brush / file card devices, the brush on one side and the "card" on the other side. I do, indeed, have a wire brush, not a file card.
The one thing that a file card doesn't seem to help much with is when solder is stuck on the file's surface. You can get the biggest part of it off, but its hard to get that last bit ouff with the file card. Anyone have a solution for this?
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
I have used a suede leather brush with fine brass bristles to clean the fine teeth of my hobby files. I've had this brush for years and don't know if they're still available. In any case, I would think that you'd want a brush with fairly fine bristles to clean the files that are used for hobby applications.
Would the fine tip of a hobby knife remove with solder in the teeth of a file?
Bob
mlehman The one thing that a file card doesn't seem to help much with is when solder is stuck on the file's surface. You can get the biggest part of it off, but its hard to get that last bit ouff with the file card. Anyone have a solution for this?
Hi mlehmam
This sounds like a case for the right tool for the right job.
The normal metal files are not meant for soft metals in fact they will hopelessly clog it.
There is a file for soft metals like lead aluminum etc it looks very similar to a wood rasp in that it has curved wide spaced teeth, so the soft metal doesn't' hopelessly clog the teeth
These can be cleaned out with a bit of thin copper quite easy if the teeth do clog up
Hope this helps.
regards John
charlie9 get yourself a file card. it is a special stiff wire brush type of gadget made just for cleaning files. also try the tip of a number 11 hobby knife blade for stubborn crud stuck in the grooves. chalking the file first helps prevent material from sticking so tight. just use any stick chalk you have handy. charlie
Hi charlie9
Would not use a hobby knife one slip could end with a few weeks unable to make models.
The kinfe blade is also hardend and tempered so could blunt the cutting edge on the file teeth
Thin copper is good for removing any pinning Opps sorry thats tech talk for stuborn crud caught in the file teeth.
Chalk is also good when draw filing something for a nice finish rather than roughing down to size.
I have used a wire brush in my Dremel tool, angling the brush parallel to the file grooves. Use speed step 1 or 2, any higher than this is too high an RPM for the rated speed of the wire brush and it will start flinging wire bristles everywhere. Use eye protection!
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
For my larger 6" files when I get softer metal stuck in them I use a sharp scratch awl to pick out the material. File cards work for most cleaning. Using chalk as mentioned also helps. and remember to only file in one direction.
Paul
Living in Fernley Nevada, about 30 miles east of Reno, also lived in Oregon and California, but born In Brooklyn NY and raised on Long Island NY
Bob,
Good tip on the suede brush. May be hard to locate, but I'm sure they're still out there.
Yeah, a knife tip would help with a small spot of solder, but I just finished building a brass loco and the issue is rather more extensive. I may just buy a new set of jeweler's files, these have served me well.
I suspect that the solder I'm still seeing after a good brushing is merely surface and not really a buildup. It's shiny so catches the eye, but may not really interfere much with the action of the files.
A common straight pin or sewing needle works well for getting out material stuck in a fine file. Most file cards that I have seen are too coarse to get into the grooves.
Mark
mlehman Bob, Good tip on the suede brush. May be hard to locate, but I'm sure they're still out there. Yeah, a knife tip would help with a small spot of solder, but I just finished building a brass loco and the issue is rather more extensive. I may just buy a new set of jeweler's files, these have served me well. I suspect that the solder I'm still seeing after a good brushing is merely surface and not really a buildup. It's shiny so catches the eye, but may not really interfere much with the action of the files.
Have you tried remelting the solder and using the brush while it's still molten? That seems to work with my files.
Vincent
Wants: 1. high-quality, sound equipped, SD40-2s, C636s, C30-7s, and F-units in BN. As for ones that don't cost an arm and a leg, that's out of the question....
2. An end to the limited-production and other crap that makes models harder to get and more expensive.
Vincent,
No, I haven't tried reheating the solder on the file. Might work to pick up some if used with copper desoldering braid, but wouldn't get that last little bit.
Per John's comment at the top of this page, which I failed to note earlier. Yes, using the files on solder isn't the ideal way. However, when we're talking needle files and very close work on brass details, I don't think there's anything else available. This is one case where modelers stretch the envelope of tool capabilities and sometimes we have to accept less than ideal results. As cheap as files are, if I have to sacrifice a few to building a loco, then I think of them like tiny drill bits. I hope I don't lose one in the work, but if so, that's the price of progress.