Full Product Manual

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rakers clear the cut. This is filed
at an angle of 45° from the filer.
This permits access to cutters and
enables the teeth to be filed at the
correct angle.
Teeth should be checked
for levelness, the raker teeth
being between 1/100"/25mm to
1/64"/.4mm below level of cutting
teeth. The filer should use a
Crosscut Saw file or a Mill file and
file all cutter teeth to a point. The
saw is placed vertically and the
file used across the rakers. Should
the gullets of the teeth require
deepening, a Round file or a Mill
file with round edge can be used,
or use the back of the Crosscut file.
There are many tools and
implements in industry, agriculture
and gardening that require regular
sharpening. Such tools may be
filed towards or away from the
edge, the former for the early part
of the task and the latter for the
light finishing touches. For coarse
steel cutting edges for hoes,
ploughs etc., Home and Garden
files, as well as Axe and Handy
files are available. For harder
carbon steels in cutter knives,
shears etc., the Second Cut or
Smooth Mill provides a sure, but
smoother bite. It is essential that
the work glaze be removed in the
first few strokes, so apply extra
pressure in very slow, deliberate
strokes at the beginning.
Rasps
Rasps are broadly classified
as wood, cabinet and horse
Rasps. Also available are rasp
combinations known as Four-in-
Hand (or Shoe Rasp) and Wood
Craft Rasp.
The Wood Rasp is a coarser cut
than the Cabinet Rasp and
Sharpening tools and implements
is made primarily for the rapid
removal of stock. For finer
woodwork, the Cabinet Rasp
provides a means of bringing
mortise-and-tenon joints to a
proper fit. The Horse Rasp is used
for shoeing horses. The Plater's
Rasp is available for light hooves
such as racehorses.
Woodchuck
Woodchuck rasp is a chisel / rasp
combination tool used for a variety
of wood working tasks. Each tool
features a flat wood rasp on one
side and a half-round wood rasp on
the other. There are edge teeth for
those hard to get spots. The chisel
point features an extremely sharp,
polished and ground blade.
Care of the file
The teeth of the file should be
protected when the file is not in use
by hanging it in a rack or keeping it
in a drawer with wooden divisions.
Files should always be kept
clear of water or grease, since
this impairs the filing action. It is
advisable to wrap the file in a cloth
for protection when it is carried in
a toolbox.
The file teeth should be kept clean
at all times by using a file card, or a
wire file brush, to clear the grooves
between the teeth.
Safety
For safety reasons, a file should
never be used without a tight
fitting handle. Serious accidents
can result if the handle becomes
detached exposing the sharp
point of the tang.
Apex Tool Group offers a variety
of different size file handles
produced in traditional wood, or
from modern plastics. If you need
help in selecting which handle is
right for your file, contact your Apex
Tool Group Customer Service
Representative today.