Full Product Manual

How a file is made
Today various kinds of material,
product finish and working
condition make file development
an industrial science. File
manufacture involves the study
of file steels, file design and
file performance for all file
applications.
1. File Steel: Is cut to proper
length from various width
thickness and cross sections
such as rectangular, square,
triangular, round and half round.
2. Rough shaping: The blank is
punched to shape or is heated
and forged with drop hammers
and rollers to shape the tang
and point.
3. Annealing: The forged
blank is heated to an elevated
temperature and then cooled
slowly under controlled
conditions to soften the steel
for tooth cutting and to make
internal steel structure uniform.
4. Final Shaping: The annealed
blanks are ground or milled to
produce a surface necessary
for the uniform formation of
the teeth. This is followed by
drawfiling that produces the
perfectly true flat or curved
surface necessary for the
uniform formation of the teeth.
5. Forming teeth: The teeth are
formed by a rapidly reciprocating
chisel that strikes successive
blows on the file. The hardened
chisel cuts into the soft blank
displacing and raising the steel
into the desired tooth structure.
6. Hardening: The file is then
hardened by heating it in a
molten bath to a predetermined
temperature. This is followed by
immersing the file in a quenching
solution. This combination
of heating and cooling under
carefully controlled conditions
brings the file to the maximum
hardness to the very top of the
cutting edges.
Introduction
Choosing the right file can be confusing, with so
many sizes, shapes and cuts available it is difficult
to decide the right one for the job.
The range of Nicholson
®
files available from
Apex Tool Group covers every job task requirement.
This booklet has been specially produced to simplify
file selection and application for any file user.
History
The file has been with man now
for many years and one of the first
recordings is in the Bible during the
reign of King Saul.
This would be approximately 1090 BC
and at that time files would have been
used for sharpening various types
of primitive tools. From the first files
the development and evolution can
be traced from stone implements to
files with teeth running at right angles
across the file blank to present day
quality machine produced files.
The first attempt to cut files by
machine was approximately 1490
AD and resulted from an invention
by Leonardo da Vinci. However the
first machine which actually cut files
was that made by the Frenchman,
Chopitel in 1750.
At this time files were made from
mild material and did not require
annealing. To produce a hardened
surface various preparations were
used to carburize the file teeth. But
it was the inventions of such men as
Bernot, Nicholson, Whipple and Weed
that provided machines capable of
producing better files than those
produced by hand.
2
3
7. Finishing: The file is
cleaned and sharpened by
bead blasting. The tang is
reheated to give strength
without brittleness. It is then
given a series of tests by
trained inspectors, and oiled
to prevent rust.