Making files the old fashion way

[barryvabeach]

This is a pretty neat video,  actually just one part of a series.  In this section, he makes a file from mild steel by hand, the old fashioned way - and by old fashion,  I mean   at the time the  Antikythera was made https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOw9WqMOHjA  

The method to set the distance between the teeth was pretty neat.

The next segment was on case hardening, and I thought that was pretty cool.

[hbmcc]

Neat! The old Greeks were amazingly learned. More-so than modern people allowed them. They developed (refined) modern day system of proportions.

You can see the same process in cutting handmade rasps. Liogier has videos showing their stitching process.

[Arch_E]

Thanks for the link. 

That was a really interesting video (and informative).

[Phil Thien]

That was fantastic, thanks for sharing.

[colibas]

I'm feelings slow this morning. How does the procedure for spacing the cuts work? I saw him strike the blank once with the chisel, then it looked like he registered the chisel in the first cut. But when he struck it, the chisel didn't go deeper into the first cut. Rather it made a new cut just a little ahead. That's where I'm confused. And curious. What am I missing?

Very cool video and project. I was amazed by the simplicity of the fixture used to flatten the file blank. 

Sean

[hbmcc]

The 'chisel' is pushed against the sidewall (embankment) created by the previous strike and trench. How is that for butchering and lack of proper terminology?

You should watch them flatten a block of steel with hammer and chisel.

[colibas]

Right, that makes sense. Thanks.

[Bruce Haugen]

That was really interesting. I have a couple questions, though, that I didn't see answered.  First, did he harden the file after cutting it?  If not, how did it cut anything?  I also really liked the vise thingy.

[barryvabeach]

Bruce, yes he case hardens the file after it is done, that is in the next video in the series, IIRC.  It is actually pretty cool, he packs it with a simple mixture of common materials, then encases it is a clay which he seals shut to keep out oxygen, then hardens it, and when it comes to temperature, he breaks the clay enclosure and dips the file in oil.   

Sean, that was what I wondered also, then saw, he just brings it up to the burr raised by the last cut - what a simple method, though of course it only allows for one spacing of teeth.  He puts some oil on the stock so the chisel will slide easily till it comes to the burr.