Making Files by Hand

[@davidramey7186]

No no no no no don’t end there MORE! Need more!! I’m going to your channel now I really hope the rest of this video is available. He said he will tell more about that later

[@MichaelKingsfordGray]

The channel "Clickspring" has the entire process, by a young guy trying to determine how the Antikythera mechanism was made.

[@wm.traynor1143]

@@MichaelKingsfordGray Thank you very much😊

[@purvel]

@@MichaelKingsfordGray It would still be valuable if Ken's method was publically available!

[@mondriaa]

@@purvel its, check the page and scroll down

[@Colintherabbit]

Part way through this video, he tell how the files were cut and tempered: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i4W7na2ZotCEnJI

[@738polarbear]

The knowledge and skill this old bloke is passing down is gold ,pure gold,

[@Psylent]

He didn't pass down anything the video just randomly ends before he even starts

[@steb430]

but not here?

[@Psylent]

@ I don't understand your comment. Sorry. I feel like this video is incomplete . The old man was obviously about to tell us how files were traditionally made. And then the video abruptly ends. We learned a few small pieces of information. But I want to see the rest of the video. I want to see him make a file.

[@steb430]

@@Psylent Well it's like this......

[@KillingDeadThings]

@@Psylent Same.

[@faramund9865]

Finally a PROPER medieval anvil! I've seen these ALL over medieval depictions. Log of oak with a block of iron/steel in it. Interesting to see it made it all the way up to the 20th century!

[@TeddyBear-ii4yc]

With the steel block embedded in horse sxxt no less! :-)

[@EddieTheH]

​​@@darinmullins4770 Phew! Someone who knows how years work!

[@spockspock]

Imagine having 300 pounds of steel back then.

[@Alienalloy]

these are the gems i look for on youtube.

[@raymondyee3313]

Im 78 now and when I stepped into the trade my first full year was spent learning to file. In this age of CNCs it may seem ridiculous but after that year you had a beginning knowledge of what makes tools cut. THANK YOU for the video.

[@CrimeVid]

Yes indeed, at school you'd have had hours of being taught to file in metalwork, even on the lathe. We had to produce a sliding bevel, finished to there and back again by filing.

[@rolandjaeger7310]

I’ve used files in a CNC shop more often than you’d think

[@patmaloney5735]

I am 40. And i agree. My fsther of 80 experienced more true skill than ill ever know.

[@webertheo5448]

your work is amazing, sharing knowledge before it is lost is important

[@Bwup]

i actually just started using files for restoring old tools! these things are exceptional and timelessly useful! great video

[@ronaldbrown9638]

Cheers from Texas. I just cut my first file it was very rewarding and cuts wonderful. I still have alot to learn but the ability to cut your own files is a great tool to have in the old tool box. Thank you for sharing your craft.

[@woozhi9218]

How do you prevent warping is it a 100 percent unavoidable

[@AlexGage-yd7pw]

Wow, this has to be the coolest video ive come across on KZbin. Thank you for sharing this

[@joemammy6802]

awsome, im a steel worker of 27 years and wood working has been a hobby since i was a kid im 43 now and still use hand files at work and at home

[@dinner85]

What a wonderful man. A true pillar to crafts. Thank you for sharing.

[@MayorofDipshittery-lq7if]

Learning to use a file as a young lad opened my eyes to the craft. I spent months learning how to use all types of file in the correct way. It’s a dark art to do “properly”.

[@brycerudland8067]

It would please you to know that I use files almost on a daily basis as a power engineer / knife maker. Definitely at the top of my list for most useful tools ever invented

[@Yeetomato]

Used in copperplate printmaking as well to file down the edges so they don't rip the paper when it's going through the press

[@Thr33-Quarters]

Power engineer / knife maker lol... I thought I heard them all 😂

[@bashkillszombies]

Thank you for preserving this content. Ken Hawley is a great artisan, and this historical perspective on a tool so truly underestimated is valuable to us all.

[@nageshkapoor9837]

Uncle is very lucidly explaining the process of getting to make a iron file and even a rookie can understand and embark upon making a file! He must be a master craftsman and he must have made many handcrafted files! He loves his craft! He should share his knowledge and experience and I bow before him in reverence!

[@Gouws-n2n]

Ja ja ja. ❤

[@nikolaservis]

As kid i hang out with this real oldschool guys,tricks from ww2 and real old cars repairs was so fun

[@maxijazz1002]

Very important to keep this knowledge present. Many thanks grandpa.

[@jeanlawson9133]

I have always enbraced my favorite file's.... Without them I would have not made it this far in life.. You Sir are indeed an awesome Gentleman..

[@slappy8941]

It's just "files", because apostrophes don't make words plural, Einstein.

[@hendrikdebruin4012]

@@slappy8941 Now now play nicely. We are all different yet the same. What we need is sharing of knowledge without snobbery.

[@boozoochavis7506]

Thanks so much for posting this video, is wonderful! Looking at the skill and tools involved is like taking the tardis back 1000 years in time!!

[@oscrates]

I grew up with old guys like this, you learn endlessly from master craftsman. If you can ever learn one skill, learn how to learn, these guys will tell ya first hand it’s amazing what you can do when you go for it. I just picked up learning wicker chairs and cane chairs, definitely a dying trade but you learn alot about how you can make other things in the process of picking up a old trade

[@jordanpierrevelcin3916]

Thank you Mr Hawley for sharing your knowledge, i watched at the comments and many people, including me, would love to see your chisel skills at making a file.

[@seanshields86]

God bless this man. I make my own files too hand-stiched files.

[@wildnfree223]

All tools come down to the ol hammer and chisel much love ans respect from Alberta Canada

[@maximusmeridius1240]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge, we should never forget the past.

[@abucket14]

I have a stump anvil ive made for myself, after seeing this i think i might add some straps because that arrangement to hold everything tight against the anvil while i work would have been useful for a couple of my past projects. Thank you for helping me learn something new today.

[@Paul_SD]

I can imagine having a pint and listening to this chap + Fred Dibnah chatting about all of the things within their fantastic knowledge - might take a few years 🤔😎❤️

[@mack8488]

Ahh friendly fred...what a caracter..😊 same sound and accent....calms you down when stressed

[@erfut]

I can't thank enough for this video. Thank You

[@craigcurtis2961]

Incredible hand craftsmanship! Thanks for demonstrating old world skills. Working with fresh horse manure and exposed lead to make files, in the kitchen, while also cooking dinner? The, umm, good old days... :-)

[@jozefbubez6116]

Most interesting! There is much more that can be hand-made than people these days imagine! Keep up the good work!

[@Sleepyjackable]

Passing knowledge down to the younger generations through the use of modern technology; this is why the internet is great! Thank you so much for the information. I'll be trying to make some of my own files soon. Hopefully enough of my generation, millennials, will learn these disappearing crafts and trades to pass them on and keep long running human traditions alive!

[@tjlambaes]

Files are honestly one of my favorite tools. I have a drawer full of them.

[@kurtlanford1448]

Awesome video sir , thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@AuBjorn]

Thank you for documenting important history

[@thomasbeckett1245]

I made files on our farm, when I needed one for a specific special purpose. Home made files are new , and sharp, and work especially better. Understandably how things are made makes it easy.

[@brt-jn7kg]

if you don't think I wouldn't like to work with this man for a year straight just to hear his stories and the story of his life you're smoking crack!

[@Curtis1984]

I love when good people share their knowledge.

[@josipgrmoja8890]

0:00 0:00

[@lawrencelamb9601]

Thank you so much for sharing this. I feel it's very important to keep these techniques alive lest they be lost. There are still times when this will be valuable. I myself have had a need for some special files. Perhaps now I might have a go at it.

[@gustavoalmeida624]

Exquisite videos, loving them all.

[@bonecircuit]

beautiful tools and experience

[@lukexr125]

Thank you for this video, i like to use hand tools and never knew how files were made or that they were made that long ago. I always file my work edges, being a fabricator

[@West-Virginia-Man]

Pay close attention and learn folks, because when the world is sent back to the stone age, info like this will be priceless.

[@bjorker40]

Love these very educational video of things of the past!

[@jackslagle2019]

Amazing thank you sir. Hello from Alaska.

[@davidwinship1146]

In the early 1980’s I was a corporate engineer with Cooper Industries in Houston. They had a hand tool division HQ in Raleigh NC that included Nicholson file mfg operation in Cullman, AL and another in Mexico City, MX. I visited both facilities. The production operations were largely just mechanized steps seen here. As I recall, bar stock (1095 annealed steel) were stamped into blanks that were fed to a station that included an automated stamping operation using hardened chisels that repeatedly hammered the blank, creating the tooth pattern, blanks were then heat treated and the teeth were ground to sharpen and level the cutting edges. The files en conveyed vertically to a molten salt bath where only the tang dipped into the hot salt to re-anneal (soften) it so it would not snap in service. The process was mechanized, but not really automated. The Cullman operation was closed around 2010 and I doubt that any of the hand tool operations are still in the US. I used to have an assortment of Cooper hand tools in the garage. Most all have been replaced by ac power tools and then battery powered ones. Technology moves on.

[@rickvia8435]

As many times I've used files I've never, ever, ever thought how they are made.

[@fredfloyd68]

One brilliant fellow!!!

[@tmplblck]

Files are still very much used so I assume he means hand cut files. Rasps and files cut by hand are supposed to give you an exceptional finish due to the minute irregularities of the hand wrought process.

[@WanJae42]

I thought it was a weird comment, too. He explains more in the next video on the channel, but still doesn't make a lot of sense. Everyone I know who works with their hands has at least one general purpose file, and I see them used frequently to sharpen a lawn mower blade or chainsaw, or to clean up the edge of sheetmetal after cutting. I suppose a long time ago, they were just used far, far more than today.

[@The-Real-Bader-Blade]

It breaks my heart that it's taken me 8 years to find this.

[@markuslebt]

a file can make countless other iron instruments and tools. thats while a file is an essential in every serious workshop.

[@MrRahimhosein]

Why did it cut off at the end

[@doglegjake6788]

Those men were true pioneers

[@patrickvanasbroeck303]

Fascinating, thank you for sharing.

[@johnsamu]

Many of those old crafts are obsolete in the modern world but are still very interesting to watch.

[@Hunterfinn625]

Fantastic video.

[@andymsmith]

Thank you for the great video on making files.

[@classydays43]

Man I love my files. I use them to make keys and clock wheels if I need them, or if I want to clean some small steel for any other project. Part of the reason why people don't like them, I think, is likely that most people use them improperly. They are a very precise tool and can bring an intimacy to the material that machines don't really achieve.

[@starcrunch9774]

Interesting. Thanks for posting this snippet! I would love to see the whole process.

[@KenHawleyCollectionTrust]

Take a look at our most recent video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i4W7na2ZotCEnJI

[@calchemist21]

Thank you for your knowledge and wisdom 💙

[@SparrowStockwell]

How interesting. We enjoyed this.

[@131latas]

Thank you very much for the knowledge received. C.S Portugal

[@petercastles5978]

Ashley Isles in an article spoke about Blacksmiths using horse manure under their anvils. He didn't mention using it wet!! Those tiny points that mean so much. God bless the women of old working to provide. Amazing.

[@Mark-wx7vp]

Absolutely amazing !!! 😁

[@roverp4driver]

Very interesting to see the clip and learn of the museum. I had heard of Ken years ago when I was researching family history. Hawley is not the most common name and I come from a long line of blacksmiths. My father broke the mould and became a gas fitter. My grand father made and repaired stonemason's tools and I am told he produced all the stonemasons tools for Tower Bridge. I wonder of Ken was part of a branch of the family?

[@woozhi9218]

How do you prevent warping when quenching files would thicker material prevent warping i know you should plunge and cooling it evenly (i know some files arent straight to file a certain spot for flatness but now i want to use the files own flatness to file a flat.

[@eegaugh]

Fascinating and another use for horse manure! Why was the steel facing on the anvil required in view of the lead ed?

[@wendellsmith1349]

How did I miss these videos??? Wow..

[@davidramey7186]

KZbin come on! You should’ve recommended this years ago!

[@dkeith45]

This is very interesting, I've often wondered how files were made by hand. I also wonder what the process is for making rasps. I have a friend who is a farrier, and he insists there must be a way to sharpen a rasp even though I keep telling him there's not. I'd like to show him a video of how they are made, and that might convince him.

[@bobvines00]

I've never tried it, but I've read that files (and rasps?) can be "sharpened" by etching with acid or similar. I'll have to try on one of my old worn out files to see though.

[@dkeith45]

@@bobvines00 I would suspect that would only clean the file really well, maybe removing all the crud in the teeth?

[@temhawpin]

Search KZbin for Auriou Rasps there’s footage of how they are made using the old hand “stitching” method with a hammer and small punch known as a barleycorn. One way I have seen how to sharpen files and rasps is to immerse them in a strong acid for a length of time, the acid erodes away the dulled edges of the cutting teeth but it’s not a panacea to a brand new tool. Files and rasps are ultimately consumables. That’s why in the past they were usually sold by the dozen or half dozen.

[@sckirbyc1]

This fella is sharp as a tack for his age

[@mplsmark222]

In my trade, we use hand files in a variety of shapes and sizes daily. Rasps, mill bastard, bastard, rat tail ect. I’d be lost without my files. My favorite brand is Grobet, Swiss made, high quality.

[@ctprjcstv3998]

some ancient tool makers are better than modern commercial factories

[@CactusGuru]

this is awesome

[@SpongeBob-yk9oo]

This is what the internet should be about.

[@wyrdwildman1689]

Thank you for preserving this for posterity.

[@WTU208]

It is such a shame that these skills are in danger of being lost. Nothing today is designed for longevity, but to be thrown away and replaced.

[@scottward1611]

The disposable society we live in affects our relationships with all nouns. Persons, places, things are ideas. All become disposable. Just like most everyone has a relationship with a verb. Whether you like to run, jump, kick, or throw. You will develop relationships with people who also enjoy those verbs, people are more loyal to relationships based on verbs than nouns. It used to not be that way. 150 years ago the average person had long lasting relationships with people, their boots were made to be repaired along with almost everything else. When you shorten the durational expectations of the things in your life it affects your relationship with all nouns. If you don't expect one noun form to be repairable you stop expecting all forms of nouns to be repairable. That's why divorce is so common. There is a dramatic shortening of all our durational expectations for every noun form.

[@suzyrottencrotch5132]

Egyptiins

[@davestevenson5365]

How long have you used a modern file before throwing it away heh

[@notbobrosss3670]

At very least, he is recording the process for posterity. Thank you, sir, for leaving this record for the future.

[@akbarrezai3297]

همه چی به هم ربط دارد جامعه جهانی همهجااینطور شده خیلی از هنرها نابود و درحال نابودی است

[@WYTW1DOW3R]

I love the old cut open shoe heel used to hold the hammer. I always tell my wife that I was born in the wrong century. I love making things by hand. Knives and leather holsters, sheaths, etc. Products now are all disposable junk. I like to make things that will last.

[@tomjjackson21]

This video is grateful as to why the internet exists. Just think, 100 years ago this man could have taken his knowledge with him to the grave. Thank god we live in a day of age where a lifetime of information is accessible at a click. As I'm typing this the video ends... Like wth?!

[@lifewiththerockykrag9536]

Being in the gunsmithing trade, files are very useful, especially if you don't have machining equipment. " Flat and square mate". Cheers

[@wryanddry2266]

I wonder what Ken Hawley would say about his video being cut off like this.

[@MeMe-qr3go]

I actually use files frequently. I've got some old stubs Sheffield files that seem to outlast the modern ones several times over. It's harder to find really good files these days. Bahco are pretty good consistently but expensive. There's a shop in Glasgow that sells good quality files they import themselves. A lot cheaper than buying a handled file out of a diy shop. File handles are sadly getting harder to source as well. But you know, even in a world where angle grinder is king, files still have an important role to play.

[@markbenn1907]

This is amazing

[@shawnm3839]

Working on making my own. I don't have any horse manure, can human or dog manure work?

[@monikabrukner2219]

Where ist the end of the video ?😮😮

[@bigears4014]

I use files all the time

[@paulclairethomas1344]

I had the opportunity to visit Firth Brown in Sheffield when I was juvenile and had a tour of the works. I watched the manufacturing of files using pneumatic stamping machines and was extremely noisy. Unfortunately none were made by 'hand'.

[@jonschick]

My old German mentor taught me how to file decades ago, I thought I already knew how. I thought! He taught me how to hold the file properly, how to determine which side to use, how to properly dress a brand new file, how to stand, how to get a good finish, how to store the file…. Nobody knows that anymore.

[@leeknivek]

I'm sure a video would be well appreciated by many, I know I've actually spent some time searching for exactly that, however most of the results for "file storage" were .... filing cabinets, or the cloud, so it's unusually difficult to find any relevant information on metal files!

[@biposto749]

I saw the last Harley’s tool shop in Sheffield

[@MathewPaul-g4x]

Cool, very cool Sir...

[@colinclenton7693]

How about showing how the file is made, like the caption said. You showed the set up. Now show us the process.

[@redtobertshateshandles]

The chisel puts cuts into the annealed iron. Then the file is hardened again.

[@ionuti2658]

m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/i4W7na2ZotCEnJI

[@Drakon332x]

The guy died in 2014 so I don't think he really can.

[@Ecktor]

Ngl, I kinda love these og making processes. Everything gets automated and you lose the intuitive notion of how tinkered and specialized all those methods were... The machine makes all the turns and twists in, like, .1 seconds, and as a result you have ever so slightly more taken for granted... I saw a guy saying “I’ll make a toaster from scratch”; he failed. He couldn’t handle making plastic and then it just broke after barely functional at all. Toaster took a lot of trial and error, research and generations of manufacturing to become what they are today. Just remember, we stand on the shoulders of giants. It’s probably reasonable to feel some gratitude to it. Imagine being in the past, getting cut on the shin and having no preconception of things like antibiotics. You put random ointments in it, you hide the would, ignore it, go about your life for a week, get a fever and collapse. Gratitude goes hand-in-hand with humility. Cheerios, fam.

[@kerch-e]

Good man. You did right.

[@lourias]

I surely wanted to see each step of the process to the final hardened and tempered file. Why? Because I bought a rasp from a big box store. The first stroke of the rasp curled the teeth over like the banana peel. It was not hardened!

[@piotrlenarczyk5803]

Thank you for video.

[@ianviljoen9036]

Fresh horse manure use nr 101: File cutting anvil bedding 1:51

[@JuanMotime-yz5pp]

I hope some young people have watched this.

[@konrad7086]

I did!

[@adimeshort]

Thanks- I’m looking to make some files

[@joeypierantonis7576]

They don't use files anymore? What has replaced it? Diamond? I use one almost everyday.

[@bushratbeachbum]

I've seen a few of these but none where he actually cuts teeth, is there one?

[@r1273m]

Yes, I just watched this one by Ken Hawley, he actually shows how the teeth are cut. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bYmlnn2ondR-Z8k

[@MrBradfordchild]

Files are still used , I used one today!