Metal Filing Techniques for Filing A Knife Spine or Other Blacksmithing Projects

In this video, I show metal filing techniques that could be used for filing a knife spine or all sorts of other blacksmithing projects, like a hammer, tomahawk, etc. I show you how to file metal using two types of files: a 1/8" round rats tail file of a course grade, and a fine triangular shape file.
In the techniques I show, I do cold filing instead of hot filing. If you are wondering, "why use files?" then take a look at the effect that metal filing can achieve. If you do metalworking of any sort, these metal filing methods will help you produce beautiful ornamental accents to projects you are already making.
Notes about the process. You will want to file the metal on the edge, and space it out for desired effect. Keep the file marks even. Lock your piece in the vice where it is handiest to work. If you are selling your wares, ornamentation like this could be the difference between a $50 item and a $150 item.
If you are interested in other types of ornamentation for blacksmith projects, check out this video on doing chased roping: • How to Chase Metal Rop...
If you'd like to visit my youtube homepage, you can do so at / christcenteredironworks .
At my website you will find resources for blacksmiths as well as power hammer plans at www.blacksmithpdfs.com .
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12" Bastard Cut File amzn.to/2s5skas
Chainsaw File amzn.to/2sqRhKF
8" Half Round File amzn.to/2sCHjFgLarge Round Bastard Cut File amzn.to/2rwU6dh
Filing and Etching a Wrought Iron Hammer: • Filing and Etching Wro...
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[@rogueandvagabondrabbit5837]

Actually, the only constructive criticism I would add that would be 100% true is that you shouldn’t even waste your time addressing your detractors. When you do that, you’re giving them relevance they don’t deserve. As you pointed out, most of them don’t do anything, anyway. Cool video.

[@shane4176]

Thanks for your time, I'ma give it a shot

[@edgarmiears5992]

You do a great job of showing the pattern. I am a beginner to file work and you describe very well. Thank you.

[@ChristCenteredIronworks]

Thanks for watching!

[@mattstanzil3072]

Thanks for the tips. I do a lot of grinding work for my knives as is and this will give it a cool flair and take them to the next step. Keep it up an thanks again.

[@fishingingermany6977]

Nice one, still working on my first few knife attempts, and good way to make them at least more decorative without having to buy more tools.

[@WarpedLegacy]

Great tutorial man! I like being able to see these processes. Keep up the great stuff. Define Your Legacy!

[@ChristCenteredIronworks]

Warped Legacy Thank you! and I will keep defining my legacy! God bless

[@myshoplifejmjones1256]

Big fan of Tom , worked a few days with him years ago, great vid . Doing some edge filling right now.

[@Miiiitch88]

Layout dye would be better than a marker (if available). You should also measure accurately where you want to file before hand. Start with a triangle file because it wont slide down your work when you first start the cut. Also scribe lines on the top and sides as guides for depth.

[@kenbtheman]

Well said, and use some good quality files.

[@phillipsheldon5663]

Thanks for the great rant on the keyboard warriors and the wonderful instruction on file work. I believe that you told me what I was doing wrong so I can better myself and my work on my blades. As a disabled veteran that has started a new journey in life in the form of bladesmithing. Safe journeys, Doc

[@ChristCenteredIronworks]

Hey Doc, Glad you found the video helpful. I've some some similar videos on filing, just released a vid on filing tips with a list of files i keep on hand in the description. Thanks for watching!

[@zomb1ek1ller5]

Well hot digity! I seen that on a few knives and really wondered how it was done and had some ideas about it but now that ive seen it ill deffinetly mess around and try it forsure.

[@chris.b4459]

Thanks , I appreciate your time , you taught me something new today that I will use on make my knives.

[@AndrewDBGaming]

Thank you for this mate. Only just starting out doing this beautiful hobby and really want to give something like this a go and your tutorial is very informative for beginners. Legend.

[@The_Wandering_Woodster]

Keep the new stuff coming...your channel gets better and better

[@ChristCenteredIronworks]

Hi Stephen, thanks for the encouragement! I've got lots of big plans for the future... I'm sticking with KZbin for the long haul

[@Jasoncohenour]

Nice demo. You’re doing a great job sharing w us. Don’t waste good O2 talking about trolls.

[@Cutlersdragons]

Thank you for the video. These helps me as a new guy wanting to start learning this.

[@msblades5382]

great video and very helpful for the people that have never tried it and would like to.good job explaining ,Sincerely, Martin Moldovan at M/S Blacksmithing and Blades

[@ChristCenteredIronworks]

Shan Moldovan Thank you for your encouragement! I like doing these types of videos. Hopefully I will be able to keep on kicking them out daily for you guys and gals! God bless

[@chuckbowie5833]

Incredibly helpful

[@ReadyUpGo]

I’m no expert, but I know what I like. You’re doing a great job. You pay attention to what we’re viewing, you allow imperfection to remain and become a source for teaching and I feel like you are sharing your learning experience as much as offering what you’ve already learned. Maybe allow some quiet time here and there as you go along…just an idea. New subscriber.

[@WardSmith-th2fc]

Thanks for the tips

[@michaelgold8997]

Thank you

[@michaelhayes1678]

Love it! Great vid, and the "black magic" marker was a great addition. :D

[@djecpamba]

Enjoying the video, only Better if I were there.

[@wesshoebridge4461]

Ty i thought this file work would be this simple keep doing u my next knife will way better thanks to u

[@beastlyironworks8296]

Once again brother you have put out a video, that is exactly what I'm looking for. That simple little design has got my head reeling with new ideas to on my customers new Bush knife. And for the love of God brother don't waste another minute of your precious time worrying about the trolls that are on the internet they don't deserve your time nor your thoughts. Keep up the good work and the great videos.

[@kylerunyan5950]

Do you do these before or after the heat treating? I know its easier to do beforehand but does heat treating mess up the work?

[@WardSmith-th2fc]

Nice

[@gregoryarbuckle624]

Thank you nice video

[@arokiasamyanthony5371]

Tq friend

[@TheRedhawke]

Great tutorial. From an old guys perspective, don't even waste your good energy on negative type people. If they don't add to the equation how are they helping anyone further themselves? I'm 58 years old and refurbishing an old knife for my son, that I wanted to do the lock bar on similar to what you did in this video. You helped me, so to heck with those so called trolls. Keep on keeping on with your productive beautiful life sir.

[@anonymousbosch9265]

I have a Regenyei great sword that needs some character on the unsharpened lower 1/3 of the 51” blade and it’s a Spanish/Portuguese Spada Duo Mani and I’m thinking a vine file work pattern and a 20 second dip in the ferochloric acid solution will finish it nicely. Great video showing that this file work isn’t prohibitively daunting

[@patrikklopf476]

Thank you very mutch share your skills. It's absolutely right what u say about trolls :)

[@ChristCenteredIronworks]

And thank you for taking the time to watch the video hope it helped God bless

[@Baldmanblades]

I would like to try this on a straight razor I collect them would the hardened steel be a problem also filing the spine do you think it would mess up my bevel Of course I practice on a beat up razor

[@gwaaiedenshaw8310]

Barry Hammond you can do it on your razor. You'd just have to change up your technique a bit. Regular file won't cut your spine. But you can get diamond files. Or even a diamond rotary tool for similar effect.

[@grayem76]

nice work mate would love to see some finished work that you have spent time on to see how amazing the work can be to put a big price tag on but i can see its easy if your o.c.d. im a hack at best

[@ChristCenteredIronworks]

grayem pepper thanks for the great comment! I will see if I can get some photos of some more of my work in the next decorative video I release :-) Thanks for watching God bless

[@jeremynading2006]

one thing you might try when doing your demonstrations like this is use a darker background with a light source and camera angle that is more straight on or even take the piece out of the vise and move it around as to capture different reflective views and light angles

[@ChristCenteredIronworks]

+Jeremy Nading thank you very much for your advice! It might be hard for me to find a nice black backdrop or dark backdrop but I may give that a shot in one of my upcoming videos and see how it turns out. Thank you so much for the feedback. I'm glad you enjoyed the video God bless you and have a great weekend!

[@jeremynading2006]

You're very welcome. Something that might be cheap and easy is some plain black construction paper or something like along those lines that won't cause a glare or contrast. Something that might even be better and more readily accessible would be an old T-shirt or shop rag.

[@ChristCenteredIronworks]

+Jeremy Nading you're very right! I think I was overthinking it a little bit LOL. I do believe I have an old black t-shirt that may work! Thanks once again for the great ideals now just to put them in practice next time I'm in the shop :-)

[@jeremynading2006]

Don't feel bad I do it all the time. Like when I was trying to build my son a four wheeler I tried to get way to technical and went as far as wiring in a plug for a trailer that didn't even exist and everything when all he wanted the machine for was to cruise around the property and maybe up in the mountains. It didn't need to be anything fancy or anything and when I first started on it I was taking forever just to get the idea on paper then I had one of those face-palm moments and threw out the "blue prints" and just went to town letting my hands run wild and it only took about 5 days to get it done after that.

[@jpknives5195]

I know this is old but what if you are doing hardened steel what files would you recommend

[@c4dan]

trolls got ya, pay them no mind. keep doing the videos, they help some of us

[@Zogg1281]

Sweet video. I was going to suggest chainsaw files and now I can't 😥😋 oh well. The thing I wouldn't suggest is not using black Sharpe gor demos, it likes shadows way to much and makes it harder to see what you're doing. Blue or red dykem (I'd guess that Sharpe would work too) work as they don't blend into anything else in your shop (e.g. the vice) or into shadows. I hope this helps for the future 😊

[@telmobrandao5062]

How do you glue the scales, without getting the jimping full of glue? Loved the video, keep them coming.

[@ChristCenteredIronworks]

+Telmo Brandao I wish I could help you out with your question but I'm not a Knife Guy so I wouldn't really know :-) this was just a technique that I've used in the past on springs for lock work

[@lazar2175]

You either mask it off using vaseline or you use black glue and glue over it and then sand,so it gives nice contrast

[@nosaltiesandrooshere7488]

👍 = there is nothing left to say! Everything perfect!

[@redbear_70]

Appreciate the video man. Haters gonna hate cause they have no lives of their own lol. Not like they were forced to watch!

[@gregwise5324]

Thanks Roy For Another Great Video! Just Wondering If "Dykem" Layout Fluid,/Dye Would Work As Well? I Have Some, & Tried it & It Worked Quite Well For Me, Although I Don't Have Near As Much Experience As You. It's Just What I Had, So I Used It. Also The Only Small Round File I already Had Was A Chainsaw File & It Has A Fairly Fine Cut. Once Again , That's What I Had, So I Used It. It Worked, Although I Can't Tell If As Well As A Course Cut , Because I Don't Have One To Compare It With.All I Can Say Is, It Worked For Me.,As For Trolls, They Live Under Bridges, Don't They?? Thanks Again! Keep The Videos Coming...

[@jerrythomas463]

The plus to chainsaw files is they are not tapered. They are the same width all the way up.

[@ChristCenteredIronworks]

Very true and great observation

[@fieroboom]

I've never done this before, but it looks like maybe you could mark your spacing, then hit it with some small chisel marks for your file to follow so it would be more evenly spaced...? I'm just getting into smithing, but that's my newbie's idea 😂🤣

[@jusme8060]

Ta ta today junior

[@dienowplease3565]

Here is an advice. Don't mention trolls ever and just ignore them. No reaction no fun for them.

[@Danielson1818]

Lol. I'm such an idiot! I just bought a set of files a couple months ago. I made 1 attempt to do a little pattern on the spine of my knife, and it didn't cut it at all. I forgot to put it in a vice! Duh! I don't know why I thought I could just hold the knife in my hand.

[@williambland3201]

Good job. thank you. Backwoods Blacksmith.

[@ChristCenteredIronworks]

Thank you for the words of encouragement!

[@nofunclub]

DFTT

[@ChristCenteredIronworks]

+DrNo Nofunclub ???

[@nofunclub]

Christ Centered Ironworks hehe Don't Feed The Trolls ;D

[@ChristCenteredIronworks]

+DrNo Nofunclub lol ahh now I get it

[@eduardoelxamako]

Más fue lo que hablaste que lo que hiciste

[@leswindon8301]

Measure first

[@adolf3967]

INSTEAD OF RANTING ABOUT TROLLS....SPEND MORE TIME ON INSTRUCTION....ITS OVBIOUS THEY GOT TO YOU....

[@varun009]

Don't bother with armchair bladesmiths, man. I don't believe in God but I'll share something that my born again uncle used to tell himself: "Repent but never apologise." Awesome video, can't wait for another one on different patterns.

[@markbentz8940]

critics,,,are just jealous of your skills .....n wish they could do it!!!

[@xrenox1]

Watched several videos from you and most have been great but this one was a disappointment. The information was informative I guess but executed poorly. Guess the information stands on it's own and was good information. Would not recommend to anyone to mark the steel black and not do any measurement markings so it comes out so unlevel as it did in the end. Otherwise the technique was there and plenty to learn, just ignore the freehand pattern.

[@andreasburger6588]

M. Mm nun

[@whoswho156]

did you really just move the camera and make baby noises while showing a bunch of men how to file metal LOL

[@rayleder3705]

Ummmm ummmm ummmmm