my metal files are rubbish... or am I using them wrong?

[MontyVeda]

I'm making (milling) a small metal knob out of 9mm aluminium bar using a pillar drill as a vertical lathe and some inexpensive metal files to grind it down to a conical shape with a couple of radial grooves and a round over on the end... but it's very slow going. The files are clogging up with metal which doesn't seem to want to come out of the file and using the edge of the half round files to cut (mill) the grooves in seems to remove as much material from the file as it does the aluminium bar. Being a bad workman, I'm blaming the tools, which are old, slightly rusty and unbranded and/or Wilkos own.

Any engineers out there who can recommend a decent brand?

Or any engineers out there who can give me some tips on how to stop the tiny grinds of metal clogging up the files?

Cheers

 

[Tail End Charlie]

I presume they are files for metal and I take it you are running the file back and forth as the drill turns? If you are, try putting talcum powder on the file teeth.
That said, your files probably aren't great quality, I have some Sykes Pickavant ones which I've had for donkeys years, money well spent.

 

[dicko]

As an ex centre-lathe turner why don’t you find a piece of high speed steel (HSS) and grind it like a cutting tool for a lathe? You can then press it into a file handle, or similar, and using the cutting edge of the HSS tool use it like a wood turning tool and shape your knob by hand?
By the way in the turnery we used to remark ‘a good engineer will always blames his tools’.
Best of luck.
edit, files will always clog with aluminium so get a proper wire brush and use it often.

 

[screenman]

Paraffin or paraffin wax on the file will stop it clogging up.

 

[Profpointy]

Couple of possibilities:

1 Clogging: to unclog files you need something called a "file card" which is basically a wide short haired (so to speak) fine wire brush. I imagine it's be about a fiver. Aluminium does clog up worse than many other materiels

2 Quality of file: Top makes I can vouch for the British makes Stubbs or Eclipse, Swiss Vallorbe, but probably most pukka brands will buy in decent quality - eg Bahco, Snap-on, Facom etc, though beware, not all popular brands are at all pukka

 

[MontyVeda]

thanks guys. good advice, as always

 

[DRM]

a file handle, or similar, and using the cutting edge of the HSS tool use it like a wood turning tool and shape your knob by hand?

Oooerr Missuss