Drafting shop in Phoenix got me with a dirty file set last week

I picked up a used set of files from a shop going under near downtown Phoenix last Tuesday. They looked fine on the shelf but the teeth were packed with aluminum from their last job. Tried to use a 12-inch bastard file on a steel plate and it just skidded across like glass. Cost me an hour of fiddling before I finally cleaned them with a wire brush and some solvent. Anyone else run into tools that look clean but are actually wrecked underneath?

3 comments

3 Comments

kimw5712d ago

Damn, mark_chen62 nailed it. Tbh, if you're buying used files you gotta give em the fingernail test right there in the shop. Scrape a nail across the teeth, and if it glides smooth instead of catching, that's packed junk hiding under a shiny coat. I've had aluminum-loaded files that looked brand new from five feet away but were basically useless till I soaked em in mineral spirits and hit em with a brass brush. Lesson learned, but at least you didn't pay full retail for the headache.

ramirez.vera12d ago

Can you file your own teeth? Asking for a friend.

mark_chen6212d ago

Looked fine on the shelf" is the whole trick though - you should've run a thumb across those teeth before buying, aluminum loads up files in a very telltale way. Honestly sounds like you got a perfectly good set of files that just needed a quick cleaning, that's on you for not checking closer.