As a file neophyte, what other files should I look out for?  I now know to
look out for Nicholson 49 and 50s, but did other companies make equivalent
files?  I have a large box of files I picked up at an auction for a buck
once that I've never gone through (I think I grabbed a couple out of it to
practice electrolysis on), and my father-in-law brought over about 30 files
he picked up at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago; but I don't know how to
tell the good stuff from the junk.  Some are Nicholson, most are brands I've
never heard of (Heller, Johnson, and Arcade were some of the ones I saw in
the batch from my FIL).  I didn't know they could be used for forming wood
(the few times I've tried it they quickly clog), so I'd like to know which
ones work best.

David Sawyer
Aurora, IL

PS - A 2 1/2 foot package arrived in the mail and my wife sarcasticly called
me at work to ask if they were roses.  Actually, I'm the new owner of a K8C,
Bedrock style.

----- Original Message -----
From: "The Davis'" 
Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2002 9:44 PM
Subject: RE: Files, Rasps and a Yelasijevich

> I have made it a habit of digging through file drawers at woodshop
> auctions looking for the incredible 49 and 50. They don't show up often
> but once in a while choice on the files at $1 each puts a smile on my
> face. Reminds me of the time I bought a whole shoebox full of brand new
> swissmade Rifflers for $5. "Filed" that one away in the record books.
> (Not to rain on your parade Randy. You made a good buy. Enjoy them
> babies)
>
> John
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Randy Roeder [mailto:roeder.randall@m...]
> Sent: Monday, September 16, 2002 10:07 PM
> Subject: Files, Rasps and a Yelasijevich
>
> GG's
>
> I was at the M-WTCA meet in Cosgrove, Iowa, this weekend and walked past
> a table with a quite a selection of brand new files. One was really
> huge, so I started kidding the table holder along the lines of "What in
> the heck, who would you ever use a monster file like that?
> The reply was along the lines of 'You don't use files very much...but
> I've got a really good deal for you."
>
> Before I knew what was happening, the guy is trying to sell me two
> Nicholson files for $76.00. Yeah, right--eight dollar files for five
> times what they're worth...
>
> "Here, go on try one... try one on the edge of this shelf."
>
> "No, that's ok."
>
> "Here, these are cabinet maker files, Nicholson nos. 49 and 50, the best
> around." You never tried anything like this... You can't even get 'em
> mail order for what I'm selling 'em for. Nobody here at this meeting
> knows anything from files. Look, all the points on these are staggered
> instead of in rows. You take off a lot of wood but it leaves a smooth
> finish. You start with the the 49, go to the 50, and then finish off
> with a scraper or paper."
>
> So, I'm thinking, "What the hey, I'll rub the file on the shelf, say
> some nice things, excuse myself and get on with looking for some good
> tools."
>
> So I run the file on the edge of the edge of the shelf...
>
> Can yo say epiphany? It was like nothing I ever touched a file to
> before. Nice cut, smooth finish, a feeling of control. Still,
> seventy-six bucks for a couple of files?
>
> "Let me tell ya, when I was an apprentice in the cabinet shop, my boss
> says to go out, buy a good file and bring it in the next day. So I went
> to the hardware store, spent eight bucks on a file and brought it in the
> next day. He says, you call that a file? And he throws my file against
> the wall and says you go out and get a Nicholson cabinetmaker's file."
> The were about thirty-five dollars each back then, that was a lot of
> money. Now should buy one of each of these, they'll cost you 100 bucks
> from Garret Wade. I'm only charging $76.00--I got a good source for
> files."
>
> I'm still not convinced that anyone in their right mind would pay that
> kind of money for a rasp, but I'm already sure that they're the answer
> to my prayers for flattening end grain on some white oak 4 x 4's I'm
> working with. (I hand sawed them and don't want to overshoot the edges
> with a plane when I true them and risk splitting the edges off).
>
> "Yeah, you can use them for that, but they're really shaping tools."
>
> I bought the files. I figured that the price was a bit high, but what
> the heck, I learned so much about a quality rasp in five minutes that my
> head was spinning. I appreciated the education so was willing to pay. I
> went home, played with them a bit and they're better than I even
> imagined. You don't know a rasp from a file from a horse's butt until
> you've used a quality cabinetmaker's file.
>
> So tonight I looked them up in the Woodcraft catalog... a hundred bucks,
> plus shipping for the pair. Turns out I got a good deal!
>
> You can't even call that substandard crap you get in a hardware store a
> rasp. They're nasty brutish tools fit for a slovenly knave of the lowest
> sort. And regular files -- well if you have a lifetime, you might get
> results on wood.  It was simply amazing--all because I asked a guy named
> Slav Yelasijevich why he had so many files.
>
> Randy Roeder    You need a Nicholson no. 49 and a 50-- and repaint your
> house, not old tools.
>