Thought hand files were slow, then a 1912 chart on tooth count proved me wrong

Diana Webb · 2026-10-17T16:05:04.498326+00:00

I always figured rasps were the beginner tool and files were for people with patience. Then a retiring smith in Cleveland showed me a reprint of an old Nicholson pamphlet from 1912, and the numbers stopped me cold. A good double cut file cuts on both the push and the pull, so over a 10 inch stroke you get twice the contact a rasp gives you at the same pressure. He had me time it on a piece of mild steel: 14 minutes with the file, 22 with the rasp, same finish. I had been reaching for the wrong tool for two years. What else am I missing that I learned wrong at the start? Any other old shop manuals worth tracking down?

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Thought hand files were slow, then a 1912 chart on tooth count proved me wrong | Blacksmiths - Babble Community