How to Cut a Metal Working File
It is not very difficult to cut a metalworking file, but it is important to do so without affecting the temper. Cutting a metalworking file creates heat, which can change the structure of the metal. This will make it brittle and more likely to break during use. Keeping the metal cool throughout the cutting process will retain your file's hardness and strength. The most efficient tool to use when cutting a metalworking file is an abrasive saw.
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Things You'll Need
- Black permanent marker
- Metal coffee can full of water
- Abrasive saw blade
- Right angle grinder
- 80-grit mop disk
Instructions
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Mark your cutting lines on the file with a black permanent marker.
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2
Immerse the file in a metal coffee can full of water. Begin cutting along the black lines, using an abrasive saw blade on a 4-inch right angle grinder.
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When the water evaporates around the cut area, before the metal begins to change color, stop cutting. Wet the file again by sprinkling it with water.
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4
Continue to wet the file and cut until finished.
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5
Deburr the edges of the cut using your 80-grit mop disk on your right angle grinder.
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Tips & Warnings
Temper is "...re-heating hardened steel...or hardened cast iron to some temperature below the eutectoid temperature for the purpose of decreasing the hardness and increasing the toughness," according to the Lincoln Machine.com Glossary of Metalworking Terms. According to Jess Busskirk at Business.com, "Metal files are commonly hardened steel. The file's surface must be harder than the surface it's filing or the file and the user will both suffer wear and tear." Any change in temperature that takes the steel from its room-temperature color to any other color can change the temper, resulting in a file that is too soft for its intended use.
Always wear wrap-around eye protection at all times when cutting or grinding metal.
