a question about Bastard Files.

i've been on a tool sharpening obsession lately. so bastard files. why do so many people use them without the handle? isnt is safer with the handle? or do handles fall off and simply never get replaced?

i just bought a new 12" bastard file, and i'm contemplating the buying the handles.

what gives?

on a side note..a USA made bastard file is a rare bird. i bought then last Nicholson at my local hardware joint. the rest are from overseas..or mexico.

 

Not that I have looked very hard, but I have never found a handle that would stay on a file. Never had a serious accident with a file without a handle.

 

i prefer them with no handles. 9 times out of 10, you dont need to push hard enough to warrant having a handle and they make the file bigger therfore harder to get into certain places. i vote no handle

 

Either or. Personal preference honestly. The best handles I found were actually a screw type that bit into the bastard handle a bit. Works awesome.

 

I've seen golf balls used with great success. Just drill a hole and stick the file in. I usually don't use a handle with large 10" files but I do with smaller 6" files for more control.

 

Are you guys able to get anything real sharp with a file? I never can I usually use a dremel then a diamond sharpener for my equipment.
Kind of off topic but figured best place for this question

 

Only thing I sharpen with a file is my axe. I get that nice and sharp. Never bothered trying to sharpen a good knife with one, but I guess it could work if you kept the angles correct.

 

I just like that the files take up less room without handles

 

I got one not too long ago that instead of a thin point to put a handle on, it has an oval shape stamped out of the metal on the end making a pseudo 'handle'.

 

as a machinist i always use a handle. ive seen someone using a bastard file on a lathe and caught the tip on the chuck jaws and it lauched toward he leg.

 

thanks for the insight!!

my bastard file is used for broadhead sharpening..and axe sharpening. one is best without a handle and one best with.

i just bought a handle and tapped it on yesterday. figured with the broadheads, i just put the handle hanging off the table.

thanks. cutting a knuckle on a axe edge seems very un-fun.

 

Lawn mower blade. Got it so sharp it'd shave the skin on my thumb pad easy.

 

like everything else, it takes practice. i found an old axe in my garage and i got it super sharp. it had nicks and chunks taken out of the edge. i could get it sharper, but it is very very sharp now. it will slice paper clean.

you have to watch the heat you put into a blade using mechanical tools. i worry about affecting the temper of steel. filing is very therapeutic!

 

i am digging the files with handles. i can put a pretty fine hone on an axe. hair popping sharp if i pull out a waterstone. man scary sharp.

the handles gives me a bit of safe zone from the edge.