Making a New File Guide

colu41

colu41

Joined
Dec 24, 2014
Messages
1,598
So I made a quickie file guide awhile back out of some 1/4" stainless. It worked for a few minor tasks but, it doesn't hold up too well considering its not hardened. I have a chunk of 1/4" 1084 laying around. Too small to build a knife from it so I was thinking of making a new file guide with it. Would 1084 after hardened to the max, work for a file guide? Or should I be using something a little more tough like 01 or D2 or something of that matter?
 
Col Defender said:
I made a few from 1084. Maybe not the greatest but they work well for me.
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Cool. I dont mind having to buy materials to get the job done right but, if I have something laying around, I'd like to see if it can be used first... Thanks
 
do you have a lathe or know someone or a place to et used lathe bits? someone on here made a guide a while back. Real nice job!
 
No lathe. I got the equipment to make a decent guide, just wanted to know if the steel I had would suffice.
 
I made mine glueing reclaimed lathe bits on the faces of a simple mild steel guide...works like a charm.
Care must be taken when glueing so that the bits are well square and aligned....an improvement would be a stainless frame.
 
I would think it would depend on the hardness of the files. You could always grind the side of the file smooth.

If you were gonna use it on a belt grinder you'd probably need to go the carbide route. That's what I'm gonna do at some point. There's gotta be an easy way to make a simple carbide file guide. It doesn't need to be Bruce Bump quality or anything. Anyone got plans out there or a source for relatively cheap carbide inserts? IMHO that is the ideal file guide.
 
JG Custom Metal Works said:
I would think it would depend on the hardness of the files. You could always grind the side of the file smooth.

If you were gonna use it on a belt grinder you'd probably need to go the carbide route. That's what I'm gonna do at some point. There's gotta be an easy way to make a simple carbide file guide. It doesn't need to be Bruce Bump quality or anything. Anyone got plans out there or a source for relatively cheap carbide inserts? IMHO that is the ideal file guide.
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Great idea. But no I will just be using files with it.
 
I have a mill, a lathe, and all of the ability to make one, when I started to price out cost it was way easier to just email Bruce bump, and I'm sure glad that I did. It saved me from wasting a weekend in the garage and that was more time I could use for making knives.
 
Kevin Powers said:
I have a mill, a lathe, and all of the ability to make one, when I started to price out cost it was way easier to just email Bruce bump, and I'm sure glad that I did. It saved me from wasting a weekend in the garage and that was more time I could use for making knives.
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That's how I feel about the subject too. I'd rather make knives than knife making tools. I got my file guide from Bill Behnke off of his website.
 
I made this several years ago as a mockup to test a couple of ideas. It worked surprisingly well so that I stopped chasing a steel or aluminum version.

The base material is local air-dried Red Oak some decades old. It was prepped as a single unit. Squared and drilled for guide rods and screws with the two beams temporarily glued with a piece of paper in between. The carbide strips came from MSC for about $22 back then; they carry about any spec you would want.

bV4TMtu.jpg


The screws running through the beams are captured by steel T-nuts on the backside. I managed to get the carbide inserts in plane by setting them side by side on a surface plate, buttering both strips and beams with JB Weld then setting weighted assembly to cure upside down on plate. I assumed it would be necessary to flatten afterwards but got corner-to-corner scratches within a dozen or so strokes on 120 DMT plate.

IBbjL50.jpg


Yeah it looks a little Fred Flintstone, and yeah you have to shim it if your contact areas aren't parallel but I have seen that some top quality guides (Uncle Al, Bump and Benhke) flex and will need some shimming too if they're cranked down tight on non-parallel surfaces (Nick W has a great visual on dealing with this in his "Stuck on the Metal" thread). In the end, the thing is better than I am when used thoughtfully and has served me well for some years. I use both safe-edged files and grinder against the carbide and it couldn't care less. It is maybe a little bit shiny in the wear areas, but when I clamp up a small surface ground piece of stock and go to the diamond plate, it still comes up flat with a uniform scratch pattern after several years of use. I use it for more than just shoulders and it has saved my bacon several times. Maybe not ideal, but I like making/using my own stuff and it's not even close to my biggest bottleneck as a maker.
 
I went from a cheaper guide to one made by Riverside. That difference was very noticable. I bought two from the forum here at a reasonable price.
I know this is about making your own, but the precision from Riverside has convinced me not to try making my own. If you have that skill set, then it might be worth a shot.
 
Andy - you did a GREAT job!!! Those carbide could be set in wood, or in metal either one. After all, it's the carbide that takes the brunt of filling/grinding stress. Good job! I've been planning to get some carbide strips and make a file guide, but I've got a couple of Fred's bubble jig clamps that work like a champ as a file guide.

Again Andy - GREAT JOB!!!!

Ken H>
 
Good job Andy!
I used steel and not having the carbide strips i placed 2 square carbide lathe's bit for jaw. Of course the carbide bits have an hole in the center but it is irrelevant. Needless to say it needs to glue the carbide bit with the flat face on the outside ;) The opposite face groove gives epoxy a better surface to grip btw.
The diamond plate is necessary to flatten the faces if it's needed.
 
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