Filing a metal block to true squareness

[FOMOGO]

Pick up a pair of corduroy pants at a used clothing store.

And if you can find and old pair of elephant bells, you will never run out of material. For you young whipper snappers, that was a fashion statement from the late 60,s early 70's. Mike

 

[Tozguy]

Right on Mike, might as well look cool while keeping our tools clean.

 

[Silverbullet]

In my first week of vokie our shop teacher gave us the task to do just that . A power Johnson horizontal band saw was available to cut the rough square and a vertical bandsaw. Then only files n vise n micrometer of course . All corners n centers within .001 finish added to grade . If 14 yr old ***** hunters can do it I think you can. Of course that was 45 yrs ago.

 

[Silverbullet]

I use a 6 inch long piece of 1/2 inch soft copper pipe, because I had no chopsticks. I smashed one end flat for the file, cobbled up a broomstick handle for my end. In no time at all, the copper is cut to fit the grooves between the file teeth, (running parallel to the teeth), and will push stuff out of there that will amaze you. Follow with the chalk, and you are ready to go. ( Good tip on chalk and humidity. Glad I DON'T have humidity, sometimes)

I was taught to use a piece of brass to clean files , the brass gets grooved to match the teeth by pushing the chips out . Chalk helps lube the file from what my old teachers preached. Never let files lie against another file too.

 

[Koi]

Back when my mentor wanted me to do this, I used a piece of glass, sandpaper, and a 123 block to get the 90 degree angles.

Oh glass they are quite flat after sanding on it i placed my workpiece on part of the engineer square that is flat and no light went through.

 

[Koi]

Btw guys i read a comment on youtube the other day and a comment said that a flat has a crowned side and hollow and he also said tha use the crowned to achieve flatness.

 

[Koi]

Although this is not about getting things square but would like to show what i did during lockdown sanding a steel cube to parellel .First decide on a masted edge and then file and sand it .The finishing was sanded though i could have filed it but i realise my files are big and coarse only a fine double cut file was in my tool box but was too big for the pararrel work.Resulting with a deviation of 0.05 near one side if the edge .I could go even further with the tolerance but ive left my insize 0.02 vernier caliper in my dorm so i used my dads kernin vernier caliper that could only read up to 0.05 only.Im not done with it though still got sidez to square up if can make it even parallel first and then the square .

 

[Winegrower]

If you hate to file things, like I do, you might look for a die filer. I found a Butterfly filer awhile ago and man, that is a great tool. I found a machine file collection on eBay of 17 files, various shapes and coarseness, at about $10 per file. I can also use a cutoff hacksaw blade for a metal bandsaw substitute. It’s easy to do very precise work because you can see the file and a scribe line at the same time, and the file stays completely perpendicular to the table.

It’s turned around my whole poor attitude toward filing, maybe not completely 180 degrees, but at least 160 degrees.

 

[C-Bag]

More than anything I think this exercise is teaching appreciation. Appreciation of those who did precision work without machines so you could make the precision machines to do precision work. Foundational appreciation is not always taught because it's easy to get by without it. We have gotten used to using technology without an appreciation of what it takes to make it and the underlying knowledge of how precision makes it function. Why would you when everything is based upon a disposable world where speed of production is the goal not craftsmanship.

Koi I have to say working that small would drive me crazy because it would be hard to hold onto. I learned the hard way when I trued up a stone I was using to remove burrs the friction would tend to make the leading edge of the work dig in and I'd end up with a domed center. I used sandpaper that was sticky backed, stuck to a small granite plate to do the final finish on the parts I was doing. I had to get used to removing material very slowly. Trading speed for precision. I would be tempted to make a fixture with rollers that would hold the work and help keep the leading edge from digging in.

 

[Buffalo21]

I probably could not buy a “flat“ 1” cube, much less file it