Keller Die Filer - 1972

[Chipper5783]

Anyone with stories to tell of finding / using a die filer? I recently picked up this Keller Model 1A at auction. The top slide needs to be free’d up, everything else seems to be fine (even came with a reasonable selection of the proper files, + a few conventional files cut off / ground to fit).

Do you have a machine of this type? What have you done with it lately?

Regards, David

 

[Scruffy]

I've got one. I'll try and take a pic tomorrow and post it and the story of how it came to be mine.
Thanks scruffy

 

[george wilson]

I have a bunch of machine files that I am too stingy to use!

Most of my filing machine work has been done with a 6" Nicholson half round bastard file with the tang ground off,and the other end ground to fit in my Butterfly's chuck. now that Nicholsons are Mexican,and soft as butter,I don't know where to buy new ones. I only hope they get their problems straightened out. I can't use their new files. The old files will easily file the new ones!

The die filer is a great machine whose use is very valuable,saving a lot of time,and enabling very accurate,dead square work.

As I have said before,they all run way too fast,which wears out the files,and leads to pinched fingers. I put a variable speed 1/2 HP motor on mine,and it is totally more pleasant to use. We had women working in my wife's jewelry shop who were afraid to use the die filer. Slowed down,they love to use it. My fingers used to get pinched pretty often,when the fast moving file would tip the work up,and slam it back down. My Butterfly doesn't have hold down fingers. Even if it did,we tend to do work too small to allow hold down fingers to work.

I have 3 die filers. One is a beautiful Duplex Die Filer. A very elaborate unit that must have been very expensive. It has tables above and below the file chuck. You can file down into holes in work that do not go clear through,preventing the use of ordinary filers. It is more fussy to set up than the Butterfly,so I use the Butterfly 99% of the time. Plus,I haven't gotten a variable speed motor for the Duplex yet. It's motor is INSIDE the casting of the body,and a lot more trouble to access. My chronic tiredness keeps me from doing some things.

 

[chips&more]

I have one regular sized. I guess you would call it that. One smaller with a #2 Morse drive that you can stick into say a wood lathe head stock. And a very small one that attaches to a watchmakers lathe. I use the regular sized one 99% of the time. And the very small one on a blue moon. The filer in my shop is indispensable. One example is, I don’t have CNC, so doing fretwork in metal in my shop is with the filer…Dave.

 

[Scruffy]

Finally got out to the shop and took a couple of pictures of the die filler. Here's how I became to be the owner.
A couple of years ago I was reading the classifieds of one of the machining forums and ran into a listing for a 16 in cinn shaper. At the end of the listing , free to a good home. Well it was only 1 hr away ,so the wife and I go to check this story out and here it is.
The person wanting it gone was the grand son of the original owner, who had raised him . The grand father had somehow lovingly put this 16 in cinn back geared shaper in the basement of the house!! Yep, 4000 lb shaper in the basement.
Grandson wanted to be sure it wasn't going to be scrapped. I assured him of that. While in the process oh removing the shaper he asked if I would like to have this die filler. I'd never seen one but of course I said yes
So shaper, die filler, a factory lathe cabinet and other misc. made the trip to my place .

Scruffy. I learn something every time I come to this site thanks to all
Almost for got the red tag under Illinois tool works tag is the war finish tag. And yes it runs to fast,needs slowed down