Iwasaki Files

[DocAitch]

I purchased a couple of Iwasaki files a gew years ago when some guys on a wood working site were rhapsodizing about them.
In the interim, I found them to be not very usedul for anything that I tried in terms of wood working. They seemed to catch and snag on anything I tried them on.
A couple of days ago, after reading the thread here about acrylic v. ebonite, I dug them out to try with my stem holding rig on my lathe.
To my very pleasant surprise, they work like a champ to remove material, either acrylic or ebonote.
The secret is to push without much down ward pressure.
The most useful is a flat isoceles shaped one called a fine float for which I paid >$50.( which also looks like a piece of junk)
These things cut better than the vulcrylic files on acrylic.
DocAitch

[caskwith]

I found them too be too aggressive for Polyester unfortunately, fast removal of material though.

[sandahlpipe]

I used to use iwasaki files, but now I just use a bastard file for rough shaping stems. I tend to agree with the assessment that they don’t work great for woodworking. Very limited use and require a lot of practice


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[W.Pastuch]

I love them with my whole heart! Both for ebonite and briar, you just need to get used to them. I almost wouldn't know how to make a pipe without them (I'm talking about the small ones with red rubber handles, the big ones are really difficult to use but dulling them just a little bit by filing some steel works well if one finds them too aggressive).

[pipeguy]

check these out i feel there the best Ive ever used(So does Eltang)http://www.tomefeteira.com/produtos.html