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Hi All!

It's been a while, but I am back! Not that any of you really missed me, haha. I was previously working in a theatre scene shop at my college up until recently, and since most of what we built was made out of wood, files and rasps (not very good ones, though) were available. At my new location, I have two round files, some rusty double cut bastards, and some very coarse rasps, far from an ideal set of tools. Thus, I have begun my quest to obtain some decent hand tools.

I've looked at all the threads containing "Iwasaki" and found heaps of information. Basically, it seems like McMaster Carr's aluminum file and extra fine iwasaki are pretty good for stems. Iwasakis can do a great deal of stummel shaping as well. Pillar Files and a nut seating bolt are good for the mouthpiece, as is a crossing file. Pippin/round files for stem junctions. Steve Norse's slot saw is good for the v-cut. It quickly adds up, but I've been covering some weekend lab shifts, so I feel like I can treat myself a bit without going too overboard...

The Iwasaki files seemed the most unique to me because they shave instead of creating dust. This is where my question comes in: If using a normal rasp, it doesn't seem like it's important to use it in the direction of the grain, since it is essentially creating micro-gouges/scraping. However, with the Iwasaki, it creates small shavings, so you have to follow the grain. If the grain is traveling upwards on a bowl of a billiard, for example, this means that you should use the file along the height of the bowl (longitudinal), and not horizontally (latitudinal) around the waist of the bowl. However, what if I find myself needing to move across the grain to remove a bit of material? Eg: the bowl is too fat all the way around and I want to reduce its circumference by going around the bowl instead of up-and-down motions. Does something absolutely terrible happen if you don't follow the grain? Would you just use a different file/rasp if you want to shave off some material against the grain?

I hope that made sense, but if comes across as gibberish, please let me know. Thanks again for any and all opinions!

Also, I am back in Chicago, and I fully intend on going to the Chicago Pipe Show, if I don't get sent abroad for work.

ALL files have a directionality with regard to grain, and the rougher the cut on the file, the more apparent it will be. If you cut with the wood where you are perpendicular or down-cutting you'll get smoother resutlts than if you are on endgrain or cutting 'up grain'. Iwasakis (and other sharp files - most of the jeweler's quality files leave a similar surface) remove material real fast and leave a pretty good finish, but wood is wood, put it that way. If you have to work against grain, you go to a finer and finer tool.

I tend to not use my iwasaki files much anymore because of how quickly they cut. I just use a combination of pillar, pippin, and round files for pretty much all my file work. I find the iwasaki to be useful only in the fine cut as the medium is too aggressive for me. But as far as grain direction, it does matter with regards to tearout. And as Sasquatch says, it's regardless of the file. With a #2 I get minimal tearout. With a #0 or #00 I get tearout on briar (and even worse on morta) so I tend to like using sanding discs or rolled sandpaper over files to avoid tearout.

Thanks for the feedback Sas and Jeremiah. The relationship between directionality and fineness of the tool makes sense. And yeah, briar IS wood. I somehow keep "forgetting" that and somehow making it an exception to the rule because of how hard it is. Clearly you can tell that my most used woods must be 1x4's, 2X4's, and plywood, and fine woodworking, apart from several pipes, is not something I have much experience with, haha.

This is also a good reminder that I should go slow with tool acquisition, lest I acquire redundant pieces of equipment.

Alex

Naw, buy all the tools. You definitely need them all.

The McMaster Carr's aluminum file and Iwasaki 3mm round file are my go to's. The directional pattern can matter depending on what you want to do, or you can just adapt to the patterns.

PremalChheda wrote:The McMaster Carr's aluminum file and Iwasaki 3mm round file are my go to's. The directional pattern can matter depending on what you want to do, or you can just adapt to the patterns.

I second the 3mm round Iwasaki. Depending on where on the file you are using you can get a fine or a more aggressive cut. If I had to choose a single tool to shape am entire stummel, that would be it (by an easy margin).

Aaaaaaah, this doesn't help with decision-making! Haha, I suppose I will get a smattering/sample platter of tools, then. Thanks you all, I will let you guys know what I decide on.

Alex

I ended up purchasing:
Vallorbe 6-0 Crossing
Vallorbe 6-1 Pillar
Iwasaki 3mm round extra fine
Respirator + p100 cartridges (no dust collection system, but I should be working in the garage or outside usually).

I'll wait a bit and see if that nut-seating file is imperative.

I'll see how these tools work out for me in conjunction with the vicious rasps I found in the toolkit. Thanks again for all the help!

Alex

I actually find that I use files much less now than previously. Beltsander and discs do most of the job, and faster than files.
The files are just for defining. The 3 I use most: an overly large but wide, rough file (for getting flat surfaces), a very fine file (for getting the scratches out left by the rough file, called a "farmer's friend" over here) and a chainsaw file.

The Aluminum file Premal mentioned is great for shapping stems!!!