Yup , It's me !
I am filing this for the future ( Pun Intended ).
How many do you have ?How big are they ? Now this is important . You do NOT need wood working files UNLESS You are shaping solid wood objects .
I have probably eight different types for finishing .They are about seven inches long without handles ( I don't need no handles ! ) I have three different sets of finishing or riffler files .
These are neat EXCEPT you need to check them well when you buy them . Some of the round ones and some of the triangular ones have a twist which renders them less than useful
As most modelers know , these come in a variety of shapes and types .Coarse and fine ,curved and flat .Oval and tapered . The hard part for most of us is impaction . That is when there's so much material trapped in the teeth they don't work . Here's a tip .
For the big files ( normal sizes ) use a file Card .They are available even at Harbor Freight ! For the small ones there is a brass and a stainles wire brush available .They look like tooth brushes made by cave-men .The wires are fine which makes cleaning the finer toothed riffler types a breeze .
Occassionaly I do this .You have heard of mindless builds ? Well ,here's a time user take a number 11 blade , and carefully clean out each groove in all your files. Big and small .This ensures a longer life .Remember there's no place we can take them to be re-sharpened .
Never hammer with them and don't press to hard with them, they will snap in two , yes , even the big ones will ! Caring for them is important .Every once in a great while , clean them well and wipe them down with mineral oil and remove all the oil you can with a rag . The first couple of swipes may require cleaning the surface of sticky remnants .That's okay .At least five or six years down the line they won't be rusty !
Keep them lying flat on a resiliant surface .I lay mine on a mineral oil soaked piece of cardboard on a shop rag in a drawer . The little ones go in a wooden block I drilled for them or in they're case, if they came with one . T.B.