Overheard a young helper ask why we even bother with hand files anymore

Was working a shutdown in Baton Rouge two weeks ago and this kid fresh out of the hall asked my buddy why we still carry hand files when angle grinders do the job faster. Took me back to when I started in '04 and an old journeyman made me file every single lug for a week straight before he let me touch a grinder. I get where the kid is coming from but there's stuff a file catches that a grinder just blows past. You guys still keep a file in your kit or am I just old school?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_elliot1mo ago

Kid's gonna learn real quick when he has to get into a tight spot where a grinder won't fit and he's left standing there like a deer in headlights. Nothing like watching someone crank a bolt down with an impact gun on a lug that still has a burr from the last guy's grinder and wondering why it keeps coming loose. Hand files don't lie, they just show you what you missed. Maybe I'm just old and bitter but I'd rather spend an extra minute with a file than chase a leak or a stripped thread later.

morgan_bailey9329d ago

Harbor Freight sell a 10 piece Nicholson file set for like 30 bucks and it'll outlast half the power tools in your box if you treat them right. I've seen @the_elliot mention this before and honestly he's spot on about the burr issue - you hit one lug with an impact and that burr flattens out, then the next guy thinks he's torquing to spec but really the threads are just binding up. Ngl the other thing people forget is how files let you feel the metal as you work it, you can sense when you hit a hard spot or when the material is gummy and about to tear. Tbh I think half the stripped fasteners I come across are from people using grinders where a file would have done the job cleaner in the first place.