So what is a good brand? And how do I know if I have an older set that
Well, Brenda and all - American files in general are pretty bunk.
Nicholson was once the best American file you could get, but they
still weren’t so great. One of the biggest issues with files is the
“pattern”. American pattern files are mill, bastard and etc. That
defines the fineness of the teeth and they don’t get very fine.
Swiss patternfiles are 00, 0, #1, #2, etc. and get quite fine - far
finer than any American file. It’s not a matter of US vs Swiss, it’s
just the name of the pattern. Even deeper than that is that needle
files use the same numbers but they are even finer than hand files.
A #2 needle file is around the cut of a #4 hand file.
I have a handful of files and rasps in the machinist cabinet for
utility work of various kinds. The only files we use, the only files
we will buy for making jewelry is Grobet.