Simonds SIM73151500 Mill Bastard File 14" American

The Simonds SIM73151500 is a mill bastard file, American pattern, 14 inches.

At 14 inches this is a long mill file, and length on a file is about geometry rather than reach.

A file cuts across its entire length in a single stroke. That means a long file spans the high and low points of a surface together and cuts the high ones down — it bridges. A short file drops into every hollow it crosses and removes material there too, following the surface it was supposed to correct. Anyone who has tried to file something flat with a short file has met this and blamed their technique.

So a long file is the flat file. The length is what makes it accurate.

That matters especially on a mill file, because mill files are used for draw filing — held crosswise across the work and pushed along it — which is the technique for producing a genuinely flat, fine surface by hand. A 14 inch file draw-files a wide surface in one pass where a short one cannot.

Mill files are single cut: continuous parallel ridges, no crosshatch, producing a smooth surface and a keen edge.

Bastard is the coarse grade.

Mill files taper in width toward the point, which is how to identify one.

Fit a handle before use. The tang is a bare spike.

Brand

Simonds

SKU

SIM73151500

Category

Hand Tools

Weight

1.08 lbs

Dimensions

14.00 x 1.25 x 0.31

Price

$28.95

Availability

Call for pricing

Rating

4.14 / 5.0