Vile, 
324 
make the best file steel, but their high price would be 
—v—" objectionable for heavy articles. 
he steel intended for files is more highly converted 
than for other pu on ive the files proper hard- 
ness. It should, however, recollected, that if he 
hardness is not accompanied with a certain d of 
tenacity, the teeth of the file break, and do but little 
service, 
Small files are mostly made of cast steel, which would 
be the best for all others, if it were not for its higher 
price. It is much harder than the blistered steel, and 
from having been in the fluid state, is entirely free 
from those seams and loose so common to blister- 
ed steel, which is not sounder than as it came from the 
iron forge before conversion, 
The smith’s rubbers are generally forged in the com- 
mon smith’s forge, from the converted bars, which are, 
for convenience, made square in the iron before they 
come into this country. The files of lesser. size ‘are 
made from bars or rods, drawn down from the blistered 
bars and the cast ingots, and known by the name of 
tilted steel. = 
The file maker's forge consists of large bellows, with 
coak as fuel. The anvil block, particularly at Sheftield, 
is oo re stone of millstone girt.. This anvil is of 
consi le size, set into and wedged fast in the stone. 
The anvil has a projection.at one end, with a hole to 
contain a edged tool for cutting the files from 
the rods, It contains a deep groove for contain- 
ing dies or bosses for giving particular forms to the files, 
‘Phe flat and square files are formed entirely by the 
hammer. One man holds the hot bar, and strikes with 
a small hammer. Another stands before the anvil with 
a two-handed hammer, The latter is generally ve 
heavy, with a broad face for the large files. They both 
‘strike with such truth as to make the surface smooth 
and flat, without what is called hand-hammering. This 
arises from their great experience in the same kind of 
‘work, The expedition arising from the same cause is 
Process of 
wunealing. 
not less remarkable. 
The halfround files are made in a boss fastened into 
the groove above-mentioned. The steel being drawn 
out, is laid upon the rounded recess, and hammered 
till it fills the die. 
The three-sided files are formed similarly in a boss, 
the recess of which consists of two sides, with the 
le downwards. The steel is first drawn out square, 
then placed in the boss with an angle downwards, 
so that the hammer forms one side, and the boss two. 
The round files are formed by a swage similar to those 
used by common smiths, but a little conical. 
- |The whole of the working part of the file is formed 
-and finished, with the hammer before it is cut off from 
the tang of a 
er. This 
upwards in the anvil; a 
side where the com- 
mences. It is then to the front of the 
anvil, and, by an acquired dexterity, the is drawn 
by without touching a Poa with ar er. 
n order to cutting, uire 
to have the siaiecotan ectly mata me as 
even as possible. he state, however, in which the 
files leave the hammer, is too hard for the dressing and 
cutting. The first thing to be done, therefore, after 
‘ration for 
FIL E. 
ness peels off. This scale, however, is very hardy and 
is removed but with difficulty. This last is not the 
greatest evil attending this process ; the surface of the 
ous, that, by the oxidation e hich takes place, the part 
which has to form the teeth of the file will be much 
impaired by the abstraction of its carbon. Hence it 
will forcibly strike any one, that steel, particularly in 
this instance, should be annealed in close vessels, to 
exclude the oxygen. This has been accomplished to a 
partial extent by some manufacturers, but still requires 
more minute attention. The annealing should be per- 
formed in troughs of fire-stone or fire-brick, similar to 
the cavities in which steel is converted, having the 
flame of a furnace playing on every side, and over the. 
top. The trough should be filled with alternate strata 
of the files to be annealed, and coal-ashes, or the dust 
of the coaks, formed in the forge-hearth. The upper 
stratum of files should be covered with a thick stratum 
of the dust, and lastly with a mixture of clay and sand. 
The heat should be kept up no longer than till the mass 
will become red hot, quite through. The whole must 
now be suffered to cool. When the files are with- 
‘drawn, instead. of being scaled ‘as in the old method, 
7 will exhibit a m 
will be much softer than by the common : 
It should be here observed, that the mass to be 
ed should not be more than one foot in thickness, as it 
‘would be so long in heating and cooling, that the me- 
tal would put on the ejeatiion form, under which it is 
too brittle to form a cutting edge. nif 
We have before observed, that the steel. 
conversion for files. ‘This will evidently become unne- 
cessary with this mode of annealing. The surface of 
the files, which is the principal part, will become con- 
verted in an extra degree, by using more carbon in the 
annealing, and thus make steel, of common conyer« 
sion, ciently hard for files. > 
The next is the 
lic surface, and the substance - 
? “ave aT 
s r 
spe) pe HiAcpamen ; 
ex 
orm 
time or other accomplished. ~ ’ bi 
In the present state of the file manufacture, the larger 
files must be prepared on the present plan, and must 
