Hand Files and Their Handles??

Gallery, Projects and General > How do I??

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Jonny:
There are plenty of wealthy people about and if your good enough you don't need to tout or advertise for work.
Plus theres certain things a cnc can never do like it or not without even mentioning the hand made aspect which he should charge cnc prices and laugh all the way to the bank.
End product takes same amount of time!

S. Heslop:
I think it's all about presentation. The people with money to spare pay more attention when you suggest there's some romantic higher plane to making stuff. I've seen things where it's done subtly, like a photo of the item being assembled on a table surrounded by dividers and Leonardo DaVinci style blueprints, or showing videos of the item being machined from odd angles that obscure what's actually happening. Which all makes the process very ethereal and mysterious.

People seem to love anything ethereal and mysterious, and i've got no idea why.

vtsteam:
Files can do amazing things in the hands of a person dedicated to doing amazing things with the simplest tools.

mosey:
I had the pleasure some years ago of watching a couple of elder gentlemen in the Ithaca Gun Company custom department making shotguns from a billet of steel, the fitting done almost entirely by filing, although there was some obvious drilling, etc., involved. There was virtually no milling or other machining done to the receivers, and then they were hand engraved and inlayed. I think they sold for $12,000 - $20,000 at the time (1960's). These were coveted by the rich guys, and the wait was 6 mos to two years for one.
Now, they are made in Sandusky Ohio on a CNC center, and they boast that they are more precisely made than their historic ones. Maybe, but which would you prefer?
Mosey

S. Heslop:

--- Quote from: mosey on September 08, 2013, 10:40:57 AM ---I had the pleasure some years ago of watching a couple of elder gentlemen in the Ithaca Gun Company custom department making shotguns from a billet of steel, the fitting done almost entirely by filing, although there was some obvious drilling, etc., involved. There was virtually no milling or other machining done to the receivers, and then they were hand engraved and inlayed. I think they sold for $12,000 - $20,000 at the time (1960's). These were coveted by the rich guys, and the wait was 6 mos to two years for one.
Now, they are made in Sandusky Ohio on a CNC center, and they boast that they are more precisely made than their historic ones. Maybe, but which would you prefer?
Mosey

--- End quote ---

Assuming their claim of being more precisely made is true, i'd go for that one.

I can understand being proud of something you'd made yourself, but I'm not sure if I really get the appeal of paying for somebody else to do the extra effort on your behalf if it doesn't lead to a better product.

I also find it odd when people assume hand tools are automatically superior to machines. You don't see much of it here, but on some corners of the internet that attidue is wildly out of control. I've seen newbies to woodworking get suckered into buying high end hand planes and pull saws before they even own a drill, and have even fell pratfall of something similar myself. So I think it's worth trying to keep rational about the pros and cons of these things.

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