How To Choose the Right File

Understanding how to choose the appropriate file sizes, shapes and styles for the work you do will help ensure high-quality, repeatable results for all your jewelry designs.
A file is a metalworking tool used to cut fine amounts of material from a workpiece. The most common file is a hand tool—a hardened steel bar with a series of sharp, parallel ridges, called teeth.
Choose a file shape that is as close a match as possible to the contour of the piece you're filing.
Files have forward-facing cutting teeth, and cut most effectively when pushed 'straight ahead' over the workpiece. 'Draw-filing' involves laying the file sideways on the work, and carefully pushing or pulling it across the work. This catches the teeth of the file sideways instead of head on, and a very fine shaving action is produced. There are also varying strokes that produce a combination of the straight-ahead stroke and the draw-filing stroke, and very fine work can be achieved in this fashion. Using a combination of strokes, and progressively finer files, a skilled operator can attain a surface that is perfectly flat with a nearly mirror-finish.
To prevent the teeth from becoming clogged as you work, tap the end of the file lightly on the bench after several strokes to dislodge chips of material from the teeth. Clean files occasionally with a file brush. To clean, hold the file at the tang end with the point of the tang resting on the work surface and rub the brush diagonally across the file.

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Choose the Right Bur-Life

Often copied but never equaled in either performance or benefits, Bur-Life® is the best available lubricant for jewelry applications. Like a coating of microscopic ball bearings, Bur-Life provides a smoother cut with far less friction and more control.
Other lubricants are repelled by heat and draw away from the cutting edge. Bur-Life is attracted by heat, so the friction and resulting heat produced by saw blades, burs, files and other cutting tools actually draws Bur-Life to the point of contact, resulting in a better finish.
With Bur-Life, your tools work faster, stay sharper and last longer.
Choose from three formulas:
• Original: Stick or bench-mount cartridges
• Paste: Specially formulated for tasks where surfaces require a complete coating
• Liquid: Penetrates to lubricate; for complex or porous surfaces that may be hard to coat.

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