Reddit mentions: The best hand files

Cleaning the frets is easy enough. Just put a little masking tape on each side of the fret to protect the fretboard, and get a bit of fine grit sandpaper. If it is just a little bit of tarnish then something between 1000 and 2000 grit sandpaper run across the top of the frets will shine them right up. If the frets have some minor divots in them then it will likely be fine with just the polish with the sandpaper. If they have some more prominent dents then you are looking at either a full fret level or at least running over them with a crowning file in order to restore the shape before polishing them up. If it the more serious work and you are interested in learning you could try getting something like this and doing it yourself (FYI there are a ton of good youtube videos that explain what to do such as on this channel). It takes a bit of practice, but it isn't really that hard. I do my own fret dressings and, while it is tedious to do right, it isn't really that difficult to do. You just need the right tools, a steady hand and a decent amount of patience. If you have a bunch of guitars, it can actually be beneficial down the road as fret work from a good tech/luthier ain't cheap.

As for stripping the finish.. Fenders use a Poly finish which is a bitch to get off (and the Mexicans are usually a pretty thick finish at that)... though I'm sure you could find something at a hardware store to strip it or you can use heat (just be very careful with this one). Taking it to a pro would probably cost a good chunk of change if you want it fully refinished, but it can't hurt to get an estimate.

Either way enjoy the project and best of luck again!

link 1 - the notches are overkill, it's the straight edge you want because you're aligning the frets not the fretboard. Amazon has an 18" steel ruler that should work fine https://www.amazon.com/Westcott-Stainless-Steel-Office-Inches/dp/B000093IJ1/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483315326&sr=8-1&keywords=18%27+ruler

link 2 That's overkill as well, you'll end up using just one or two of the files. I don't like the fret guards because it's more efficient to tape all the frets at one time than it is to tape up the guard 22 times. If you want to round the fret ends this file is similar to one I've used and will work fine. Just make sure the edge of the file doesn't saw the fretboard https://www.amazon.com/Nicholson-Triangular-Ergonomic-American-Pattern/dp/B001R1UZII/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1483315923&sr=8-12&keywords=triangular+file

link 3 - That's fine, there's another one $1 cheaper. They're basically all stamped out in China, and do the same as the $25 Stew Mac one. https://www.amazon.com/Pixnor-String-Action-Ruler-Guitar/dp/B01HM8SNHY/ref=sr_1_3?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1483316161&sr=1-3&keywords=String+Action+Gauge

Your choices are fine, but I'm a cheap dude. And while you're in the ordering mood, you might get a set of automotive feeler gauges. This is what you can use with the ruler to set the amount of relief the neck should have. https://www.amazon.com/OEMTOOLS-25025-Blade-Master-Feeler/dp/B000BYGIR4/ref=pd_sim_267_16?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=BA62DPTD81NDZKM36V6C

More on neck relief from Fender's web site: http://www2.fender.com/experience/tech-talk/how-to-measure-neck-relief/

If you wanna learn how to work on your own guitars, Frets.com is a great resource, here's their link on neck relief and buzz diagnosis http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier/Technique/Setup/BuzzDiagnosis/Relief/relief.html

Good luck!

If I had your budget and no files, I would get THIS and [THIS]
(http://www.amazon.com/DMT-FFC-Diafold-Diamond-Folding/dp/B00004WFU2/ref=sr_1_8?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1371593748&sr=1-8&keywords=diamond+files) or I would shop around some more for the best diamond files for the best price. Of course your choice of Nicholson files is a good one too. I like Diamond for abrading metal and, well, any damn material I feel like.

Harbor freight also carries diamond lapping plates with a coarse 180 grit plate. Like everything from HF it needs to be fixed before you can use it though.

I've been doing my coarse work with a Lansky Extra-Coarse Diamond Hone that I mounted to a handle and I have no regrets about that. It chews through everything and even though it has been used for well over 300 hours since I bought it, the diamonds seem to still all be intact.

Allright, here goes.

What I would do is aim for [something roughly this shape](https://i.imgur.com/gwSfsSJ.jpg]

What I'd do is cut according to this sort of plan and use an anglegrinder with cut-off disc to chop the tang out (marked in red), then use a dremel (Marked in blue) for the fine cuts. I would then round off the shoulder of the blade with a round chainsaw file to remove the risk of stress raisers.

Once there, I'd use a Warding File to file in the little notch step down at the bottom of the tang, from a rough squared-out cut , to become a round circle along its length. That's going to become your Pein, when the whole thing is assembled.
I'd then put that pein part in a flame - ideally a blue gas flame, wrapping the blade in a damp cloth to ensure its not getting hot. you'll ideally want to get that part glowing red-hot. What that'll do is completely blow the temper on that part of the tang, so its no longer hardened at all. that'll let you pein it over later.

Then I'll take two pieces of steel, curved into arcs and I'll clamp them down, and start to drill the centre - that will depend on the blade of course, but what you want in effect is a slot, for your since its from a blade that's probably going to be a () shape, or maybe even a <> shape.

you'll use that warding file to slowly widen the drilling, taking it from two holes side by side into a rectangle, then widening it and shaping it to match the blade cross-section. Once that's done, repeat on the second one, to sit on the other end of the tang. For it, you will probably want to use a small 4-inch square-cut file to get that to fit. You want to use a square so that the pommel end guard doesnt swivel around at all.

that's then topped off with a little pein block which serves a double purpose - it makes it easier to repair if it ever has a problem (just file it off and put a new, smaller block on) and, as that part of the tang was filed round, you just need a drill to make a round hole, instead of a rectangular hole. (also a small pein is easier to do - just clamp in a vise and hammer over like a rivet. Having softened the metal by getting it glowing red earlier, you can probably do this part cold, so no torches needed.)

lastly, I'd then make a two-piece wooden grip, the bread around the tang in a sandwich, in effect, out of beech or similar hardwood (though poplar should do for that, and its easy to carve out the slot for the tang in.

I'd make that a bit thinner than you expect it to be - over-bulky grips are a common mistake - Glue it together, and wrap it in fine cord with hide glue and then I would follow this fantastic tutorial guide from Peter Johnsson to wrap a section of fine vegetable-tanned leather round it, wrap that in cord, and have a beautiful leather hilt at the end.

More or less, the bevel is the angled part of the edge, seen here. Search "beveling jig" for some tips on how to build a jig to get really clean bevels.

Do you have files? It's pretty much impossible to get a really good looking knife without a nice big flat bastard file, like this. That one is double-cut, which means that it will hog off a lot of metal very quickly. You can also buy a single cut file, like this one. I CANNOT stress enough how useful hand files are in shaping a knife. Once you have the knife to the desired shape using the file, then you should start at about 150 grit, to 240 grit, 320, then 400 and 600. A good set of sandpaper is here. You can certainly go higher and even polish it, but I like to leave it at 600 or 800. Sanding does take a while, but should not take 40 hours as someone else in this thread suggested.

Of course, if you have a belt sander, do most of your shaping there using 40 or 80 grit belts on that. Still, I like to refine the shape with a file before moving up in grits. Let me know if you have any questions.

I carry a file (like this).. it grinds off these spurs easily and is pretty small to keep in my bag. I like my rims smooth.. I twirl the discs in my hand pretty often when getting ready to shoot and it bothers me if a disc cuts me.

You'd be better off just ordering files on Amazon. I use a 14" Pferd Chip Breaking file and it works great. It leaves some pretty deep scratches, though; next time I believe I'll switch to a bastard file when I start getting closer. You won't be able to make the blade actually look good (unless you don't care) unless you finish it by hand sanding.

The blue coloring is layout dye, but you probably don't really need that.

You can get a cheap small vise for $5-10 at a flea market. I got a really nice old vise for $25 at a tool swap meet and it wasn't the old one. If you have a tool swap in your area it's worth going to. On CL it seems everybody thinks an old vise is worth $200.

Large Nicholson bastard file will get you going. This one for instance. You'll need some way to clamp it down to your bench, you can't do much with the blade clamped vertically in a vise.

A round file of some sort will be useful, but you can use a dowel and sandpaper in a pinch.

Lots of sandpaper. You want the wet/dry stuff (not so much to use wet, but because it holds up to steel better). Get lots of 100 grit, lots of 220, some 320, and some 600.

Watch CL like a hawk for a 2x42 Craftsman belt sander. I got mine for $35. $50 of belts later and you've got yourself a versatile grinder.

tl;dr: don't waste time with old, worn-out files.

One lesson I learned the hard way is that old used files just aren't worth it (maybe they are if you can easily tell how sharp a file is by hand-feel, I can't).

I brand new nicholson file is going to be less than $20, and it's like night and day. (here's a set for $32: http://www.amazon.com/Nicholson-Ergonomic-Handles-American-Pattern/dp/B001T49R7S/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1464460472&sr=8-2&keywords=nicholson+file)

If you place 1 or 2 pieces of 100 grit sandpaper on top of a bamboo sushi mat, you can slide together all 3 of them over the good wood trim and they should keep their shape while sanding over your repaired area.

https://www.amazon.com/JapanBargain-Brand-Rolling-rolling-spreader/dp/B00O8J2L6K/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1474240446&sr=8-11&keywords=bamboo+sushi+mat


These files alone or with sandpaper wrapped around them also will work.

https://www.amazon.com/Stanley-22-176-Double-Bastard-10-Inch/dp/B004EBP2T0/ref=sr_1_8?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1474240833&sr=1-8&keywords=stanley+flat++file


half round file.
https://www.amazon.com/Stanley-22-099-Round-Bastard-10-Inch/dp/B0045PSF3U/ref=sr_1_3?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1474240922&sr=1-3&keywords=stanley+round+file

round file.
https://www.amazon.com/Stanley-22-098-Single-Bastard-8-Inch/dp/B0045PQBL8/ref=sr_1_7?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1474240922&sr=1-7&keywords=stanley+round+file

Here are some links in case you're interested:

Stanley 10" bastard with one safe edge

Nicholson file set I bought

File card and brush

Round file I bought

Files are one of those tools that should not be bought at Harbor freight or similar. They are a cutting tool and quality is especially important

Nicholson is a great brand, this 5-piece set is ~$35 US.

E: Instead of a round file, this set includes a different size of the fine flat file. Fools. Round is needed more than a different size of one you already have, especially for a general purpose set.

Try this:

Osborn International 75116SP Steel File Card, 3-3/4" Brush Area Length https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J06IPQG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_9SIdAb6EFSEE2

If that doesn’t work some grill cleaner will do it. No kidding. Thanks Pop.

something like this?

http://www.amazon.com/Nicholson-08559N-8-Inch-Smooth-without/dp/B00C7YR31G/

I bought some of these and like them well enough, but I haven't used anything else so don't have much to compare by.

I use wet & dry paper starting with 400 grit, ( i print at .12 whenever possible) then 800 grit then 1000 grit, then primer and paint, i use THIS putty to fill any joins etc, i find it to be very good,

before sanding i use files a lot , a small mini file set, i use this one, id be lost without it !

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DQJOVRU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_uwNZAb76PQTM8

These are the ones I use. They work well.

Use a file card.

I bought this for my files: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J06IPQG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

For the knife, you can probably sand off the rust and polish with a polishing cloth.

The $99 one or this one?:

14quot; Half Round Pipe Liner File, Sold As 1 Each https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Y3HRZLS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_OS6QCbTTFJCAD

https://www.amazon.com/Sheffield-58910-Mill-Bastard-Inch/dp/B004FENABS

Here is the mobile version of your link

http://www.amazon.com/Nicholson-03762N-Flat-Bastard-12-Inch/dp/B002M8TWOI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451716468&sr=8-1&keywords=double+cut+bastard+file

https://www.amazon.com/Nicholson-Thread-Repair-Single-Square/dp/B001T4KRHC

I haven't used this, but here's a file that you could put on a reciprocating saw. I expect you have a cordless sawzall you could use for this.

https://www.amazon.com/Reciprotools-RCT-HRM-10-Round-Accessory-Attachment/dp/B001CNE3SO