![]() ![]() Now you know more about the different types of files and their uses, you’ll feel confident investing in the right set of files for the jewellery you create. You’ll soon get to know which needle files work best with your style and the designs you like to work on. Our recommendation: If you’re still at the beginning stages of building up your metal working files, start with a smaller set of jewellers’ needles. Round needle file: With teeth place all round the needle file and right to the very tip making this the ideal file to use in tiny spots such as jump rings and clasps that have been soldered and require some tidying up.Triangular needle file: Also tapered to a point, this needle file is adept at filing into grooves or creating grooves, for example, marking out a bend in sheet metal ready for cutting.Square needle file: With a square cross section and a tapered edge, this needle file is great for filing into corners at a 90 degree angle.A general purpose needle file for use with flat surfaces, filing the ends of wire straight, or eliminating small bits of solder from joins. Flat or pillar file: A rectangular shaped needle file with teeth on all four of its flat sides.At 16cm long, with a cutting surface of 8cm long as well as a much smaller cutting width, needle files will help you get into all of the nooks and crannies that you need to for more delicate designs. They improve precision filing simply because they are a smaller set of jewellers’ hand files. One way of ensuring more precision is by getting to work with a set of needle files. But as your metal work and filing skills quickly progress you’ll want to step up the finishing element of your work. When it comes to the different types of metal files available, there are a couple of 6 inch hand files that you’ll certainly want to invest in as a beginner. This level of coarseness is ideal for a number of metal working jobs, and will be a good choice for building out your beginner’s set of different types of hand files. Our recommendation: For a good all-rounder, choose a flat file with a cut 2 grade. Take care when doing this for the first time as you’ll want to make sure that your handle is completely straight and parallel with your hand file. How do you fit the handle? The easiest way to do this is to carefully heat the end of your file with a hand torch and then using a mallet to fix the handle firmly in place on your hand file. These can be bought and fitted separately so that you can find the handle that works best for you. You’ll notice that a lot of jewellers’ hand files do not come with a handle. With your flat file, you should always use a forward motion for filing and try to make sure that the piece you’re working on is held level for a clean, straight edge. ![]() A flat file has (you’ve guessed it) a flat surface and is used to file larger, flat areas of metal, to straighten up edges, and to work on the outside curve of a ring. ![]()
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