Apologies if this has been asked before (and if it's really dumb), but how do you put a neat bevel on metal? Is it just a case of filing? And if so, how do you ensure a consistent height and angle?
I think beveled edges give a really professional finish to pieces - the outside edge of rings or metal pendants for instance - but I don't know how to create them and my search of the internet has produced zilch (but perhaps I'm using the wrong terms?).
Come to that, I really haven't found much help on filing techniques either and I'm still not entirely clear what some of my needle files do. Can anyone steer me in the direction of some good online or book tutorials?
Well Karen, filing is a specialised technique, best learned under a teacher at the bench. As an amateur, I feel disadvantaged at never having had this, but here are some ideas which I have adopted.
1. For me the basic file is the flat six inch file as in Cooksons 999 456K-460K. I have all three cuts, but you could start with the middle one, cut 2.
in addition it needs to be tapped into a wooden file handle. For small items you can buy smaller files, such as a needle file of the same shape.
2. Later you can add other file shapes, but a half round file, which seems to offer more versatility, is not as good on the flat side, because it is just that: flat, instead of up-curved at the end.
3.The object to be filed must be immobilised in a vice, or held down firmly on a bench peg. It should not be just held in the hand and you should not be walking about as I have seen some do. A bench peg can be given notches, or grooves to help retain the piece being filed.
When all else fails if you have a long edge to straighten or bevel, try a diamond grit 'sharpening set'. They are cheap and easily sourced on line and offer a shortcut for amateurs. You have them flat on the bench and rub straight edged objects on them. Dennis
Talking of filing, what are the ideas about putting handles on your files. Not sure if its the method or the speed but my filing is never flat. If I am trying to file the end of a piece of round wire or flat come to that, it is never flat, the easiest way for me to get it completely flat is to cut it with snips. I wondered if I would have more control with a handle on them.
To get the ends perfectly straight, you need to file against a filing block, also called a chenier clamp, as in my picture(second item), Pat. This will also allow you to cut mitres for making squares.
There is a relatively inexpensive one around somewhere, but I've lost the link. Dennis.
I have both tools already and they are good for small things, but you are limited when doing larger things like the cuff that I have just sold. It was nearly 2 inches wide. I think I may get a better vice though as the one I have has a ball on it to swivel and its a bit too high to be comfortable, so I dont use it much, could do with one that bolts to the workbench.
Filing is something that comes with practice and experience, a good firm bench pin is a must. I rarely use a vice to hold items, I only use my bench vice to hold tools when shaping. The filing blocks that Dennis suggests are great for filing wires and tubes and are essential when making hinges. But for filing bevels and such like a good steady bench pin and decent files are all you need. Sometimes a pair of steel dividers can be of help to score a line where you want the bevel to finish and to ensure an even looking bevel on a long surface. I do have a few bench pins with specific grooves and notches cut in them each to help with certain piercing and filing jobs. When I want to file a point on a wire, I turn my bench pin over and on the angled surface side, I have filed a few slight grooves from the front of the pin towards it's rear, using a three square file, deeper at the front and shallow towards the rear, then holding the wires in the grooves keeps the wire firm making it easier to file a point on them.
I do already have a bench pin and some decent files, it's the knowledge of how to do it that's missing! For instance, James' tip about using dividers for marking the filing limit when creating a bevel is really useful, but I'm a bit lost trying to picture how the bench pin is used to support what you're filing. (At the moment I either hold the piece in my hand or lay the file flat and move the piece along it). I am getting a bench vice for my birthday next week and I've been wondering whether to get a mitre vice to help with sawing and filing at 90 or 45 degrees (I find it tough at the moment to get pieces flush before soldering), but the mitre vices are quite pricey and I wonder whether they're a luxury and that there is another method out there.
There are so many video tutorials on the web for other aspects of jewellery making, but filing seems to have been overlooked. Or perhaps everyone else is just a natural at it!
For chamfering the edges I normally use a file and then finish off with a roll sander which gives me more control. I also find to control a file I keep my elbow into my side as much as possible.
klevellcaine said they didn't understand the use of a bench pin when filing a bevel so I just went down my workshop took some photos of stages of work when filing a bevel on the end of a piece of scrap metal,as it's easier to show rather than explain. This was ten minutes work. The photos show; 1-marking the depth of bevel, 2-a notch filed in the end of the bench pin, 3-starting filing the bevel by using a course file while using the notch to support the metal, 4-the tools used on this job, 5-the finished bevel.
Bevel edges
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