-
LUCZORAMA SHIPWRECK SCAVENGER HUNT GIVEAWAY. 4 Weeks of Fun • 1 Legendary Prize ((OcCre’s Fram Ship)) • Global Crew Welcome!
**VIEW THREAD HERE**
Hi, could you please explain what you mean by this?
I would think that if it can remove the flash, it could also remove detail and damage the metal casting. Even if you are using a very soft medium, if it's strong enough to remove flash I would think it would damage the rest of the casting as well.
Stick with needle files.
Stick with needle files.
100%. This is one of those things for which there’s no shortcut.I would think that if it can remove the flash, it could also remove detail and damage the metal casting. Even if you are using a very soft medium, if it's strong enough to remove flash I would think it would damage the rest of the casting as well.
Stick with needle files.
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2024
- Messages
- 1,044
- Points
- 393
One of the problems using needle files on soft metals is that they gum up the teeth. If you are going to use needle files on white metal, it pays to buy a file brush. Just a wire brush with very short bristles.
An alternative would be the emery boards sold in the cosmetics department of many stores. These wear very quickly but are quite cheap.
An Xacto knife can also be used to scrape flash from white metal castings.
Roger
An alternative would be the emery boards sold in the cosmetics department of many stores. These wear very quickly but are quite cheap.
An Xacto knife can also be used to scrape flash from white metal castings.
Roger
I also like diamond files, rather than traditional files, for small items and soft metals because they tend to snag less and don’t leave teeth marks.
Or sometimes you can carve off the flash with a hobby knife.
LOL Casting are always going to have flash. It's much better than having a casting with voids you need to fill.
Some model companies use wood or resin pieces rather than metal, but they are usually the more expensive kits.
Some model companies use wood or resin pieces rather than metal, but they are usually the more expensive kits.
Good point. I guess should just stop worrying about this and just get out the filesLOL Casting are always going to have flash. It's much better than having a casting with voids you need to fill.
Some model companies use wood or resin pieces rather than metal, but they are usually the more expensive kits.
When filing soft metals, or any fine filing, for that matter, "chalking" the file's teeth will prevent the soft metal's building up between the teeth. All that's required is to rub soft chalk on the toothed face of the file before you start filing. The chalk will fill the gullets of the teeth and prevent the soft filings from clogging the gullets, but the chalk won't impair the file's effectiveness at all. It's sold as "carpenter's chalk," "railroad chalk," and "sidewalk chalk" (for kids.) The chalk makes cleaning the file with a file card a piece of cake.
Most hardware stores sell it. You won't need a huge amount, but a lifetime supply for a young man should run around twenty bucks for 72 sticks. It's sometimes sold by the stick in brick and mortar retail stores or you can burglarize your local grammar school art classroom.
Brass bristled wire brushes are best if you can get them. Brass doesn't dull the files' ferrous cutting edges.
See: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJFJY1Y...?sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9ocXBfc2hhcmVk&th=1
A file card is the right tool for the job when working with standard sized files. Their wire bristles seem a bit large for fine jeweler's files. but there are hacks for fine toothed files, such as using the brass wire wheels made for Dremel tools, not as a rotary brush, but held in the hand and brushed in the direction of the file teeth.
See:
Last edited:
No specific items, just in general. Do you think some types of items are worse than others?
I did have a major problem with flash on the hulls of three ship boats that came with one of my kits. They had large wide areas of flash and it took almost almost 45 minutes of work with a combination of a file and a Dremel grinding attachment followed by a Dremel steel brushing.
I never thought about boats in metal. Bet they would not float
I was thinking more about things that were actually made of metal rather than wood as there are some very good options these days that are not costly and yield veryaccurate results.Allan
Emery boards are a waste of money, when we have abrasives ,woodstrip & glue all to hand - personally I use tongue depressing sticks, 100 cost about £3 inc post on the 'bay', plus they have so many other uses.
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2021
- Messages
- 31
- Points
- 58
Hi, Chalking files can help in reducing the sticking of white metal in the teeth of files but is not a guarantee of total success. File cards are great for normal sized files but Swiss files are too fine for wire brushing. Poke out the metal using a scalpel along the serrations, slow but effective.
Doug Hey NZ
Doug Hey NZ
Great minds we have - the scalpel is also my way of cleaning Swiss files.