Draw filing.

[Appowner]

For new files at a reasonable price the Bahco files are good. Find a single cut 8" to 12" smooth cut. Antique shops are a good place to look for old, USA made Black Diamond & Nicholson files that still have good life left in them. Growing up my Dad had dozens of great files and I took having them for granted. Now I wish I had taken better care of them. I still have a couple of good USA made Nicholson files, but I hesitate to use them much now until I can find one or two more. Another thing is that unless you buy a well made and expensive Swiss file or the like, any new file you buy now is a disposable tool, they will not last long with constant use.

Is Smooth Cut the only 'grit' (what the heck is it called for a file?) you need?

Mine is a barrel from Kibler and to be honest, it looks pretty good as it is.

 

[TDM]

Is Smooth Cut the only 'grit' (what the heck is it called for a file?) you need?

Mine is a barrel from Kibler and to be honest, it looks pretty good as it is.

A fine cut file is good to have also.

 

[RB POWELL]

Hi, I'm re-browning my 36" 58 caliber octagon bbl, finding difficulty with sanding off the existing browning. I'm using 180 and 200 grit silicone carbide paper, and the bbl has some seemingly deep parallel scratches that I can't sand out, so far, and I'm sanding long and hard. I picked up a new double cut bastard, which works great and is real fast but I'm not coordinated enough to keep it on the flats well enough, and I don't want to round the flats even a little. I cut two dozen 1" X 1" X 2 1/2 inch pieces of birch and glued sandpaper on each of 4 sides to help with sanding, but those scratches don't sand out. I'm considering cleaning it up as best I can, degrease it well, and go ahead and brown it with B-C Plum Brown. I successfully re-browned a different octagon bbl 40 years ago but the barrel prep went a lot better and it turned out great. Any suggestions?

Jim Kibler has a good video on draw filing. Worth a look.