A 90 Degree File???

[dimwittedmoose51]

Hard to believe that someone actually sold a file bent 90 degrees, but the mystery goes on.  My wife picked this up at a yard sale Friday in a box of other stuff for $2 and it included a 6 wrench Indestro auto tool stash, so we didn't get burned on the deal.

Anyone want to guess as to why someone would want a 90 degree bend in a file??  My wife wondered if it was bent so it cold be chucked in a vise keeping it stationary and the you would drag the work over the file surface.  There are like 5 dimples on the inside of the bend, but I don't see any heat marks like it had been warmed up to bend it.  I sorta thought files were made of hard enough steel that bending was pretty much out of the question.  The short end has a bit of a taper ground into it, so maybe a prying tool of some sort??

Oh well, time for the gurus to solve this mystery!!!  TIA

DM&FS

[anglesmith]

Even if it was thoroughly annealed first you still wouldn't get it to any where near 90 cold before it snapped. No it has to be done red hot. I have seen gasket? scrapers made from files but they are bent short(1to 1,1/2 inches) and sharpened on both ends. Yours is a mystery, has it been re hardened? Check it with an old file. Now I think about it I have seen files bent up on both ends so they can be used in along slot/recess.
Graeme

[RedVise]

DM, if you are going to mistreat that little Wards box like that with mean hard  files and such,  just send it to my, uh, Wards Rescue Center !!



Brian L.

[HeelSpur]

Hey, I got dibs on that box :-).

[rustynbent]

Looks like someone was trying to save time filling around the corner????????? : )

[scottg]

Does it have a brand name?
If the teeth are still able to cut at all, I suspect it was bent in the factory as a special order.
No idea why it was made.

  Bending a file would have to be done at cherry heat, and then rehardened, (if it was already an existing file and not an annealed blank
and the teeth would suffer.
  yours Scott

[dimwittedmoose51]

Useful information and humor in the same thread....what's not to like???


Thanks all

DM&FS

[Branson]

The teeth, as far as I can see in the photos, haven't been good for quite a while, so I suspect a farm project, and probably one that was not completed.  Looks like the teeth at the inside of the bend have flattened out.