Draw filing.

[Old-Duckman]

I was hoping not. I'd do it if I had to but.............

Just remember what my dear mother used to say, "Haste makes waste and waste makes want". Take your time, keep that file clean and finish when you are done...no matter how long it takes.

 

[Mike in FL]

I might not be able to do that, as my tremor doesn't let me keep the file from rocking on the flats. It would help to un-sweat the thimbles etc. but paradoxically I don't want to incur the job of re-sweating them. Any prediction of what would happen if I leave those few fine browned scratches and go ahead with degreasing and re-browning?

I'm 76. 5 years ago I had consistent hand tremors, marked it down as age. Later saw a doctor on another matter and mentioned it. He prescribed Ropninol, 2 or 3 per day. That absolutely stopped the tremors making my hands steady for close work and for shooting. U might want to try it. No side affects.

 

[IanH]

I had a friend who developed hand tremors after retiring. Two years later he was dead from ALS.

30 minutes to an hour to draw file a longrifle barrel. Sharp Swiss files, clean often (like every 3-4 strokes), keep them level by choking up on the file blade and running both thumbs against the adjacent barrel flats as a guide. If you have to use a lot of downpressure, your file is dull. Let the file do the work, it shouldn't take any more pressure than putting an edge on a chisel. Draw file up to your thimbles and do the section you can't reach with the appropriate grit of hard-backed sandpaper or nail board and blend it in carefully, this will require a tiny bit of experimentation but browning tends to "melt" the microscopic surfaces and obscures slight differences in finish.

 

[James Kibler]

I'm amazed looking at the responces , that nobody has suggested a way of keeping their draw files from clogging up with filings , and further scratching the steel surface. In my experience , somebody taught me to apply chalk to the file teeth before draw filing. It's like magic , how a little play ground chalk works on file teeth keeping them clean so a dirty file doesn't ruine the filed surface.

I’ve not found chalk to be beneficial when draw filing. A good quality sharp mill file does the job.

With some practice, it’s actually a pretty fast process that produces amazing results. I’m sure I’ve shown it on videos.

 

[French Colonial]

I watched a video on Jim Kibler's web site and he recommended Bahco files, I was needing some new files anyway so I thought I would give them a try.

They worked so much better than my Nicholson files for draw filing that I bought more and the Nicholson files will eventually become knife blades.

 

[Pete G]

Reading elsewhere someone mentioned taking eight hours to draw file a ML barrel. Is that true?

No. Approximately 15 minutes per flat. You don’t need to file anything that doesn’t show.

 

[TDM]

I watched a video on Jim Kibler's web site and he recommended Bahco files, I was needing some new files anyway so I thought I would give them a try.

They worked so much better than my Nicholson files for draw filing that I bought more and the Nicholson files will eventually become knife blades.

I've had good luck with the Bahco files too.

 

[James Kibler]

No. Approximately 15 minutes per flat. You don’t need to file anything that doesn’t show.

I would say around 5 minutes per flat if things are going good.

 

[Phil Coffins]

I’ve seen some that made me wonder if draw filing was needed at all, then others that the machine work looked like dull cutters with no coolant on a shaky set up. Each one can be very different.

 

[deerstalkert]

i powder my file with baby powder i swiped from she who must never know!
works great and smells good too!
the wife lost her sense of smell to a bout of covid. She can't smell the powder, so if i don't get it all over me i am safe.

 

[Gooddaytoya!]

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 *******, 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?

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 *******, 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?

Great info, guys. Actually the file I'm using is a 12" single cut medium, not a double cut. I'

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 *******, 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?

Great info, guys, good advice. Actually the file I'm using is a 12" single cut medium, not a double cut. I'll apply Phil Collins' and TDS' suggestions and try wet sanding, then degreasing, then browning. I've decided to tone down my perfectionism, so I won't look too closely at the results. I'm old and infirm and need to take the quick way out now. Then I'll keep the barrel well greased, and just shoot

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 *******, 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?

Great info, guys, good advice. Actually the file I'm using is a 12" single cut medium, not a double cut. I'll apply Phil Collins' and TDS' suggestions and try wet sanding, then degreasing, then browning. I've decided to tone down my perfectionism, so I won't look too closely at the results. I'm old and infirm and need to take the quick way out now. Then I'll keep the barrel well greased, and just shoot.

I'm 76. 5 years ago I had consistent hand tremors, marked it down as age. Later saw a doctor on another matter and mentioned it. He prescribed Ropninol, 2 or 3 per day. That absolutely stopped the tremors making my hands steady for close work and for shooting. U might want to try it. No side affects.

Thank you, I hever heard of that one. I checked it out.
You are very lucky to escape the side effects of Ropninol, a dopamine promoter. Dopamine is great, but I'll choose this mostly benign tremor over the myriad possible debilitating side effects of Ropninol. I do take propanol, which does help.

 

[64Springer]

Quoting someone four times has got to be some kind of record.

 

[deerstalkert]

Quoting someone four times has got to be some kind of record.

how the heck is it even done?

 

[Gooddaytoya!]

I've had good luck with the Bahco files too.

I read somewhere about the nature of good files, and once, Nicholsen made good ones. Now it's Chinese owned and no more than a mediocre product. (No expert here though)

 

[Gooddaytoya!]

Quoting someone four times has got to be some kind of record.

It seems to be a side effect of using this Moto G6 cellphone for Internet access. I saw it occurring and couldn't stop it, and I can't edit it away, smdh.

 

[Gooddaytoya!]

how the heck is it even done?

(Sh)it happens .

 

[64Springer]

I read somewhere about the nature of good files, and once, Nicholsen made good ones. Now it's Chinese owned and no more than a mediocre product. (No expert here though)

I believe they're Brazil made.

And still a very good file.

Better than anything you'll find at a DIY store.

 

[Old-Duckman]

Quoting someone four times has got to be some kind of record.

Yeah and annoying.

 

[flatcreek]

Try soaking your old files in cleaning vinegar for forty-eight hours. cleans them and seems to make them sharper.

 

[64Springer]

All that's needed.