Mechanick Exercises, or the Doctrine of Handy-Works

The text begins mid-word from the previous page: "hammer". hammer dents: Therefore, do not file those high spots original: "Risings" quite as low as the dents the hammer made. Instead, file them only low enough so that the scratches made by the rough-file are as deep in your work as the hammer dents are. By doing this, when you use your smoother-cut files after the rough-file, the scratches from the rough-file and your hammer strokes or dents will be removed at the same time.

To do this with greater certainty, hold your file so that you use as much of its length as possible to rub or range along the length of your work. In this way, the file will reach the second high spot on your work before it leaves the first one. It will then slip over and not touch the dent or hollow between the two high spots until those high spots are leveled into a straight line with the bottom of the dent. I will say more about this when I discuss the practice of filing various specific types of work.

If you are filing a square bar (or something similar), all its angles or edges must be kept very sharp and straight. Therefore, once your vice is set up according to the previous instructions, you must be careful when filing across the jaws of the vice original: "Chaps of the Vice". You must keep both hands holding the file perfectly horizontal or flat over the work.

If you let either hand rise, the other will dip, and the edge of the square it dips toward will be filed away. Similarly, if you move your hand even slightly in a circular motion, both edges you are filing will be rounded off, leaving a high spot in the middle of what was intended to be a flat surface. You must master this manual skill through practice, for it is the most intricate part original: "greatest Curiosity"; referring to the high level of skill or precision required. of filing.

If you are filing a round piece or rod of iron, you must do exactly what was forbidden for square work. To file the round, you must dip the hand holding the handle and raise the hand at the far end of the file slightly. By placing the file near its end against the work, you should file in a circular motion upon...