Editing File (tool) (section)

== History ==
Early filing or [[rasp]]ing has prehistoric roots and grew naturally out of the blending of the twin inspirations of cutting with stone cutting tools (such as [[hand axe]]s) and [[abrasive|abrading]] using natural abrasives, such as well-suited types of stone (for example, [[sandstone]]).<ref name="DisstonInc1920pp5-15">{{Harvnb|Henry Disston & Sons, Inc|1920}}, [https://archive.org/details/fileitshistoryma00henr/page/4/mode/2up pp. 5–15].</ref> Relatedly, [[lapping]] is also quite ancient, with [[wood]] and beach [[sand]] offering a natural pair of lap and lapping compound. The Disston authors state, "To abrade, or file, ancient man used sand, grit, coral, bone, fish skin, and gritty woods,—also stone of varying hardness in connection with sand and water."<ref name="DisstonInc1920pp5-15"/>

The [[Bronze Age]] and the [[Iron Age]] had various kinds of files and rasps. Archaeologists have discovered rasps made from bronze in Egypt, dating back to the years 1200–1000 BC. Archaeologists have also discovered rasps made of iron used by the Assyrians, dating back to the 7th Century BC.

During the [[Middle Ages]] files were already quite advanced, thanks to the extensive talents of [[blacksmith]]s.<ref name="DisstonInc1920pp16-17">{{Harvnb|Henry Disston & Sons, Inc|1920}}, [https://archive.org/details/fileitshistoryma00henr/page/16/mode/2up pp. 16–17].</ref> By the 11th century, there already existed [[hardening (metallurgy)|hardened]] files that would seem quite modern even to today's eyes.<ref name="DisstonInc1920pp16-17"/> But although they existed, and could even have spread widely, in a geographical sense, via [[trade]], they were not widespread in the cultural sense of the word—that is, most people, and even many [[metalsmith|smiths]], did not have them. For example, in the 13th century, ornamental iron work at [[Paris]] was done skillfully with the aid of files, but [[trade secret|the process was a secret]] known only to a master craftsman.<ref name="DisstonInc1920pp16-17"/> The Disston authors state, "It was not until the fourteenth century, however, that those who practiced art in ironwork began to use other tools, besides heat and the hammer, regularly."<ref name="DisstonInc1920pp16-17"/> This statement could mislead in the sense that stoning (with sandstone) and lapping (with wood, sand, and water) have never been rare activities among humans, or especially smiths. But the point is that modern iron or steel files, with teeth and hardening, and the [[material culture]] of intricate filing that would lead to [[locksmithing]] and [[gunsmith]]ing, for example, are what took time to become common. But by the [[late Middle Ages]], the transition was extensive. The Disston authors mention [[Nuremberg]], [[Sheffield]], and [[Remscheid]] (they use the ''Reimscheid'' spelling) as leading centers of production for files as well as tools in general. The activity in Remscheid reflects the metalworking spirit of the [[Rhine-Ruhr]] region in general (including [[Essen]], [[Düsseldorf]], and [[Cologne]]) rather than representing a single village of geniuses in isolation. (Considering the Disston authors' mention of the blacksmith guilds of 13th-century [[Florence]] and 15th-century England, coupled with their mention of [[Nuremberg]], [[Sheffield]], and [[Remscheid]], the region that sweeps from Florence through Nuremberg, the Rhine-Ruhr, the Netherlands, and up to Sheffield, can be compared to the modern economics notation of the [[Blue Banana]].) Most files of the period were smithed by hand in a sequence in which the iron was [[forging|forged]] (heated and hammered), then the teeth were cut with a [[chisel]] (some of this action was just as much [[upsetting]]/[[swaging]] as it was cutting), and then the piece was [[hardening (metallurgy)|hardened]] (by heating and then [[quenching]]), followed sometimes by [[tempering (metallurgy)|tempering]]. Among the drawings of [[Leonardo da Vinci]] is a sketch of a [[machine tool]] for the cutting of files (the chisel would make one strike, [[swaging]] a tooth, then automatically advance into position for the next tooth, and strike again).

Prior to the industrialization of [[machining]] and the development of [[interchangeable parts]] during the 19th century, filing was much more important in the construction of [[mechanism (engineering)|mechanism]]s. Component parts were roughly shaped by [[forging]], [[casting]], and by primitive [[machining]] operations. These components were then individually hand-fitted for assembly by careful and deliberate filing. The potential precision of such [[engineering fit|fitting]] is much higher than generally assumed, but the components of such hand-fit assemblies are decidedly not interchangeable with those from another assembly. [[Lock (security device)|Lock]]s, [[clock]]s, and [[firearm]]s (flintlocks and earlier) were manufactured in this way for centuries before the [[Industrial Revolution]].

[[Machining]] in the mid-19th century was heavily dependent on filing, because [[Milling machine|milling]] practice was slowly evolving out of its infancy. As late as the early 20th century, [[manufacturing]] often involved filing parts to precise shape and size. In today's manufacturing environment, milling and grinding have generally replaced this type of work, and filing (when it occurs at all) usually tends to be for [[Burr (metal)|deburring]] only. Skillful filing to shape and size is still a part of [[Tool and die maker|diemaking, moldmaking, toolmaking, etc.]], but even in those fields, the goal is usually to avoid handwork when possible.