Gummed up file

[Gary]

Well I've been tuning skis at home for many years and have always had a problem with my metal flat files getting gummed up with wax and debris. Yes I have a file wire brush but ya scrub until your fingers and wrist tire out and when the file gets so gummed up and it doesn't work well, ya buy a new one. no, no, no, not necessary.

Ok...so I wanted to pass along this little resolution to that problem. Many may know and if so, I mad at ya for not telling me....

Take your flat files, spray them with WD40....let it sit for a minute or so...then whack that baby with the file wire brush, brush, brush, brush.......Bingo..
Mr. Clean, Mr. Clean, Mr. Clean...

Saving them files for another day....makes using them so much easier and productive.

Hope this helps those who may have run into this kind of challenge in the past.

Best,
G

[gregmerz]

Good to know....

[Glenn]

I've found the best brush for cleaning files is usually a small metal looking tooth brush. You can usually find them near the welders in the big box home improvement stores. I get the plastic ones because the bristles are rather stiff. Welders use these brushes in small areas to remove slag/splatter.

[Svend]

The miracle of WD40! That stuff is amazing.? Not just for lubricating, but as Gary found out, also for cleaning stuff.? If you ever get your car splattered with road tar or fresh asphalt from a new paving job, spray it with WD40, soak and wipe clean.? Cleans all kinds of other gunk, too.? Gotta wonder what's in it?

[midwif]

Svend
I don't think  we want to know. Probably teratogenic, carcinogenic and just plain bad for you.
Anything that works that well must be bad for you and the environment.
L.

[Svend]

Right you are...sometimes ignorance is best.  Besides, it's all about dose -- kinda like the dangerous and hazardous chemical di-hydrogen oxide.  If you've ever read the MSDS sheet on that, you'd be terrified to touch it 

[midwif]

Hmm, the little I retain from chemistry, long, long ago is H202, aka hydrogen peroxide.
Di hydrogen= the above???
Great for getting out blood stains.

[Svend]

Not quite.?    I'm just playing a bit here:? dihydrogen oxide...can be fatal if inhaled, heated vapour causes severe burns, slip hazard if spilled, esp. if temp. is below 32 deg. F....I could go on, but you get the picture.?

So, what is it? Dihydrogen = H2? Oxide = O ( a single oxygen molecule)? Add 'em together and you get H2O...water

I often use this in my training sessions and seminars as an example of the paranoia induced by misreading MSDS sheets and hazard labels.? In short, in my profession, I spend as much time convincing people (industrial workers) that certain substances are not as hazardous as they appear to be, as I do convincing others that they're working with something that can actually kill or seriously harm them and that they should take better precautions.? Not sure if WD40 is nasty or not, but as with exposure to water, it's often the dose that counts -- a little spritz is probably harmless, but you wouldn't want to drink a pint of it.?

Sorry for pulling you in -- didn't mean to bring back nightmares of high school chemistry? ? No bad will intended....

[jim-ratliff]

As Jim pats himself on the back and congratulates himself for figuring out that di-hydrogen oxide was indeed water.
Hydrogen peroxide has two hydrogen and two oxygen molecules but with a single positive valence or something like that on the oxygen molecules.  The key word is the "per" before the oxide.

[midwif]

I'm outta my league .

[Svend]

Good one Jim! Right you are.

[Gary]

Huh?

Are we talking special ski technique here? So, you wait till you "hydro in" and avoid the "ox in the ide"....hmmmm....chemis try.....no, not me not now!

BTW...had the most unusal fall at JH....on a small 50 foot head wall in bounds, in full view of my wife and all our ski buddies, I made my first turn and my up hill ski speared the snow, shovel first down to the binding and ejected me into 2 sumersaults poles in hand......wickedly funny...no harm...just....whoa ...what a surprise. Looking up hill I could see my one ski "twannging" in the snow like the Bismark going down bow first!

Should we be talkn' physic's here?

G

[Svend]

What? No video of that? Would love to see the somersaults....an orange twirling blur....

[Gary]

You know...I'd like to see that one myself....

The memory is forever imprinted....you can ask the rest of the gang that witnessed the tossed creamsickle at Jackson.

G