Keller Die Filer

[lazylathe]

Hi All,

As time goes by one tends to gather more and more machinery...
I have been called a "tool whore" before by some jealous individuals and this does not bother me in the least!

On a recent adventure to a wood show, where our small local machinist club had a table i met a guy.
You know the guy i am talking about?
Kind of saunters over and says " You make model engines?" while the table is full of steam, Stirling and lathes...
Then he pops the question "You interested in a die filer?"
Stupid question!!!!!!!!!!!!

So we go out to his van and he shows me the item in question




Money is exchanged for this solid cast iron machine, formerly from a school before they closed the metal shop program.

It was very grimy and dirty from sitting in his woodwork shop for a number of years as well as the associated rust build up...




I was going to strip the paint and redo it but decided against it. This one had some history and i wanted to keep it intact!

So off to the hardware store to find some degreaser that would not strip paint.
Found this amazing product that literally melts the grease away!


If you leave stuff in for about a day it will eat the paint away!!
I cleaned some of my South Bend parts and they are nice and shiny, ready for paint again! But that is another story...

Here it is in all it's glory again ready for work!
Die files are on order!!

Some parts cleaned in the degreaser for about 5 minutes and brushed with a soft plastic bristle brush only.



And ready to be put back to work!



The table and all the other metal parts cleaned up of rust very nicely!!


Andrew

[Mayhem]

These are something I know nothing about. Are the files special? I assume the 'foot' in the last picture is to stop the file lifting the work off of the table?

Nice score and nice clean up job. Please post pics of the files once you get them.

[DaveH]

Andrew,

Wow
That stuff sure does work well
What a terrific die filer you have now, a splendid piece of kit

DaveH

[lazylathe]

Thanks guys!!

The foot is to hold the work in place.
As for the files they are a special file intended for die filers.
They need to only cut on the downward stroke, unlike normal files that cut on the forward stroke.

I will post pics of the files when they arrive!

Andrew

[ETC57]

I for one would love to know more, is it a deburring, tool what can it do?
Jerry.

[doubleboost]

Hi
Andrew
That is a great bit of kit, i am pleased you left it original but clean
John

[lazylathe]

(03-27-2012, 03:16 PM)ETC57 Wrote: I for one would love to know more, is it a deburring, tool what can it do?
Jerry.

I could only find this link to a video of one being built and run for a short time:
http://youtu.be/dqTPYqCUC8Q

It is basically a filing machine.
You can files any shapes, angles or intricate patterns with it.
Depending on the type, shape and size of file used.

Andrew

[RobWilson]

Hi Lads


The die filler in the video was made by AL here is his build log , he made a cracking job of it http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=5812.0 .

another tool to add to my build list

Rob

[Rickabilly]

Hello All,
A Die Filer is used to do any of the miscellaneous Filing Jobs that you can think of, so yes, it can be used to deburr parts if you wish, but back in the day the primary use was for filing clearances onto pressing and punching tools and dies, as the table can be set to accurate "Draw" angles, One simply colours the surface with Dye chem (or similar) mark out and scribe the finished profile, set the draw angle and hold the workpiece against the moving file until the line is "split" and there you have it the form, finish, draw angle done and ready to go.

At "Toolmaker school" we were taught that the most suitable direction for the machining marks to be left on the punch or die is "Parallel to the tool Stroke" apparently the tool will last much longer while giving a much better finish than tools with the machining marks running perpendicular to the stroke direction, when using a die filer the marks are almost always in this better orientation, where when finishing with an end mill for example the marks are almost always perpendicular, I use my Trumpf nibbler with a file held in the ram as a die filer when finishing tools such as these, I have also used my slotting head on a Milling machine to hold a file for the same purpose.

After heat treatment of a punch or die you can use a diamond file to refinish the edges.

Other uses,
Squaring the corners out of rectangular holes cut with end mills,
finishing/sizing internal key-ways in bores,
etc

Best Regards
Rick

[Tony Wells]

Wish I had one. There is a kit available, but I'd rather hold out for an oldie. They're not very common around here. I do have a poor man's die filer though. It's an air powered file. A little obnoxious to use, and hardly as precise to use as a die filer with a table, but workable. Does excellent deburr work.

That's a nice one. Looks pretty good all cleaned up. Glad you didn't have to paint it up to make it look that good.