file handles

[Vince the Plumber]

this is probably a really stupid question but why are wood/metal files sold without handles?

this has always sort of puzzled me.

Vince

i end up making my own out of the backs of old dining set chair backs and legs.

[rcp612]

Me too! :confused::confused:
Can't wait for a reasonable explanation.

[BHD]

Just a thought, and I do not know the real answer,
but possibly when the country was mostly Agriculture orientated, one would just grab a corn cob and use as a handle, that is what my dad always used. and thus may it was to save or to cut the cost of the tool.

another possibility is there are what is called a filing machine that works some what like a jig saw in up side down in holder with a table, and thus a handle would not work in the machine,

http://www.jamesriser.com/Machinery/Filing/Machine.html
another type,
http://www.lindisun.demon.co.uk/thiel.html
still another one
http://www.sc-c.com/metallathe/MLA-18.html

and many tools at one time were filed not ground to sharpen, and you would put a file in a holder and it would index and file the next tooth,

[Vince the Plumber]

that's pretty cool.

thanks.

Vince