Filing dropouts-best type of file?

[pinkshogun]

i need to file a dropout on an older steel bike so the wheel sits straight within the frame. yes, its not the wheel or the triangle alignment.

my trusty cheapo 7mm wide round file isnt cutting it anymore. I want to invest in a decent round file perhaps 9-10mm in width for complete coverage inside the dropouts.

any specific brands i should look for

[11.4]

Are you sure you didn't bend the dropout? I'd get a pair of alignment tools for the dropout first and be sure everything is in perfect alignment first. A wheel won't tell you that. You need the alignment tools.

If there's something odd that does need filing, don't use a rattail or tapered file. Those are almost impossible for getting a square and parallel result. If you know you need to do this and you have to do it yourself (rather than asking a steel frame builder to fix it quickly for you), I'd just get some chainsaw files. They are even diameter and come in several different diameters with fairly fine hard teeth. Getting one close to the width of the slot will improve the odds of filing parallel.

There was a long thread across the hall in the frame builders subforum about file choices. The result, I think, was that file brands vary in quality and you have to find ones that happen to be working well, and even then they are mostly crap. Japanese frame builders who adapt 110 mm spaced frames to 120 mm (and have to mill out the slots on track frames from 9 mm to 10 mm) will do this all with a jig on a mill. I've had to file a couple 110 mm frames and can tell you it's a lot harder than it looks.

[oliver1850]

1/4" chainsaw file should do a pretty nice job even though smaller than ideal. You might also try a 6" smooth cut flat file for flat surfaces. Oregon, Nicholson, anything made in Germany or Sweden should be fine.

[Doug Fattic]

The old good American made files from Nicholson and Simonds aren't made in the US anymore and as a result aren't as good as they used to be. Sometimes old stock can be found in hardware stores and they will say Made in America on the file. My choice now is Bahco files made in Portugal. They can be bought online at the Production Tool Co.

If you are buying an American pattern file you have 2 choices to get either a courser bastard cut or a slightly finer 2nd cut. For most frame building operations i prefer the 2nd cut. A 10" round file is about 9mm in diameter. The PTS order # for that file is KL3012100610

You will want a nice file handle on your file. My choice for those are Skroo-zon. They have a wood handle and as the name implies screw onto the file tang and stay attached better then those that are pounded on. A 10" round Bahco file takes a #6 handle. The PTS order # for that handle is FT50SK006.

The trick for filing the back of a dropout is to place the file in both dropout slots to keep it in the right position. Of course you only put pressure on the dropout that needs to be filed.

[pinkshogun]

I bought a new 10" round file and it did the trick