I’ve used a very similar device for the last 30 years of my working life, but it is just a pair of case hardened rollers mounted to a cast bracket which I used to fit into the vice. This adaptation is a brilliant idea which will greatly ease many filing tasks. Great video as always, thanks Mark.

It never ceases to amaze me just how much time we spend making jigs, fixtures and tools to accomplish our machining work. Very nice, mate! Thanks!

The eccentric application for this is a clever idea, thank you for that.

A very useful addition to the shop. I may have to make one. Thanks for sharing. Dave.

Morning Mark, this was a very interesting video. Enjoyed seeing how it works and the different uses for it. Thanks for sharing.

Very nice, it’s nice to see that something so simple can be so accurate . Thanks for posting . 😊 !

Thanks Mark yet another great project.

And award winning too. Well done Mark

Love it. Every time I have a seemingly complex problem I look to the past for a simple way out. Thank you for presenting this one.

Don't ever say that you are the farthest thing from an idiot, for sure. Not many people are as creative and resourceful as you are. Thank you for this video it is very helpful.

Thanks for the shout out Mark. The roller filing rest is a great idea. It is something that I had not thought of, but it would be useful for small diameter parts that (as you say) could get bent in the mill. The indexing plate looks good. Yes, you can make others with different numbers of holes for specific jobs. Ironically I'm currently working on an indexing plate for my next video. It is for the wood lathe for when I'm using the router jig to cut flutes in turned items. I foolishly put my name down to run a 'tools' demo at the woodturners club in April.

I'm a Certified Master Clockmaker, in the trade for 45+yrs. I acquired a used factory made filing rest for a WW watchmakers lathe when I was a young man, I've used it frequently over the years. It is mounted on the lathe bed on a shoe much like you described. However, I occasionally have larger workpieces that I run on an old 1928 Hardinge Cataract 5C. The filing rest you are showing would be ideal for that use. I can't believe in all these years it didn't occur to me to make one, I have been using a small mill with round stock in V-blocks. A pain in the butt, I'd much rather use a filing rest. Thanks for the inspiration. Great Video.

Greetings from San Francisco. I learn something every time I watch you. Thank you for the education and the entertainment.

Nice use of practical design. Thanks for sharing this useful tool with demonstrations and explanations. Mini mill and lathe here, Thank you Mark from Canada.

sweet. simple tool. remarkable results.

One of those clever tools I wish I’d thought of. 👍

Very interesting handy tool. Thanks for sharing it.

Great video, you give me the impetus finish adapting mine to fit directly onto the lathe bed of my toolmaker's lathe

Nice one mate! Thanks for sharing!

It's so refreshing to hear someone pronounce the word "height" correctly. I know it's a piddling little thing, but here in America all the KZfaq machinists pronounce that word as "Heighth" (as in width and length). It's maddening. I asked Keith Rucker why he does that and he said because width and length are pronounced that way, so I responded by asking why they don't say how much the weighth of something was but he never responded. Yes, I know it's stupid, it's just one of those things that sets me off.

Nice one mate, beautifully explained as always :)

Thank you for another informative video.

About 40 years ago,😮, my shop teacher told us to chalk the file with a schoolboard chalk stick. I think its not what you want to powder your lathe with but it works for keeping your file clean. Not so much for aluminium though…

A very cool idea! Thanks!!

There is always a way. Thank you!

Interesting concept, it would have come in handy when I only had the lathe and I was building the mill. 👍

Good reminder to give this project a bump on the list. Still need to make one for my lathe but other things keep getting in between. For the division i do have a setup using the change gears of my lathe, it has a bit of play but seems accurate enough for what I've done with it so far

It isn't difficult to think of many applications that would benefit from the "precision" filing capability possible with this set up.

Brilliant idea. Thanks.

Quite original. Love it.

Thanks for the idea. I am thinking about making one that will go into a normal tool holder for my OXA tool post.

I definitely need one of these!

A really cool Tool!

Really useful for making square tapers.

Thanks, Mark.

👍Muchas gracias...saludos desde Argentina.

Enjoyed…thanks for sharing

I know you watch Tom Lipton, I remember him showing a simple file-rest for controlling the angle, but this one controls the depth, too. And I've certainly never seen one with rollers. I was planning to make something like this, a jig maybe, for a small diamond file to touch up tools. I guess one could use some commercial rollers for this, even plastics would do, since repeatability is not required.

Awesome, thank you! Can you do a video on making a jig to attach small aluminum discs to so as to create sprockets? Have a great week!

Thanks for sharing 👍

Thanks, I've never seen one set up or used 👍

Clever indexing. Thanks for the video keep on keeping on.

Very interesting.

Brilliant

This rocks.

Thanks Mark! Almost every machinist on KZfaq uses a mill. As I don't own one it is great to see how far one can get with just a lathe. More videos in this category would be highly appreciated! Did you also make a device for milling slots using the lathe?

That sure is a clever idea. I've never seen that before. Even if hand filing is primitive :)

It's hard to believe you can maintain any sort of precision with using something as basic as a file and this set up.

Grandios!!!

I like it !!

Damn, that is a brilliant little device... Not sure as to how much use I would have from one, but it is going on the projects list... Generally, i prefer the surface grinder or a tool&cutter grinder with small V blocks or large V blocks, depending on the diameter, but for putting in a flat onto a rod, well, it doesn`t get much simpler than just lining up the V blocks up to the magnet`s fence, clamping the rod and letting the stone wheel just do it`s magic... T&c.g. is a bit different with setup, given the lack of magnets and a different machine geometry(at least in my case - deckel s1), but then again, the cutter grinder is designed to grind any number of ridiculous parts, so affixing a rod and putting a flat onto the surface is not really some high science... Regarding this device, i think that bronze bushes would be the best, that or carbide bushes and glass hard hssco pins, as this simply doesn`t have the stroke to utilize anti-friction-moving-element bearings to their full extent, rather, any such bearing on this would likely see premature wear, as the bearings wear the most when they move from a dead stop, and rolling a file by hand is gonna give the bearings nothing but a whole lot of stop-and-go sequences... A bronze bush or a hard bush like mentioned will tolerate such mode of operation with much more appreciation over a more complex bearing... I guess a yellow bronze like brittle alu-copper bronze alloys with higher alu content would also grant some good bushings for this, they can be made in the home shop with a bit of copper and alu, whereas carbide bushings are a terror both price-wise and machining-wise... I guess that a camshaft could also grant some hard iron bushings for this usecase, tho, sourcing those can be troublesome if you don`t have a friendly scrapyard owner as a friend... Very nice project and definitely a great intermission in the steamer sequence... Glad to have seen it! All the best and kind regards! Steuss P.s. regarding that spindle indexer, i`ve been thinking of a similar design for quite a while now... Definitely on the list as well...

Run the lathe and can also do circular grinding.

i use a similar tool in my lathe to put flats and dovetails on gun parts

Good Show Mate: As per normal. What a cool "thingee". I got to be first again. That's pretty cool also.

Has anyone made the file guide in the link? I’d really like to see a build video of this.

Great video. Super tool. Mahalo for sharing! : )

Simple design but very useful tool. I would imagine the body of the tool could also be created from a milled block of aluminum or even from a casting -- rather than being made from steel.

How to you lay out and drill the holes in the indexing plate? Seems to me that you'd need a mill with a horizontal rotary indexer or a DRO with matching bolt circle settings.

Great tool , thanks

People usually don't realise that to make a part, you need to make a part to make a jig, to make a tool etc.

lathes come with milling attachment that fits on compound.

👍

so how do you stop the lathe turning as you push on the material with the file?

i'm a poor man, and the best man ! (1952)

Looking at those plans, why the 1/4 40ME thread, as a metric world fellow, those are expensive for single use. Is there an alternative?

Works for inside splines I'll bet

A mount for a dremel might be handy for less precision.

Is the use of oil while filing an option?

Could you please tell .... Where can we buy this Roller Filing Rest ? Thanks !

Btw. it copies more the moving of a scraper than it does a milling machine.

That screeching sound was like nails on a chalkboard! Eek.

2 tons of machine set up just to grind a few microns of metal?

It is feasible to 3D print the disks with the holes.

THIS IS A NICE TOOLING DEVICE, BUT, I'LL BET IT COULD BE DONE WITHOOUT THE "ROLLERS".... USING A HARD PLASTIC BLOCK, INSTEAD.

👍👏😎🇦🇺🐈‍⬛

I was just about to comment/question about adjustments,🫡