Making filing jig

[alexkuzn]

I want to make a filing jig.
Does any one know where I can get O-1 0.5"x0.5" ground bars?

I wonder if there is a potential problem when heat treating this jig with threaded holes?
Will sharp threading grooves introduce stress?

Thanks,
Alex

[SteveA]

www.use-enco.com
www.mcmaster.com
www.mscdirect.com

Maybe a potential problem - that thought did occur to me when I was making mine, but it all came out with no problems. My jig came out fine, just had to run a tap down the holes to get some cooked-in quench oil out, and all was well.

Steve

[alexkuzn]

I checked the priced for bar stock and decided that it'll be better to buy a ready made jig for $20 because material alone will cost $10-15

[Ed Caffrey]

Just a word of caution on using fully hardened alloy/tool steels for filing jigs...be careful about how much you tighten the jig down with the knife in it. A couple of my early jigs were D-2 and O-1, I broke both of them because I tightened them down either too much, or unevenly.

My solution was to make a jig out of 3/4" square mild steel, with the face covered in hard face welding rod. It has a guide pin on each end, along with socket head screws. I surface ground the square mild steel, then applied the hard face rod (took several passes), then allowed it to cool and surface ground it. It's worked fine for the last 5 years with a very light surface grinding every now an then, just to make sure everything is still true.