Used the hydrochloric acid trick

[Roger Häggström]

My Stewmac razor files are sharp again. 12 hours in a 30% hydrochloric acid solution did the trick. I actually forgot the files, I was intending to give them a couple of hours... but they didn't disappear and now they are sharp!

Been reading old posts in this forum and I had never heard about the possibility to sharpen files before. Thanks guys :-)

[Ed Minch]

Fun stuff.  If you have Muriatic acid, that also does a good job.  I recently overcooked a couple of files after about 10-12 hours in it.

Ed

[Roger Häggström]

Hydrochloric acid and Muriatic acid is the same stuff. So, they melted away for you? Or turned out to be sharp?

[Ed Minch]

Sections of the teeth got melted away, some were very sharp

[Roger Häggström]

OK. Maybe 12 hours is a bit much, maybe 6 hours is a better option. Been using all the files I've treated and they are indeed sharper and fun to use!

One tip. Make sure the file is dry after the dip in the bicarbonate solution. Use a hair dryer or heat gun. And then  put some oil on it. Otherwise it will rust.

[Ed Minch]

I have seen a noticeable difference in 30 minutes, but generally 2-6 hours with the acid I have

Ed

[Mike Kolb]

OK, true confessions time:  I had a couple of old molars pulled a while back. They had some hefty gold crowns on 'em and I'll be damned if I wasn't gonna' get every cent for those crowns at the local jewelry store.  

Long story short,  just 2 days in hydrochloric acid and the tooth material was totally dissolved, leaving my beautifully clean (but now-useless) crowns.  

The sad part is that I'll probably use the bucks to buy some StewMac tools!

[Robbie Collins]

Beat 'em flat, do an inlay. ;-)

[Mike Kolb]

Ha...yeah, I'd considered that until I saw the price of gold :)

[Ed Minch]

MLW does jewelry work and one of her suppliers offered me $7 for a gold crown. Apparently they are not solid gold as it is too soft.

Ed

[Mike Kolb]

I think you got low-balled.... I netted $155.80 for both crowns.

[Ed Minch]

I still have it - where did you go with yours?

Ed

[Mike Kolb]

I went to a jeweler to have them weighed (he wasn't buying but agreed to weigh 'em for me) and then -armed with the weight- to 3 different pawn shops that openly advertised to buy gold.  I chose the highest offer and it was a done deal.