BillyBones Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 Seeing as how i come from a long line of people who have worked with their hands i have many, many old tools passed down through the generations. Among these are a whole bunch of files. Most of them are Nicholsons. I am used to seeing the Black diamond, crossed files, eagle and such for their markings. I have one file though that i have never seen. The marking is of a hand holding a hammer. Tried to get a pic but my camera is going so it is just a blur. So my question is this. Does anyone know what these different marking mean or can give a link to where i can find said info? I have tried forming the question in everyway i can think of even adding the IFI at the end to no avail. I did however find a couple old catalogs that were pretty cool. Anyway thanks in advance for any help. And might i add this file cuts like a dream almost like the metal jumps out of the way of the file on its own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 Have you contacted Nicholson or Black Diamond ? Were they of any help ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted December 12, 2020 Author Share Posted December 12, 2020 Well Glenn, seeing as to how i am a glutton for punishment of course not. I have to have someone point out the obvious for me. I will now though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 When contacting a manufacture, when you get to the right guy, you have real time feedback for your original question plus usually a lot of side information that is very valuable. You also get recommendation on which of their tools will best suit the work you are doing. Those folks want you to use their tools and will help all they can. Well worth the phone call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 I once called a hydraulic pump manufacturer to see if a big pump I'd picked up at scrap price could be made to work for a hydraulic press. They connected me with one of their engineers, who was so tickled pink at the idea that anyone would consider such a thing that we spent half an hour on the phone with him thinking out loud about how it could be made to work (simple answer: not without a LOT more machining experience and equipment than I am likely to ever possess). I love conversations with people who are really, really knowledgeable about their subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted December 13, 2020 Author Share Posted December 13, 2020 From my research last night this is what i have gleaned. Nicholson tools is next to impossible to contact. The company has been sold 3 times in the past 20 years and was last sold to Baine investment who shut down all American factories and moved all production to Mexico or Brazil. But i did kind of find what i wanted. I started reading the history of the company. Nicholson became the largest file manufacturer in the US by one of the oldest busisness practices we have, which ironically also led to their demise, buying the competition. They did not however just rebrand every thing Nicholson. In some instances they did not even rename them, but still kept the original companies name. The different trade marks are from the different companies that they bought out. So the different trade marks can tell you who the original company was and where the file was manufactured. Keep in mind i cannot say this is set in stone truth, just what i assume from clues reading the history of the company, a theory if you will. As a side note, found a website that is nothing but old tool catalogs. Not sure if i can link it but it is called "tool archives", but i would guess that this is nothing new for many here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 Billy, I hate to redirect anyone away from IFI, but there is a forum I have been on a time or two, called "Tool Talk". You have to join, as here on IFI, but they have a tremendous amount of info on old tools. I'm sure there is part of the forum where you can find file information. I'll PM you the link so as not to violate the TOS here on IFI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 It's always acceptable to write out the name of the site without linking to it, such as "www.google.com". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 OK, thanks. Better safe than sorry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted December 14, 2020 Author Share Posted December 14, 2020 Thanks for the tip. I know i cannot link commercial sites and should go back and read the TOS again but like Arkie said better safe than sorry. Thanks for the link Arkie. Oh, so just to be safe add a ".com" at the end of tool archive and thats it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 I have that one bookmarked, a good site for research. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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