You can rub chalk or soapstone on your files to help them glide more smoothly. This will also lessen the ‘loading’ of the file. Loading refers to how metal filings stick in the grooves of the file and over time will make it harder to achieve a good cut. File cards should be used to remove the shavings that get caught. A file card looks a bit like a wooden hairbrush with a field of fine metal teeth which you rake across the file (see pictures below). To clean a file, move the file card across the file so the teeth rub through the file grooves and grab the loaded metal shavings.
As you work with files you will notice the sharpness of the cuts changing. The sound the file makes as it cuts will also change. These changes will clue you in that it is time to clean your file with the file card. Different metals will load differently. Aluminum, copper and brass are more ‘gummy’ than steel and will load the fastest (in that order). Different steel compositions will load differently. Obviously softer steels would load faster.
