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FILE . 1. A See also:bar of See also:steel having See also:sharp See also:teeth on its See also:surface, and used for abrading orsmoothing hard surfaces. (The O. Eng. word is feol, and cognate forms appear in Dutch vijl, Ger. Feile, &c.; the ultimate source is usually taken to be an Indo-See also:European See also:root meaning to See also:mark or scratch, and seen in the See also:Lat. pingere, to paint.) Some uncivilized tribes See also:polish their weapons with such things as rough stones, pieces of See also:shark skin or fishes' teeth. The operation of filing is recorded in r Sam. xiii. 21; and, among other facts, the similarity of the name for the filing See also:instrument among various European peoples points to an See also:early practice of the See also:art. A file differs from a rasp (which is chiefly used for working See also:wood, See also:horn and the like) in having its teeth cut with a See also:chisel whose straight edge extends across its surface, while the teeth of the rasp are formed by solitary indentations of a pointed chisel. According to the See also:form of their teeth, files may be single-cut or See also:double-cut; the former have only one set of parallel ridges (either at right angles or at some other See also:angle with the length); the latter (and more See also:common) have a second set cut at an angle with the first. The double-cut file presents sharp angles to the filed surface, and is better suited for hard metals. Files are classed according to the fineness of their teeth (see See also:Tool.), and their shapes See also:present almost endless varieties. Common forms are—the See also:flat file, of parallelogram See also:section, with See also:uniform breadth and thickness, or tapering, or " bellied "; the four-square file, of square section, sometimes with one See also:side " safe," or See also:left smooth; and the so-called three-square file, having its See also:cross section an equilateral triangle, the See also:half-See also:round file, a segment of a circle, the round or See also:rat-tail file, a circle, which are generally tapered. The See also:float file is like the flat, but single-cut. There are many others. Files vary in length from three-quarters of an See also:inch (watchmakers') to 2 or 3 ft. and upwards (See also:engineers'). The length is reckoned exclusively of the spike or tang which enters the handle. Most files are tapered; the See also:blunt are nearly parallel, with larger section near the See also:middle; a few are parallel. The rifflers of sculptors and a few other files are See also:curvilinear iri their central See also:line. In manufacturing files, steel blanks are forged from bars which have been sheared or rolled as nearly as possible to the sections required, and after being carefully annealed are straightened, if necessary, and then rendered clean and accurate by grinding or filing. The See also:process of cutting them used to be largely performed by See also:hand, but See also:machines are now widely employed. The hand-cutter, holding in his left hand a See also:short chisel (the edge of which is wider than the width of the file), places it on the See also:blank with an inclination from the perpendicular of 1 2° or 14°, and beginning near the farther end (the blank is placed with the tang or handle end towards him) strikes it sharply with a See also:hammer. An indentation is thus made, and the steel, slightly thrown up on the side next the tang, forms a See also:ridge. The chisel is then transferred to the uncut surface and slid away from the operator till it encounters the ridge just made; the position of the next cut being thus determined, the chisel is again struck, and so on. The workman seeks to strike the blows as uniformly as possible, and he will make 6o or 8o cuts a See also:minute. If the file is to be single-cut, it is now ready to be hardened, but if it is to be double-cut he proceeds to make the second See also:series or course of cuts, which are generally somewhat finer than the first. Thus the surface is covered with teeth inclined towards the point of the file. If the file is flat and is to be cut on the other side, it is turned over, and a thin See also:plate of See also:pewter placed below it to protect the teeth. Triangular and other files are supported in grooves in See also:lead. In cutting round and half-round files, a straight chisel is applied as tangent to the See also:curve. The round See also:face of a half-round file requires eight, ten or more courses to See also:complete it. Numerous attempts were made, even so far back as the 18th See also:century, to invent machinery for cutting files, but little success was attained till the latter See also:part of the 19th century. In most of the machines the See also:idea was to arrange a See also:metal See also:arm and hand to hold the chisel with a hammer to strike the See also:blow, and so to imitate the See also:manual process as closely as possible. The See also:general principle on which the successful forms are constructed is that the blanks, laid on a moving table, are slowly traversed forward under a rapidly reciprocating chisel or See also:knife. The filing of a flat surface perfectly true is the test of a See also:good filer; and this is no easy See also:matter to the beginner. The piece to be operated upon is generally fixed about the level of the See also:elbow, the operator See also:standing, and, except in the See also:case of small files, grasping the file with both hands, the handle with the right, the farther end with the left. The See also:great point is to be able to move the file forward with pressure in See also:horizontal straight lines; from the tendency of the hands to move in arcs of circles, the See also:heel and point of the file are See also:apt to be alternately raised. This is partially compensated by the bellied form given to many files (which also counteracts the frequent warping effect of the hardening process, by which one side of a flat file may be rendered See also:concave and useless). In bringing back the file for the next thrust it is nearly lifted off the See also:work. Further, much delicacy and skill are required in adapting the pressure and velocity, ascertaining if See also:foreign matters or filings remain interposedbetween the file and the work, &c.• Files can be cleaned with a piece of the so-called See also:cotton-card (used in combing cotton See also:wool) nailed to a piece of wood. In draw-filing, which is sometimes resorted to to give a neat finish, the file is See also:drawn sideways to and fro over the work. New files are generally used for a See also:time on See also:brass or See also:cast-See also:iron, and when partially worn they are still available for filing wrought iron and steel. 2. A See also:string or See also:thread (through the Fr. fil and file, from Lat. filum, a thread) ; hence used of a See also:device, originally a See also:cord, See also:wire or spike on which letters, receipts, papers, &c., may be strung for convenient reference. The See also:term has been extended to embrace various methods for the preservation of papers in a particular See also:order, such as expanding books, cabinets, and ingenious improvements on the See also:simple wire file which enable any single document to be readily found and withdrawn without removing the whole series. From the devices used for filing the word is transferred to the documents filed, and thus is used of a See also:catalogue, See also:list, or collection of papers, &c. File is also employed to denote a See also:row of persons or See also:objects arranged one behind the other. In military usage a " file " is the opposite of a " See also:rank," that is, it is composed of a (variable) number of men aligned from front to See also:rear one behind the other, while a rank contains a number of men aligned from right to left abreast. Thus a See also:British See also:infantry See also:company, in line two deep, one See also:hundred strong, has two ranks of fifty men each, and fifty " files " of two men each. Up to about 1600 infantry companies or battalions were often sixteen deep, one front rank See also:man and the fifteen " coverers " forming a file. The number of ranks and, therefore, of men in the file diminished first to ten (1600), then to six (163o), then to three (1700), and finally to two (about 18o8 in the British See also:army, 1888 in the See also:German). Denser formations when employed have been formed, not by altering the order of men within the unit, but by placing several See also:units, one closely behind the other (" doubling " and " trebling '.' the line of See also:battle, as it used to be called). In the 17th century a file formed a small command under the " file See also:leader," the whole of the front rank consisting therefore of old soldiers or non-commissioned See also:officers. This use of the word to See also:express a unit of command gave rise to the old-fashioned term " file firing," to imply a See also:species of See also:fire (See also:equivalent to the See also:modern " See also:independent ") in which each man in the file fired in See also:succession after the file leader, and to-See also:day a See also:corporal or sergeant is still ordered to take one or more files under his See also:charge for independent work. In the above it is to be understood that the men are facing to the front or rear. If they are turned to the right or left so that the company now stands two men broad and fifty deep, it is spoken of as being " in file." From this come such phrases as " single file " or " See also:Indian file " (one man leading and the See also:rest following singly behind him)). The use of verbs " to file " and " to See also:defile," implying the passage from fighting to marching formation, is to be derived from this rather than from the re-semblance of a marching See also:column to a See also:long flexible thread, for in the days when the word was first used the infantry company
whether in battle or on the See also: The first of the three dorsal spines is very strong, roughened in front like a file, and hollowed out behind to receive the second much smaller spine, which, besides, has a See also:projection in front, at its See also:base, fitting into a notch of the first. Thus these two spines can only be raised or depressed simultaneously, in such a manner that the first cannot be forced down unless the second has been previously depressed. The latter has been compared to a trigger, hence the name of Trigger-fish. Also the • This may also be understood as meaning simply " a single file," but the explanation given above is more probable, as it is essentially a marching and not a fighting formation that is expressed by the phrase. generic name Balisles and the See also:Italian name of " Pesce balistra" refer to this structure. Both jaws are armed with eight strong incisor-like and sometimes pointed teeth, by which these fishes are enabled, not only to break off pieces of madrepores and other See also:corals on which they feed, but also to chisel a hole into the hard shells of See also:Mollusca, in order to See also:extract the soft parts. In this way they destroy an immense number of molluscs, and become most injurious to the See also:pearl-See also:fisheries. The See also:gradual failure of those Batistes vidua. fisheries in See also:Ceylon has been ascribed to this cause, although evidently other agencies must have been at work at the same time. The Monacanthi are distinguished from the Balisles in having only one dorsal spine and a velvety covering of theskin. Some 30 different species are known of Balistes and about 50 of Monacanthus. Two species (B. maculatus and capriscus), common in the See also:Atlantic, sometimes wander to the British coasts. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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