Needle Files

Needle files shape and smooth areas that are unreachable with the larger hand files. A common mistake made by jewellers is using too coarse of a needle file. A #2 cut needle file is too coarse for jewellery work. It leaves deep file marks in the metal, which are difficult to remove from the tight spaces where needle files are used. When attempting to remove them the clean straight edges or contours developed by filing are lost, resulting in a mediocre job.

A #4 cut needle file should be saved for times where heavy filing is needed in tight areas. A #6 cut needle file is used for general filing. Often a jeweller can go straight to polishing with tripoli after using a #6 file. This will save not only time but also reduce waste material. More importantly, the clean straight edges, contours, and sharp corners produced with the file are not lost in the sanding process. This results in a more professional looking finished piece of jewelry.