file

tool used to remove fine amounts of material

AI overview

A file is a tool with a rough surface that you use to scrape away small amounts of material from an object, such as metal or wood. It matters because it allows you to shape, smooth, or adjust objects with precision that you couldn't achieve with other tools.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

~17 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Photograph of a file on a wooden surface. Detail of a double-cut flat file showing cutting surfaces on both wide and narrow faces

A file is a tool used to remove fine amounts of material from a workpiece. It is common in woodworking, metalworking, and other similar trade and hobby tasks. Most are hand tools, made of a case hardened steel bar of rectangular, square, triangular, or round cross-section, with one or more surfaces cut with sharp, generally parallel teeth. A narrow, pointed tang is common at one end, to which a handle may be fitted.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “file” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.