When HN users recommended it
2 HN users recommended this in 2024, in 2 comments.
20072026
Each tall tick is one HN user's first recommendation. A short tick is the same user again. Click a tick to jump to the comment.
2 HN users recommended this in 2024, in 2 comments.
Each tall tick is one HN user's first recommendation. A short tick is the same user again. Click a tick to jump to the comment.
Sets like this one
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B092D4CV56
are also sold in U.S. hardware stores
https://www.harborfreight.com/needle-file-set-10-piece-69876...
https://www.menards.com/main/tools/hand-tools/files/tool-sho...
They are very cheaply made, but as far as I can tell are actually diamond. They're good for shaping glass and ceramics. For metal, you're better off using hardened steel files, but these ones will work, just slowly and with less precision.
Diamonds are just dirt cheap. You can buy a set of ten diamond needle files for $8 on Amazon, or less than $2 in wholesale quantities. I have hundreds of grams of diamond in my workshop in the form of lapping compound; if you're so inclined, you could buy half a kilo of loose diamonds for a couple of hundred bucks.
A wide range of very ordinary cutting tools are now tipped with big chunks of polycrystalline diamond - cutting tools for machining aluminium, inserts for rock drills, saw blades for cutting fibre cement boards. Even woodworkers are starting to use diamond saw blades and router bits, because the improved wear life over tungsten carbide gives a rapid return on investment.
https://www.amazon.com/Yakamoz-10-Piece-Diamond-Jewelers-Pre...
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/140mm-160mm-180mm-Dia...
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32719545477.html
https://union-diamond.en.alibaba.com/index.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003335883020.html