Friendzy Friday March 9 - Files

For this week's Friendzy Friday instead of showing you how to make something or a cool new technique I have decided to focus on one of my favourite tools in my scrap bag. The Basic Grey Precision File Set is something I think all scrappers should have on their desk. This little tube of different sized files can make distressing easy and covering chipboard a simple task. I have had these as part of my basic tool kit for a couple of years and I reach for all the time (as you can tell by how worn they are!)

The set comes with two flat, double sided boards and 4 metal files : flat, round, half round and knife point. The rubber grips make them so easy to handle.

The flat boards work really for distressing the edges of paper or even just to remove that fluffy edge that shows up sometimes when you trim your paper.

It can be a challenge to cover chipboard/wood shapes and letters and get a clean finish when using paper. These files make it a breeze. I have had this wooden sign of my son's name for ages and thought now would be a great time to cover it. You can see it has lots of intricate edges, perfect to test out the files.

The round file is IDEAL for smoothing out the hollows in O's, P's etc. I find that if you spin the file as you work you get a cleaner finish.

Another tip is to always pull from behind when filing so the smooth edge is visible.

The knife edge works well to get in narrow spots.

No need to worry about rough, uneven spots. The files are metal so without too much effort it just smoothes right away:

Nice, clean edges all around!

I have even used the round file to drill small holes.

Here's the finished project!

These files will make a very useful addition to your toolkit!

(p.s. TSF is currently out of these files but they are ordered and will be in very soon!)