Hey, guys -- I may be the only one with this problem, but I've found a solution to it. When making pewter nosecaps, I tend to be "overly generous" in casting the inital hunk of metal; better too much than too little. Removing the excess has been labor intensive, pewter being soft and tending to "gum up" coarse files, rasps, etc. At the swap meet, I purchased what I believe to be a "farrier's file" that I'd seen horseshoers use to remove hoof material. Instead of having parallel, crossed straight lines like a "regular" file, or gouged-up points like a rasp, this one has curved cutting edges, like a series of "smiley-face" mouths -- maybe 7-8 to the inch on the "coarse" side, a dozen or so on the "fine" side. It removes LOTS of pewter in a very short time, and what little "clumping" between the teeth that occurs is easily removed with a file card and sharp pick. If you place a paper plate alongside the vise and beneath the work, you can reclaim most of your "removed" pewter and remelt it for "next time." Works really well for me. -- paulallen, tucson az
