Photographs by the author

The Wen 6307 weights a bit over 2 lbs and its grip is just 2" in diameter. It's easy to work with.

I was introduced band files when I was working at the Smithsonian, making the brass mounts that support museum artifacts on display. The mounts were often complex shapes that needed to be sculpted to blend in with the objects they supported. The band file could do the work quickly and with a light touch that wouldn’t damage delicate bits of brass.The band file I’d grown to like was very expensive, so I never bought one. I did buy an inexpensive band-file attachment for an angle grinder, but it was a bad pairing. Angle grinders are too heavy, powerful, and loud—and spin too fast—for the work I do with a band file.

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