A guy at the flea market said you can hear bad steel in a file, and he was right
He was digging through a $2 bin in Springfield and told me to tap a file against the tang instead of the tip. I tried it on three old Nicholsons and one rang flat while the other two had a clean high ring, so now that's the first thing I check before buying anything used. What's your go-to spot on a tool to tap for that sound?