Off topic - what happened to metalwork at school?

Ever tried to buy any replacement Abrafiles recently?

When in your local Engineer's Merchants, if you ask for Abrafiles you will probably be confonted with a momentary blank stare, followed by "what's one of those".

To cut a long story short, what you need to ask for, and I quote, is "Radial Hacksaw Blades". Seems to me to be like political correctness applied to hand tools. After all, all hack saws cut in a radial direction relative to the axis of the blade, dont they?

I suspect Abrafile might be trade name. They were recently made by a firm called Vitrex, but they have decided to stop making them, probably due to falling demand. Can't say I'm surprised.