Pneumatic Cylinder Self-Aligning Coupling for Floating Reamer Holder

[macardoso]

Just had a thought. Floating reamer holders are either expensive ($300+) or are difficult to make. I found that manufacturers make self aligning couplings for air cylinders that have both radial and angular float, and depending on size are quite affordable ($30-60). Do you think this would make a good option for a floating reamer holder? Screw one size onto a MT shank, and the other to a drill chuck or ERxx chuck to attach the reamer.

Alignment Coupler - Alignment Coupler - Norgren

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[pontiac428]

The only thing I could come up with is that they are designed to compensate for linear misalignment in a pneumatic pushrod, which is a concern because there is no indication that they are made for transferring rotary torque. 1/16 misalignment tolerance and 2 degrees angular seem like good numbers. They have a 7/16-20 that would be easy to find a MT arbor for. They mention adjustable shock absorption, that might be linear and not torsional. I bet you could install two cross pins to lock it for torsional use, though. What would it cost to find out?

 

[GeneT45]

If I understand these correctly, they would be trying to force things into alignment, which is not at all what you want in a floating reamer holder.

This sort of floating reamer holder: https://pacifictoolandgauge.com/reamer-holders-arbors/112-bald-eagle-floating-reamer-holder.html is cheap and easy to make (less than an afternoon) and 'floats' better than most. I made one years ago and it has worked well for me (and I have tried others).
(save the hassle of creating the round end and search "tooling ball" on McMaster.)

GsT

 

[mmcmdl]

What about the Sommas floating holders ? They work for drills , reamers or taps and are abundant .

 

[GeneT45]

What about the Sommas floating holders ? They work for drills , reamers or taps and are abundant .

They would work great, but they're even more expensive than the gunsmithing floating reamer holders. Better? I dunno. Could be...

GsT

 

[pontiac428]

What about the Sommas floating holders ? They work for drills , reamers or taps and are abundant .

Do these float in-plane only, or do they have some angular misalignment range too?

The trend with people who use floating reamer holders with rifles seem to want angular float, there are 100 page threads on several boards that make me not know whether to laugh or cry over the subject. A number of these people deny it is a trend and don't think it can be done any other way, so I thought I'd ask.

 

[mmcmdl]

o these float in-plane only, or do they have some angular misalignment range too?

I believe they make these that have linear only and both linear and angular . I remember the Hardinge TT heads had both and I think I have some downstairs that do both . I will verify but I'm almost positive Sommas makes these also . I can remember having to plug the shaft end so coolant would flow thru the collet vs the shaft end when running them on the cnc .