Adjustable Reamers

R

Robert LaLonde

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I was sitting here thinking about a tricky mold build. Well tricky for me anyway. The solution is to cut the mold, assemble it, turn the outside round, and drop it into a sleeve a few thousandths bigger to allow for venting, but limit flashing. I am pleased as punch about figuring out the solution to the problem, but that's not the only problem. I'm looking at target diameters of .997 and 1" respectively.

I don't own a reamer that big. No big deal. I could buy one and it would get here long before the job comes up on the board. I just didn't want to spend the money for one I would use one time in one hole and never use it again. They aren't cheap. Sure I pay that much for a fancy mill from time to time, but I get a lot of hours out of it, before it goes in the recycle pot.

Yeah, I suppose I could bore it on the lathe, but the sleeve has to be machined into a rectanguloid box. I also need to be pretty close on my tolerance. If I have deeper grooves inside it could flash, and if I get it to small it could seize or just not vent well. It would be kind of a pain to setup.

I'll probably 3D machine the sleeve half in each of two pieces to around 0.990 and then assemble and ream to size.

Than I thought... hmmm maybe I can borrow one from my dad. He has some old adjustable reamers. Maybe he has one that will cover the 1" range. He has a set and he offered to just give them to me. I asked him how much he paid for them and offered to pay for them since I will use it in my business. Yeah, you can give me some money if you want, but I only paid $25 for them. Never used the larger ones.
Nice. Two problems solved today. And even the solution to the solution.
 
I wouldn't do it. I've tried using adjustable reamers on "precision" setups and it cost me the farm. Trust me on this. They have a very long taper of about 2/3 the length of the cutters. If you're reaming down a blind hole, that probably won't work. Also, they just aren't rigid enough to cut without getting stuck and wedged into the hole.

In your shoes, I'd bite the bullet and find a real reamer.

Ray
 
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Ray C said:
I wouldn't do it. I've tried using adjustable reamers on "precision" setups and it cost me the farm. Trust me on this. They have a very long taper of about 2/3 the length of the cutters. If you're reaming down a blind hole, that probably won't work. Also, they just aren't rigid enough to cut without getting stuck and wedged into the hole.

In your shoes, I'd bit the bullet and find a real reamer.

Ray
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That's good to know. I've personally never used an adjustable reamer. I've got on size, over, and under chucking reamers from 0.125 to 0.500 along with a few loose odd sizes in the smaller ones, and a I have a metric set just on size only from 3mm to 15mm. Chucking reamers are dead easy to use, but all the 1" ones I saw had a bigger shaft than I can chuck up in anything.
 
I have a set as well, and they don't get used for anything I would consider precision. They are an absolute PIA to adjust and hold to the proper tolerance. In addition as mentioned they have a long taper. I only use them on through holes. They were originally purchased to ream holes for pins on an end loader bucket and arms. They worked good for that purpose, but I wouldn't trust them for anything needing more precision than that.

For everything else I use either a single size chucking or hand reamer.
 
I'm getting the picture. Thanks guys.

The Ebay listing says the "seller is away." Its about the same price as the low end from MSC and they have them stocked in my nearest distribution center, so I know I can get them quick there. I guess I should just quit being cheap and buy one. The job does pay more than enough to cover it.
 
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