Reaming in the Lathe/Drilling M/C

[Alan Worland 1Participant @alanworland1]

[Alan Worland 1Participant @alanworland1]

When I am reaming a hole I have just drilled/bored in the lathe I tend to put a centre in the tailstock to locate the end of the reamer put an adjustable spanner on the square which rests against the top slide preventing rotation.

I locate the reamer in the hole and pull the chuck round bt hand while keeping the tailstock located in the reamer and feed it through.

Is this good practice? or should I be running it through under power?

 

Alan

[Phil PParticipant @philp]

I always run the machine under power when reaming.

 

In the lathe I run at a fairly slow speed, and with the “machine” reamer located in the tailstock barrel, I push the complete tailstock along the lathe bed and pull it back again when the reamer has got to depth.

 

In the milling machine or pillar drill, I just use the reamer like a drill but run it much slower.

 

In both cases I put a dab of the old fashioned neat soluable oil on the reamer, not because it cuts any better you understand, I just like the smell of it.

 

There will be plenty of differing opinions about this, but my dad taught to me to use a drill to remove the bulk of the material, then a single point boring tool to bring the hole to reaming diameter but round and true again, then finally the reamer to finish off to final size.

Also never stop rotating the work or the reamer until it has been fully withdrawn, and dont rotate it backwards.

 

I get the impression you were talking about using hand reamers though, so you might be better using the tailstock centre as opposed to holding them in a possibly inaccurate chuck.

Trouble is you need three hands to do it that way. 

 

Phil

 

Edited By Phil P on 08/11/2011 22:41:16

[Anonymous]

Alan; it sounds like you’re talking about a hand reamer, which is just that. It is intended to be used at the bench, by hand, with a tap wrench.

 

For use in a lathe or mill you need a machine reamer, which is used under power. The general rule of thumb is half the speed and twice the feed of an equivalent size drill. A machine reamer cuts on the leading edge only, it does not cut on the flutes like a hand reamer. You also need to leave a decent amount for the reamer to cut, at least 8-10 thou, and more for larger reamers, eg, 20 thou for a 1″ machine reamer.

 

Regards,

 

Andrew

[Alan Worland 1Participant @alanworland1]

Thanks for that. I have mostly hand reamers.

Is it not the done thing to use these under power?

 

Alan

[Anonymous]

Posted by Alan Worland on 08/11/2011 23:21:36:

Is it not the done thing to use these under power?

 

 

It’s certainly not convention, but there’s nothing to say you cannot use a hand reamer under power. However, if you are locating/holding the reamer as described then I fear you may have some problems using power, particularly when trying to withdraw the reamer. Letting it rub, or turning it backwards, is death to reamers.

 

Regards,

 

Andrew

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