Reamers for beginners....

[MattB]

I am contemplating doing the EZ build as my first engine over my christmas break, as such I want to make sure I have everything i need ready, I'm thinking materials, taps/dies and reamers. Now heres the question, The reamers i use at work are either large size adjustable (we have 25mm through to 35mm) or specific bike related sizes that are no use for anything else. I understand the difference between hand and chucking reamers, i was planning on reaming by hand but don't want to end up with a tapered hole. I also prefer the idea of having a tool that can be used in a machine but can also be used elsewhere. Are the only solutions to my problem

1. Use a chucking reamer and never use it for anything else
2. Modify the design so it's a through bore and use a hand reamer then cap the back
3. Boring bar? (not sure ours will fit)
4. Something else?

What's the best option?

also, is it always true that hand reamers have a tapered section or are there exceptions? I'm looking at these reamers http://www.rdgtools.co.uk/acatalog/REAMERS_INDIVIDUAL_SIZES.html and they don't appear to have a taper but i realise the taper would be very slight

Thanks in advance

Matt

 

[Mutley]

I have a couple of these reamers, they didn't have a taper on them, they are parallel, there is a square section on top of the shank, this is where you place a Tap handle, out of a tap & die set in order to use them.

Hope this helps.

 

[arnoldb]

Hi Matt

I don't know how much machining experience or what tooling you have, but IMHO you don't need to worry about reamers for the EZ build. Drills should be just fine for all the holes, and a sharp inside turning tool should be fine to bore the cylinder. I also thought reamers are essential when I started with basic engines, and bought a few different once at high cost, but have not used them that much - normal machining works just fine - the basic engines need not be all that precise.

In some cases for my newer and more complex builds I find I do need reamers, but usually none of the ones I bought is the right size, so I just end up making my own d-bit reamers from drill-rod(silver steel) where needed.

Hope this helps

Regards, Arnold