Thread: where to get reamers etc.

If you a after metal reamers for a bit of light work at home then McJing have a small range. I've used on of the MT2 reamers and it worked well.

www.mcjing.com.au

For reaming metal, you could try Hares & Forbes (http://www.hareandforbes.com.au) - cheapish & will talk to you
Or Blackwoods, Moyles, etc. Look up 'Engineer's Supplies in the Yellow Pages.
IN the U.S. try McMaster-Carr, but they are pricey.

Keep an eye out in the newspapers for car swap meetings, they usually have people selling all sorts of tools including reamers usually at a reasonable price

Quite frequently there are reamers of various sizes on eBay, mostly going for moderate prices. Also try LPR Toolmakers (website - try google)
I have also found that used reamers can be picked up very cheaply, the problem is that they're often blunt. If you have a small diamond plate. they can be rejuvenated by CAREFULLY honing the radial faces of the flutes. This is great if you are looking for some of the larger sizes, I have a 5/8" and a 3/4" which were bought for $3.00 each and about 20 minutes work restored them to quite useable condition, saving huge bucks.
Cheers
Graeme

Originally Posted by Wood Butcher

If you a after metal reamers for a bit of light work at home then McJing have a small range. I've used on of the MT2 reamers and it worked well.

www.mcjing.com.au

This is a good link I've never come across Wood Butcher. These guys look very reasonable and have a pretty good range, with some stuff I haven't been able to find elsewhere. For common stuff (like reamers) I'm often surprised by how cheap the local engineering supplies shop is compared to the online guys ... it's just finding the time to get there during business hours that trips me up.

On a side note, how have peoples experience been with www.minitech.com.au with online shopping? I have generally found them to be OK, but have had a couple of instances where I have been charged freight twice when an item has been out of stock ...

I'd recommend Hare & Forbes as well. Pretty reasonably priced.

The main reason reamers are pricey is they're a dog of a tool to make properly. (Usually a 3-4 micron tolerance for the carbide ones I make at work.)

So, you want to get reamed? Sorry, I wouldn't know anything about that!

If you need a quick reamer that you can use by hand (no power) and have some drill rod on hand, it pretty easy to make a decent reamer that is on size, works well and is fast to make and sharpen.

Take your drill rod, make it the size you need, then grind off one side on an angle, making a thing that looks like you have been dragging a steel rod down the road. Make the angle about 3 times the diameter going from full size down to just under half thickness. Hope that reads sensible.

Heat treat, spin in the drill and clean up, then draw the temper just enough to keep it from snapping, light yellow is enough. Polish the round bits, avoid rounding off the corners. Then hone the flat.

It's not pretty, not as fast to cut as a proper reamer and needs lotsa lube and power, but it will ream whatever hole you need to make it on size. Try to avoid using it in too deep a hole though, unless you relieve the shank, it will bind up nicely if you leave it full sized and try to run it down a deep hole. BTDT.

Got that from a Gingery (sp) book, and it works very, very well.

I maintain a list of Aussie Metalwork Suppliers at

http://www.peter.com.au/metalwork/suppliers.html

Many of them would supply reamers.

McJing, Hare & Forbes, minitech, LPR Toolmakers , ebay are all listed, as well as others.

BTW, acton, yes, I have purchased quite a number of things from minitech.com.au, and had very good service from them, and also heard from others with good comments too. I'm sure they would quickly fix up any issue with double freight charges.

Blackwoods but check the opposition prices first