reamer questions?

Not gun related at all, but some of you guys will know the proper way to make small holes bigger. lol

I have been drilling a 3/8" pilot hole then using a 5/8 reamer to get my 5/8" holes that I needed. I have been doing the same then stepping up to the 3/4 reamer for the 3/4" holes I needed.
I got them done, but on each and every 3/4" hole my old black and decker drill put a beat down on me, but I won in the end sorta.lol
Step it up to the one inch holes. I had planned on doing the same then switching to a 1" reamer. All of these are accessible for a mag drill so after starting one the drill has put the last whuppin on me that I am going to take for this project, so went and bought a 1" annular cutter for the mag drill.

This poses another question. I had already started 2 of the holes one is 5/8" and the other is somewhere between that and 3/4" ( when I had my last whuppin) lol. If I just center the cutter over the holes, will I be able to get the plug out of the cutter.

Why does the 3/4 hang so bad, would I be better off not using the 5/8 first?
It is an old reamer and extra long, maybe I am just letting it get a little crooked?
Am I trying to take too much of a bite with it.
The 5/8 can be a handful, but is manageable.
Should I be putting less pressure on them, they don't seem to cut if I do?

When I last worked in a truck shop we used to put on 5th wheels with pieces of 4x4 angle laid up against the frame rails so there was the half inch of the angle, then two thicknesses of frame rail, about 1 1/8" or 1 1/4" worth of material to go through, maybe 12 bolts down each side of the frame.

We used a 3/4" gear reduction drill and screwed a 4' long piece of pipe into it laid that pipe between the tandems and let IT soak up the twisting and torquing. Worked pretty dang good I have to admit. That drill would throw you for a loop if it got loose, you couldn't let go of it fast enough. We started the holes with a 3/8" bit in a half in drill then went right straight to a tapered 13/16" reamer in the big drill that would start in those 3/8" holes.

If you can get your annular cutter to take a cut it should center itself but if the first hole is already bigger than the ID of the annular bit, I dunno never tried one like that. Might have to ream that one.

a 3/8" pilot hole is over loading a true reamer. Reamers are meant to remove small amounts of metal .015 or less. The 1/8" your trying to remove is way more than a true reamer is meant to. At work we drilled a pilot hole the size of the point web or just slightly bigger then to just under the reamers dia by .005-.010 then reamed. On big holes we might even jig bore to close.

If your using a second drill to open the pilot up again the smaller pilot hole the size or just slightly bigger is needed. The 3/8" to 5/8 is .125 on a side and may be letting the drill bit suck and grab into the work. On small cuts the relief and flutes tend to act as threads pulling in the small pilot hole keeps the drill centered and cutting on the full edge slowing this effect. ALso these light cuts ten to wear the side webs on the flutes more causing more issues.

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Originally Posted by country gent

a 3/8" pilot hole is over loading a true reamer. Reamers are meant to remove small amounts of metal .015 or less.

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You couldn't tell none of the mechanics in this shop that, those reamers were bad to the bone. I never broke one, and one reamer would do who knows how many 5th wheels they just kept going and going and going. Took about a minute and a half to do one hole from 3/8" to 13/16" that thing was fast and efficient.

Doug guy every frame shop I have ever known started out with a 1/4 or 3/8 drill bit then switched to a reamer. Part of what I have been doing is just that, except I removed the old 5th wheel mount, so most of the holes are were already in the frame, thank god, as it is 3/8 and doubled.
The mag drill and annular cutters works great, but it wont do double frames.

back when I was doing metal skeleton framework for buildings we used reamers all the time to line up holes or enlarge holes, we welded a nut to the end of the reamer and used impacts to turn the reamer. if the point started in the hole, it would ream the correct size hole in nothing flat.

If I was going to drill the hole to .015 or less, why wouldn't I just drill them the size I need and do away with the reamers?

Good question. How much does a reamer cost, how much does a drill bit cost, and how long will either one last?

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Originally Posted by Hannibal

Good question. How much does a reamer cost, how much does a drill bit cost, and how long will either one last?

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Good question for someone with more reamer experience with reamers than I.
I can sharpen drill bits, so the larger ones last a good while, not sure if reamers can be sharpened. I can see sharpening them on the taper, but seems like much sharpening on the full diameter part would eventually make it smaller, but again that part may never need to be sharpened.
As far as price, I would think the bits would be cheaper, but neither are cheap.

Pretty much what I was thinking as well. All I know is the type of reamers I'm used to working with wouldn't tolerate the type of treatment described above.

I must agree with country gent. I am unfamiliar with what you are calling a reamer but I have never tried to remove more than 5 thousands of an inch with a true reamer. They are for final sizing and to clean up a hole. Also reamers can be sharpened but the size will change.

A true reamer can be sharpened but its unique. The end is cut off and the beveled cutting edge is reqround and relieved removing the side wear and when relieved a new cutting edge. We would hone the scrapping sides to make .0005 under sized reamer up. These were used where a press in dowel was used. we also would have cutter grind make a .0005 over sized from old reamers for the slip fit dowel side. Saved a lot of Jig grinding time. Most of mine are made from carbide reamers.

We must be talking about 2 different animals. The ones I use have a long taper on them, and as far as I know are for hogging out a hole, must faster than a drill bit or for when two holes doesn't exactly match.

Yep two different reamers. I'm used to finish reamers used in the machine shops for preccision finishing of holes. I believe your talking about what I know as a bridge reamer to completely different animals. Different cutting angles and flute geometry.

Ah, yes! Now I understand. Still wouldn't have believed you could get away with taking a pneumatic impact wrench to one, but I never tried it.
I'll keep this in mind. Might come in handy one day.

As to the OP's question, at least one fella says weld a nut on and try an impact.

(?)

First shop I worked in we had an gear head air drill that had a number 3 morase taper instead of a chuck. This drill spun be a couple times we normally shortened the air hose up so when it grabbed it popped the quick connect. It was a monster hand drill.

While Ive never used a bridge reamer Ive seen them and they are a very heavy duty tool, meant for rough use.