I need a chamber reamer Heat treated

[webradbury]

I have never Heat treated anything and don't want to foul this reamer up. It took me too long to make! It is O-1 tool steel and is a D-bit chamber reamer milled in half. I've read it isn't difficult but I don't have a way to Heat it to 1500 and hold it. Like I said, I don't want to foul this one up. Who can I contact? The online companies I have looked at wont do just one small item. Will

[M-Tecs]

I am interested in your design. Could you post pictures?

[webradbury]

I'll have to post it in the morning. At work right now.

[DougGuy]

I have the stuff to do it with, if you'd like to send it.

[webradbury]

I have the stuff to do it with, if you'd like to send it.

Thanks, DougGuy! I'll send you a PM

[webradbury]

I have the stuff to do it with, if you'd like to send it.

Thanks, DougGuy! I'll send you a PM

[jmorris]

It is best to do heat treat (an over sized part) then finish grind with coolant, if you don't want dimensions to change.

[webradbury]

It is best to do heat treat (an over sized part) then finish grind with coolant, if you don't want dimensions to change.

(Long sigh)......I was worried about that. This wildcatting adventure just got complicated.

[Mitch]

Try a local machine shop or tool and die shop.They should be able to do heat treat.

[EDG]

Since it is already cut to the D shape it will probably warp when heat treated. Since you have it finished you can give heat treating a shot since you can't put the metal back on.

Ideally you machine it to the shape needed with out the D.

Heat in a drill press and submerge in oil while the drill press is spinning.

Then temper it.

then carefully grind it to the D shape.

[webradbury]

Since it is already cut to the D shape it will probably warp when heat treated. Since you have it finished you can give heat treating a shot since you can't put the metal back on.

Ideally you machine it to the shape needed with out the D.

Heat in a drill press and submerge in oil while the drill press is spinning.

Then temper it.

then carefully grind it to the D shape.

We'll try it...nothing to lose but a little more time. If it distorts, I'll just have to turn another. More time playing in my shop so I shouldn't complain! Definitely lesson learned though.

[EDG]

I have a lot of that good judgment stuff. It comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment. lolol

We'll try it...nothing to lose but a little more time. If it distorts, I'll just have to turn another. More time playing in my shop so I shouldn't complain! Definitely lesson learned though.

[MaLar]

It will warp. The trick is to set it in the lathe find the high side and grind the high side off.
I have made several reamers this way and it works well.
The bad news is I have miss placed them and I need one for a project.
Guess I'll make a new one.

[oldred]

I have never Heat treated anything and don't want to foul this reamer up. It took me too long to make! It is O-1 tool steel and is a D-bit chamber reamer milled in half. I've read it isn't difficult but I don't have a way to Heat it to 1500 and hold it. Like I said, I don't want to foul this one up. Who can I contact? The online companies I have looked at wont do just one small item. Will

You really don't need to "hold" a piece that small, once it gets to the proper temperature it will be pretty much the same all the way through so holding for a specified time shouldn't be necessary. Another problem with doing it yourself is going to be oxidation and surface pealing unless you first coat it with an anti-oxidation compound made for that purpose, this is probably a bigger problem than warping. The way I have made reamers in the past was to machine it to approximate size then after heat treating it can be honed to the final specs while at the same time eliminating problems arising from warpage. O1 is quite forgiving and is fairly easy to work with as the critical temperature is not all the critical plus it tends to hold it's size fairly well, warpage depends a great deal on the evenness of the heating and the position when heating occurs. Many O1 reamers have been successfully made by home machinists and with a bit of research and practice you will find it's not nearly as mysterious and scary as it might seem.

[MaLar]

I found my reamers actually the wife found them.
Left to right .357 Mag, 38-55, 45on a 350Rem Mag case, 45 throater and a 40 cal throater.

[MaLar]

I know this is an old tread. When I started making my own I bought an old Rifleman mag (1962) and made the reamers from the instructions there. I found the old Rifleman mag and scanned the reamer section. If any one wants a copy PM me an email addy and I'll send it to you.

[44man]

I had warp with cherries for molds and found to spin then in the drill press when heating. Drop straight in the oil. Off center cooling will bend them. Spinning in the drill as you lower to the oil can sounds great. You can't just toss in the oil. I temper in the kitchen oven at 300° for an hour and let cool with the oven. I don't care about looks with the black junk. I can't grind or polish after.

[MaLar]

I should mention I did the spin into the oil trick Works better but still get warpage. I will set blank between centers and find the high side then grind in half taking the high side off. After I heat treat.