Reamer holder

H

huntinco

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I asked this in the general forum and got no response, hopefully I will find some help here.

I really enjoy all the info you guys post here. I have slowly been gathering up all the right tools, over the last year, in hopes of one day making a few guns on my own. Now my question; what is the best self-centering reamer holder, and what do you guys think about the PTG action jig?

Thanks in advance,
Justin
 
huntinco said:
I asked this in the general forum and got no response, hopefully I will find some help here.

I really enjoy all the info you guys post here. I have slowly been gathering up all the right tools, over the last year, in hopes of one day making a few guns on my own. Now my question; what is the best self-centering reamer holder, and what do you guys think about the PTG action jig?

Thanks in advance,
Justin
Click to expand...

If you are thinking about chambering on a lathe, I'd suggest a floating pusher like Mike Bryant shows on his web site or like the one below.

A floating pusher is unique in that the reamer is pushed by the handle that clamps to the reamer body and the reamer body does not touch the pusher on its OD or end.


Mikes-- http://www.bryantcustom.com/articles/rebarrel.htm


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awryma.jpg
 
Dennis, thanks for pointing out that the "pushing" surfaces must be machined parallel so the feeding force from the tailstock to the reamer will be even. This is what allows the reamer to actually float as it needs to cut the chamber body to the same diameter as the reamer was ground to.

Many so called floating reamer holders do not actually float and this can cause chamber bodies to be as much as 0.003"-0.005" over size.
 
I am kinda thinking that if the reamer is actually floating and, in an extreme case, wobbling around to follow the axis of the bore, would the "parallel faces" of the pusher and reamer no longer be in alignment? Doesn't the "bald eagle" holder have a ball end on it to compensate just for that?
 
JGS Floating Reamer Holder

The picture is a JGS floating reamer holder, inconjunction with a Lambeth/Kiff MARS coolant flowing, and catch pan.

Rustystud
 

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Jkob said:
I am kinda thinking that if the reamer is actually floating and, in an extreme case, wobbling around to follow the axis of the bore, would the "parallel faces" of the pusher and reamer no longer be in alignment? Doesn't the "bald eagle" holder have a ball end on it to compensate just for that?
Click to expand...

Mr. Kobe,

The Bald Eagle floating reamer is as you describe. The ball end is in a Morse Taper sleeve that fits it the tailstock. It bares against a polished metal flat within the actual reamer holder, and allows it to "float" and compensate for any alignment errors.

I have one and it seems to work quite well. I do have very limited experience with such goings on, though. My only complaint with it is that the handle on the reamer holder, which the operator must hang on to to keep the whole affair from spinning, is a little small. It doesn't give one much leverage, and the fingers do get a little tired. However, in a post about this same issue, Mike Bryant told me to make an extention for the handle long enough to reach the cross slide, and to just rest it on the cross slide and chamber away. He did not think holding on to it with one's hand was necessary. I have yet to try his method, though. Not because I doubt him, but because I haven't chambered a barrel recently.

Justin
 
Jkob said:
I am kinda thinking that if the reamer is actually floating and, in an extreme case, wobbling around to follow the axis of the bore, would the "parallel faces" of the pusher and reamer no longer be in alignment? Doesn't the "bald eagle" holder have a ball end on it to compensate just for that?
Click to expand...
The answer is no, because the chamber was prebored before reaming. The trouble with some of the floating holders is that as the reamer is started back in the hole, the entire assembly can drop down a few thousants and, due to friction of the floating part, it stays there. The result is a chamber where the body is oversize.

If you get in a situation where the back of the reamer is wobbling, as you put it, you really have something bad wrong.
 
I have a JGS at the moment and would like to try something else.

I hear that the Kennametal Floating Reamer holder is considered good.

Do you share this opinion and do you know which model number is the best?
 
Chris

There are 5 or 6 of us on this forum that make a living chambering barrels and we all chamber basically the same way. You don't have to throw away money on a "Brand Name" reamer holder. A lot of money from what I saw for the Kennametal holder. It's all in the barrel setup. As Jerry said if anyone has a wobblely handle on their reamer holder they need to look at their barrel setup not their reamer holder. It's that simple. I also like being able to take my reamer out and easily check for chip weld on the last few passes. Jerry uses a tap handle, Dennis made his own holder,I use a Sinclair case holder that I extended on one end and Mike, I think use a Sinclair case holder or something similar also. Get a drill chuck adapter for the tailstock, punch a hole in it and a tap handle and your in business. Costs less than $20 for both. Keep it simple. No holder made can compensate for a poorly setup barrel.

Dave
 
Chris

I have and do still chamber between centers at times. I chamber some very large barrels, as in 1.850" diameter stuff. The key to getting the best job possible is cutting good centers. George Kelbly told me a trick once and I've never looked for a better way. Even in a piloted center reamer there are tolerences that stack up. Put the barrel in the lathe and run at about 125RPM's, feed the reamer in by hand and when you reach the depth you want push/pull the reamer to one side and hold until it stops cutting. I turn the tenon using a live center and go to a dead center when threading. I polish the tops of the threads slightly, clean everything up and then run the steady rest on top of the treads to chamber. I've found that works better for me than taking a clean up cut on the barrel. Saves some time also.
The reamer holder I'm talking about saves a lot of length if your bed length is crowding you a little.

Jerry

I don't agree that you don't need a floating reamer holder. In a perfect world the tailstock is in alignment with the headstock and even more important the tailstock quill is in alignment and when extended travels parallel with the ways. I've never checked mine but I'll bet it doesn't.

Dave
 
Why are some of you pushing against the handle used to hold the reamer vs. pushing against the end of the reamer? I use the Sinclair case holder like Dave mentioned but I use a smooth piece chucked in the tail stock to push against the end of the reamer (not the Sinclair holder). Both surfaces are smooth and it should be able to "float" unobstructed. This to me seems better than trying to push against a handle surface that may not be totally perpendicular with the reamer centerline. Thanks Joel
 
J. Pendergraft said:
Why are some of you pushing against the handle used to hold the reamer vs. pushing against the end of the reamer? I use the Sinclair case holder like Dave mentioned but I use a smooth piece chucked in the tail stock to push against the end of the reamer (not the Sinclair holder). Both surfaces are smooth and it should be able to "float" unobstructed. This to me seems better than trying to push against a handle surface that may not be totally perpendicular with the reamer centerline. Thanks Joel
Click to expand...
Joel, your flat-face pusher will work but using a tailstock 60 degree center can cause an oversize chamber if the tailstock is out of alignment. Here I am talking about through the headstock chambering. Why encapsulate the end of the reamer? Just feels safer to me. Notice on my setup, the hole was bored in the home-made tap handle in the same setup that a spotface was machined on the tap handle. (See photo above, look closely and you can see the edge of the spotface)

Dave, if the tenon where the steadyrest is running, was machined while running on the tailstock center, the barrel bore at the exit point should be in line with the tailstock center????...???..?? I hate steadyrest chambering!!!
 
JerrySharrett said:
Chris, if you chamber in a steadyrest, using the conventional method where you have cut the tenon from a piloted center, you really don't need a floating holder or a floating pusher.

See post #2 in the following thread for the basics;
http://www.benchrest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57513&highlight=steadyrest
Click to expand...

Jerry, I have been using a floating reamer holder as I expected that there may be some wandering of the bore relative to the OD (I do first cut a flat on the barrel OD at both the muzzle and chamber ends).

When I chamber in the steady I use the adjustment on the chuck to get the bore in line with the axis of the lathe. So admittedly there is hopefully less need for a floating holder but I thought it would be safer. I am no expert at machining.

Chris
 
Joel

I've thought about the point you bring up but I have no problems the way I'm doing it now. I like to use the "cup" as a guide pulling the reamer in and out of the chamber. I don't have to turn the lathe off until I want to take a headspace measurement which is when there's about the thickness of the rim left to cut.

Dave

Jerry

Yes the exit point of the bore should be concentric with the tenon but so what. Does that mean it's in alignment with tailstock-quill fully retracted, fully extended, or somewhere in between,how percise is the morse taper in the quill, is it in alignment vertically??? To many moving parts there to push with a dead center. Why wouldn't you want to use a floating reamer holder?
 
Dave Tooley said:
Jerry

Why wouldn't you want to use a floating reamer holder?
Click to expand...
I have tried 3 different types of floating holders. On occasion, mostly on short body cases like the PPC or WSSM I have had the floating holder "stick" and cause an oversize chamber body. If these floating holders are tightened to where they can't cock, they don't want to float. If they are loosened, they will cock and stay there which gives a chamber body 0.003"-0.005" oversize. This seemed to happen worse where the reamer is new, i.e. very sharp. All of this relared to steadyrest chambering.
 
Jerry

by floating I mean something like we use. Not pushing it with the dead center. I have never used one of the commercial holders. Never saw the need.

Dave
 
JerrySharrett said:
I have tried 3 different types of floating holders. On occasion, mostly on short body cases like the PPC or WSSM I have had the floating holder "stick" and cause an oversize chamber body. If these floating holders are tightened to where they can't cock, they don't want to float. If they are loosened, they will cock and stay there which gives a chamber body 0.003"-0.005" oversize. This seemed to happen worse where the reamer is new, i.e. very sharp. All of this relared to steadyrest chambering.
Click to expand...

My one experience with a "floating reamer holder" resulted in an oversize chamber, exactly like Jerry describes above.
I gave it away, told the new owner of my experience.

Jay, Idaho
 
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