Reamer Sharpening Fixture

[rossbotics]

After completing the Countersink and Counter Bore Sharpening Fixtures made me think what other cutting tools I have that needs a special fixture for resharpening, after looking through all my fixtures the only other fixture I needed was one for sharpening chucking reamers, I came up with this design and built this tool I call a Reamer Sharpening Fixture, I now have fixtures to sharpen most any cutting tool I own except for taps, but taps aren’t that expensive and in my opinion aren’t worth the effort,

This tool was made from a variety of steels which includes 1018, 4140 Pre-Hard and O-1 Tool Steel, these steels were chosen for their particular application and durability, reamers from 1/8” to 1.125” can be resharpened, this fixture is not for sharpening the diameter of a reamer just the end cutting edges, this fixture was carefully and precisely made with precision ground surfaces, this tool looks and performs as well as intended.

I have included multiple photos of the machining processes of making this fixture along with a demonstration video showing the reamer setup and sharpening procedure.

As always thanks for looking and happy machining.

Doug








<span style="font-family: Calibri"><font size="3"><font color="#000000">

[DIYer]

Thanks rossbotics! We've added your Reamer Sharpening Fixture to our Sharpening category,
as well as to your builder page: rossbotics's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Reamer Sharpening Fixture by rossbotics

tags: sharpening, reamer, fixture

[PJs]

I'm running out of superlatives Doug, but it is beautiful and works like a charm. That fit on the pin was @¿@...nice, to say the least. Kind of a dedicated spindexer but the the no-lash nylon washer and gravity latch are excellent touches.

I'm not however running out of questions. ~~ Always been curious as to the price of reamers, (expensive in my book) is it worth sharpening the flute to an undersized dimension?? I get that the cutting is done at the entry and the flutes act more as a hone, but have seen used ones with seriously worn or dinked flutes in flea markets and garage sales, and wondered if concentricity becomes an issue on a deeper ream due to the wear? Or maybe runout in the drive spindle causing it?

Always thankful for your posts!!

PJ

[old_toolmaker]

rossbotics,

Nice fixture. Is that a shot pin on the left side for locating radial position?

[rossbotics]

As always thanks PJs
Good quality reamers are a little pricey, the cost also reflects on the size of the reamer, the larger the more $ and so on, reamers are only sharpened on the end of the flutes, the entry, the most common cause of a reamer making an oversize hole is concentricity of the sharpening process, if one of the flutes is say .001" longer than the others then you have a wobble in the reamer as its cutting creating an oversize hole, its important to grind all the flutes a couple of times around or until you have no spark.

Thanks PJs
Doug

I'm running out of superlatives Doug, but it is beautiful and works like a charm. That fit on the pin was @¿@...nice, to say the least. Kind of a dedicated spindexer but the the no-lash nylon washer and gravity latch are excellent touches.

I'm not however running out of questions. ~~ Always been curious as to the price of reamers, (expensive in my book) is it worth sharpening the flute to an undersized dimension?? I get that the cutting is done at the entry and the flutes act more as a hone, but have seen used ones with seriously worn or dinked flutes in flea markets and garage sales, and wondered if concentricity becomes an issue on a deeper ream due to the wear? Or maybe runout in the drive spindle causing it?

Always thankful for your posts!!

PJ

[rossbotics]

Thanks Dick
You are absolutely right

Doug

rossbotics,

Nice fixture. Is that a shot pin on the left side for locating radial position?

[old_toolmaker]

rossbotics,

Thanks, I thought it might be.

[marksbug]

so we can send our reamers to you for sharpening!!! great work, wish i had the patients to build something like that nowdays...but those days are gone. I suppose I could make a base for my 5c collet index spindle thingy( yes the cheep green/blue enco pos) a base with the indexing flopy arm( I would add the spring so i could hear it snapinto place..)&then add the angles on the base for eazy setup. just mill a slot in the base .050 deep or so for the spinjig ti fit snugly so it indexes each time....and add the angle to the bottom...or mill the slot with a angle.. Butt first!! fix the wonkey cheep ass spin jig.... thats too much like work..I'd rather send them to you for sharpening.... keep up the great work!!!

[Okapi]

Looking at your system, when you're speaking about taps, with this technology you can correct the entrance angle of the cutting part which is often damaged by carbon crystals or dirt for example.

[Ralphxyz]

For the 3/8" reamer what size was your pilot hole?

Ralph