Got a Reamer tool today-(i know how it sounds)

[WhoFan]

Finally found a reamer tool today..... When i worked for a short time doing small repair jobs at a guitar store they saw me using a drill to widden the hole for a larger shaft pot.... They told me to never use the drill and use this thing called a reamer... It's a tappered metal shaft that can widen holes by hand safer then power tools.... The tool the shop had is about 10 inches long... has a nice long tapper shaft to it... They can't find them anymore and i have been looking for one like it! saddly the one i found is about 5 inches long and goes from 1/8 up to 7/8th holes.... The shop uses theirs for making pot holes and tuner holes larger... Saddly with the shorter reamer i have i don't think it will be good for tuners but should be great for pots and stuff....


WhoFan

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Got a Reamer tool today-(i know how it sounds)

Good tool to have. It's essential for tuners. Nutt'in will crack a headstock faster then a Maniac with a Power drill.:chairfall

 

[LesPaulRules]

Re: Got a Reamer tool today-(i know how it sounds)

I've had one for years, and have used it for many tuner changes. Bought it from Stew Mac pretty cheap, just in case anyone else is looking for one.

 

[mnbaseball91]

Re: Got a Reamer tool today-(i know how it sounds)

Cool, you saw what I managed to do to the headstock of my Warmoth neck with a power drill. I did end up getting it fixed though. Someone tipped me off that running the drill backwards would avoid chipping. Could have avoided a whole lot of hassle with a reamer though!

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Got a Reamer tool today-(i know how it sounds)

Cool, you saw what I managed to do to the headstock of my Warmoth neck with a power drill. I did end up getting it fixed though. Someone tipped me off that running the drill backwards would avoid chipping. Could have avoided a whole lot of hassle with a reamer though!

Or instead of running the drill backwards you could use a countersink bit to slightly inlarge the openings on the front and back of the tuner holes.... this stopps the tearout somewhat....

As far as the reamer goes i need to find one with a longer tappered shaft for tuner holes.... This reamer is short and goes up in thickness to much for tuner holes.... My dad picked it up for me but said he saw a longer one but thought i'd like the shorter one for some reason... I'll try and get the longer one soon... This reamer my dad bought me would be good for inlarging pickguards and pot holes....

 

[Hoss]

Re: Got a Reamer tool today-(i know how it sounds)

that's on my list of tools i need to start building pedals...

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Got a Reamer tool today-(i know how it sounds)

that's on my list of tools i need to start building pedals...

For building pedals... You might won't to get one of these? I just ordered one to enlarge the holes on my Chassis. I'm think'in it would work pretty good on a project box. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6021428913&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

 

[mrfjones]

Re: Got a Reamer tool today-(i know how it sounds)

For building pedals... You might won't to get one of these? I just ordered one to enlarge the holes on my Chassis. I'm think'in it would work pretty good on a project box. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6021428913&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

nice i have to get myself one of those.

 

[MikeS]

Re: Got a Reamer tool today-(i know how it sounds)

Good tool to have. It's essential for tuners. Nutt'in will crack a headstock faster then a Maniac with a Power drill.:chairfall

Guilty as charged. That was a long time ago, and very stupid (in fact I new better, but patience got teh better of me). Not that this is the right way either, but I have had success with a high speed drill press, a super sharp bit, and a block of wood under the piece I was working on.

But a reamer is ultimately the correct tool for the job, because I know drill presses aren't exactly sitting around in everyone's basements.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Got a Reamer tool today-(i know how it sounds)

Guilty as charged. That was a long time ago, and very stupid (in fact I new better, but patience got teh better of me). Not that this is the right way either, but I have had success with a high speed drill press, a super sharp bit, and a block of wood under the piece I was working on.

But a reamer is ultimately the correct tool for the job, because I know drill presses aren't exactly sitting around in everyone's basements.

I bought a nice bench top drill press a few years ago.... still not a pro quality drill press but it's no cheapie either.... This drill press i have is great for guitar work because the whole motor and belt system is on a bar that can slide out 10 inchs from the stand to the drill bit..... Makes getting in to drill those bridge holes easy without a huge expensive stand up drill press.... those little bench top press are useless on most bodies needing holes drilled...

Anyway i had the belt on my drill press running too slow and i was using a dull drill bit when i was drilling out a MIM Fender strat neck.... when the drill press grabed it and threw the neck across the room and made a mess out of the high strings tuner hole.... I still have to fix that tuner hole.... i got lucky in one way as sitting on the other side of the small room where the neck landed was some towels and blankets and it saved the neck from any noticable damage... the tuner covers the messed up hole... i didn't even see the neck leave my hand!

 

[ErikH]

Re: Got a Reamer tool today-(i know how it sounds)

That's a tool I need for sure, along with several others like a radius check, fret level plane, stuff like that.

Hoss, for making pedals you want a drill press and a unibit. If you don't have a drill press, then a normal drill is fine but a unibit is essential. If you want a drill press, get a small one. I got one for my birthday last year. It's a small tabletop model and is perfect for drilling holes in pedal enclosures.

 

[MikeS]

Re: Got a Reamer tool today-(i know how it sounds)

Anyway i had the belt on my drill press running too slow and i was using a dull drill bit when i was drilling out a MIM Fender strat neck.... when the drill press grabed it and threw the neck across the room and made a mess out of the high strings tuner hole.... I still have to fix that tuner hole.... i got lucky in one way as sitting on the other side of the small room where the neck landed was some towels and blankets and it saved the neck from any noticable damage... the tuner covers the messed up hole... i didn't even see the neck leave my hand!

Ouch! Sounds like you need to invest in some clamps! Although, I'm scared to imagine what it could have done to the wood if the neck had no where to go. Sharp bits and high speeds are a must. Reamers are definately the way to go for marginally enlarging a hole.