A few years ago when I was cleaning out my Dad's workshop, I found a box of expanding reamers and a set of screw on extension pilots. I didn't think too much about them, as I had never used reamers before and knew very little about them. So, I put them away and forgot all about them, until I needed to use one last week.
I selected the suitable one, figured out how to adjust it and put it to use. I think the most time consuming part was cleaning it up before using it. So today, I set about stripping down the entire set, cleaning them up and the box they came in.
To me the pilots look like clutch alignment tools and I imagine that they are used for line reaming operations. The threads on the pilots match those on the reamers but they will not screw on if the reamer is set in its lower range. Should you remove the bottom nut in this case and screw the extension tube on? There are rings for each size extension tube, which have an internal taper that matches that on the nut. My guess is that this takes place of the nut to hold the blades when the extension tube is fitted.
One of the reamers is missing a blade but the others all appear to be sharp. They are T & J brand, out of the UK and are designated as type B47 (whatever that means). I'll do a search for them, as it will be interested to see if replacement blades are available. The set covers 15/32" through to 27/32", with each having a 1/16" capacity. The pilots are the same brand. There was also a S. T & G reamer, made here in Australia which is 27/32" - 15/16".
Some pics:
Edit: to correct a typo
I selected the suitable one, figured out how to adjust it and put it to use. I think the most time consuming part was cleaning it up before using it. So today, I set about stripping down the entire set, cleaning them up and the box they came in.
To me the pilots look like clutch alignment tools and I imagine that they are used for line reaming operations. The threads on the pilots match those on the reamers but they will not screw on if the reamer is set in its lower range. Should you remove the bottom nut in this case and screw the extension tube on? There are rings for each size extension tube, which have an internal taper that matches that on the nut. My guess is that this takes place of the nut to hold the blades when the extension tube is fitted.
One of the reamers is missing a blade but the others all appear to be sharp. They are T & J brand, out of the UK and are designated as type B47 (whatever that means). I'll do a search for them, as it will be interested to see if replacement blades are available. The set covers 15/32" through to 27/32", with each having a 1/16" capacity. The pilots are the same brand. There was also a S. T & G reamer, made here in Australia which is 27/32" - 15/16".
Some pics:
Edit: to correct a typo
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