Thread: Floating reamer holder

Just getting into a bit more chambering for the odd special and research seems to show that many use a floating reamer holder to ensure perfect alignment of the reamer to the barrel blank.

After looking at a few designs I simplified it and came up with this, I just tried it out on a couple of jobs (will show in another post) and have to say it seems to work perfectly.

The idea is that the bolts holding the two halves together have good clearance holes which allow the forward part to offset by up to 0.040"

Nice work. I love the home made digi read out on the tail stock. What a great idea. I really need to get back into machining, I really miss that part of my job.

Excellent idea. Could you put up a drawing with measurements to help those not so clever to make something similar?

Can do when I get time to draw it up, I can make others if anyone wants one.

Cheers

Very cool.
I've recently bought a lathe and have been slowly tooling up to play around with basic firearm machining.
I've been practicing threading and crowning barrel stubs.
I'm after some reamers next to practice chambering and machining barrel tenons in mild steel.

Originally Posted by Fssprecision

Can do when I get time to draw it up, I can make others if anyone wants one.

Cheers

@Fssprecision

Im just about to start reaming barrels.
I'll be needing a reamer holder of some sort.
Are you still using this? And would you still be willing to make another?

Originally Posted by Roarless20

@Fssprecision

Im just about to start reaming barrels.
I'll be needing a reamer holder of some sort.
Are you still using this? And would you still be willing to make another?

X2

Originally Posted by Roarless20

@Fssprecision

Im just about to start reaming barrels.
I'll be needing a reamer holder of some sort.
Are you still using this? And would you still be willing to make another?

Hiya,
I will drag mine out in the next few days and refresh my memory on how I made it and come back with a price etc.......Only thing is I am flat out busy with gun stuff at present so will be a couple of weeks or so before I can get to it....Thanks Darren

Originally Posted by akaroa1

X2

Hiya,
I will drag mine out in the next few days and refresh my memory on how I made it and come back with a price etc.......Only thing is I am flat out busy with gun stuff at present so will be a couple of weeks or so before I can get to it....Thanks Darren

Mike Bryant pages shows a very basic push one . If your barrel is properly indicated and pre bored with a single point tool they work very well.
https://bryantcustom.com/a-different...ting-magazine/

I use a bald eagle version of it and get most of my chambers with a run out of under 0.0002”

Originally Posted by Friwi

Mike Bryant pages shows a very basic push one . If your barrel is properly indicated and pre bored with a single point tool they work very well.
https://bryantcustom.com/a-different...ting-magazine/

I use a bald eagle version of it and get most of my chambers with a run out of under 0.0002”

I really like what he did with the collar to avoid bending the barrel with the spider

I designed and made this reamer holder a while back. It is a different approach to the conventional floating reamer holders in that it rigidly holds the reamer but is adjustable in all directions. The reamer is dialed in perfectly concentric with the lathe centerline before cutting, both on the pilot shank and the rear reamer shank. There is very little need for pilot bushings with this holder.

It can be adjusted in 4 directions from the rear adjuster set and also for angle in 4 directions from the front adjuster set. There is a spherical face between the two that allows this angular change but still have high rigidity when clamped. Chambers cut with this measure true to the reamer and have zero runout.

I should say that my lathe tailstock has had a fair bit of fettling to get it sitting perfectly true with the centerline. If your tailstock has angular misalignment, it will introduce side cutting force when advancing the tailstock quill.

I pre-bore the chamber with the end of the bore being the same angle as the cartridge shoulder.