OldTools Archive
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235931 | Ed Minch <ruby@m...> | 2013‑01‑07 | Re: reamers - used for what? |
The really strongly tapered ones can be used to clean up the inside of a freshly cut metal pipe of varying sizes. On Jan 7, 2013, at 8:20 AM, paul womack wrote: > Who needed strongly tapering holes of varying sizes? Ed Minch ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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235932 | bghio@m... | 2013‑01‑07 | Re: reamers - used for what? |
On Jan 7, 2013, at 8:32 AM, Ed Minch wrote: > > The really strongly tapered ones can be used to clean up the inside of a fre shly cut metal pipe of varying sizes. > > On Jan 7, 2013, at 8:20 AM, paul womack wrote: > >> Who needed strongly tapering holes of varying sizes? > > Ed Minch > > Just did this last week to clean a mushed & maimed chisel socket. And, Ed, don't forget the 3 & 5 degree tapers on your guitar pegs. Those tapers were used on t he handles of bowsaws too. Bill ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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235935 | Sanford Moss <sushandel@m...> | 2013‑01‑07 | RE: reamers - used for what? |
Ed Minch wrote" > The really strongly tapered ones can be used to clean up the inside of > a freshly cut metal pipe of varying sizes. >> On Jan 7=2C 2013=2C at 8:20 AM=2C Yup=2C this is how my old man (a plumber) used when I was a kid (65 years ago) to clean the inside burr from hard copper and iron pipe cut with a hack saw. Two other uses come quickly to mind -- coopers tapering bung holes=2C and leather workers sharpening round leather punches. I'm sure there are many more uses (judging from how common old tapered reamers are). Sandy. paul womack wrote: > Who needed strongly tapering holes of varying sizes? ____________________________ Home page at: http://www.sydnassloot.com Tool list at: http://www.sydnassloot.com/tools.htm Brace page at: http://www.sydnassloot.com/brace.htm ------------------------------------------- ---------------------------- - |
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235930 | paul womack <pwomack@p...> | 2013‑01‑07 | reamers - used for what? |
Back in the days of braces, catalogues listed 3 types of reamer; The square-solid type, the hollow "half round" type, and and solid semi-cylindrical type. (The different types are for differing materials, but I don't recall which is which). But, apart from when enlarging holes in sheet materials, these all make holes with substantial taper. So - what were they used for? They're common, both in catalogues, and "the wild" so people clearly found uses for them. Who needed strongly tapering holes of varying sizes? BugBear ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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235933 | Gye Greene <gyegreene@g...> | 2013‑01‑07 | Re: reamers - used for what? |
> > So - what were they used for? They're common, > both in catalogues, and "the wild" so people clearly > found uses for them. > > Who needed strongly tapering holes of varying sizes? Depending on the ptich, maybe countersinks for the flatter ones, chair legs for the pointier ones? --Travis (Brisbane, AU) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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235973 | "Adam R. Maxwell" <amaxwell@m...> | 2013‑01‑08 | Re: reamers - used for what? |
On Jan 8, 2013, at 01:14 , paul womack |
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235966 | paul womack <pwomack@p...> | 2013‑01‑08 | Re: reamers - used for what? |
paul womack wrote: > Back in the days of braces, catalogues listed > 3 types of reamer; > > The square-solid type, the hollow "half round" type, > and and solid semi-cylindrical type. > > (The different types are for differing materials, but I don't recall > which is which). > > But, apart from when enlarging holes in sheet materials, > these all make holes with substantial taper. > > So - what were they used for? They're common, > both in catalogues, and "the wild" so people clearly > found uses for them. > > Who needed strongly tapering holes of varying sizes? The suggestions so far appear to reflect current usage of reamers; Modern engineers use near-parallel reamers to make very accurately sized holes - AFAIK they are only slightly tapered at the "nose", and thus need to come in a very wide range of sizes. Example: http://www.asenggent.com/uploads/6/3/3/3/6333350/2157778.jpg The very strongly tapered reamer for deburring cut pipe are like this: http://www.joesusedtools.com/images/Brace-Reamer-A_LRG.jpg For cutting holes of varying size in sheet good, the modern engineer has "cone cutters" AKA "cone bits" http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31SRp%2BUyyTL._SL500_AA300_.jpg I mention all these explicitly, since none of them are anything like the "old" reamers. http://galootcentral.com/components/cpgalbums/userpics/10152/rimer.jpg These two pages are from 1845 (lower) and 1928 (upper). There appears to be a distinction in use between the "tapered bit" for wood, which comes in multiple sizes, and the "square" and "half round" rimers for metal, which only come in one size. The taper of these old tools is much greater than a modern "sizing" reamer, but much less than a modern "multisize" reamer (deburring or cone cuttter). The only comparable modern tool I can find is a "taper reamer" http://www.dansdata.com/images/tools/reamer500.jpg which seems to be a "get you by" kind of tool. So - the presence of the old shapes seems to me to imply an old technique, now forgotten. BugBear (I will point out, to save others the trouble, that there are other VERY specific tapered reamers, including chair legs, ladder rungs, cask bung holes and violin pegs holes, but all of these are listed explictly, an d are (thus)not mysterious) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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235970 | "Adrian Jones" <adrianjones747@e...> | 2013‑01‑08 | RE: reamers - used for what? |
BugBear wrote: "... http://galootcentral.com/components/cpgalbums/userpics/10152/rimer.jpg These two pages are from 1845 (lower) and 1928 (upper)..." Wow. Thanks for posting that page from the old catalog. Don't you just love that handwriting. Very distinctive but not too fancy. Any there any calligraphers in the collective that can point me to a style sheet (or at least what it is called). Need to improve my fountain pen (old tool content) skills. Cheers! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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235971 | "Cliff Rohrabacher Esq." <rohrabacher@e...> | 2013‑01‑08 | Re: reamers - used for what? |
On 1/8/2013 4:14 AM, paul womack wrote: > Modern engineers use ~ ~ ~ Small but salient correction: The engineers don't use the tools. The tradesman selects which tools to use to accomplish any given operation and it is the tradesman who uses the tools. The engineer generates and applies the specifications to the drawing. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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235974 | Anthony Seo <tonyseo@p...> | 2013‑01‑08 | Re: reamers - used for what? |
At 10:46 AM 1/8/2013, Adam R. Maxwell wrote: >On Jan 8, 2013, at 01:14 , paul womack |
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235976 | "ASRA-Eduardo De Diego" <ed@a...> | 2013‑01‑08 | RE: reamers - used for what? |
Adrian asks about printers' fonts. Palmer Method was common at the time; Try Palmer Engravers', Palmer Werk (modern adaptation), Pascal Also, try to find the "Boston Type Foundry" Catalog on-line. Ca. 1880 I believe. DAMHIKT Best wishes to all for the New Year! e. who is not in Ottawa. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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235978 | Brian Welch <brian.w.welch@g...> | 2013‑01‑08 | Re: reamers - used for what? |
> paul womack wrote: > (I will point out, to save others the trouble, that there are other > VERY specific tapered reamers, including chair legs, ladder rungs, > cask bung holes and violin pegs holes, but all of these are listed > explictly, and are (thus) not mysterious) I have wondered about these myself, as I have one or two. I just looked through a number of catalogs (Swan, Buck Bros., Sargent, White) and they all sell them, but none of them give any advice on their use, which was probably so obvious it required no explanation! The only thing I have used them for is as a violin peg reamer for a few banjos I made. I have since bought a proper violin peg reamer and it does a much better job: http://galootcentral.com/index.php?option=com_copperminevis&Itemid=2&pl- ace=displayimage&album=272&pos I did find this Strelinger catalog from 1897 (http://tinyurl.com/b24e27b) that says this about the newer design of fluted tapered reamer (which is like the modern violin peg reamer that I own): "These Reamers are rapidly supplanting the older styles of square, half- round and octagon reamers. They ream out and make true, smooth holes in wood or any kind of metal." So I did a little more googling to see if I could find any 19th c. descriptions of their use and I found this one from 1881: The reamer, or rymer as it is sometimes called, though the former is the proper mode of spelling the word, is a steel tool set in a handle and used for the purpose of enlarging a hole in a piece of metal; as, for example, in a hinge whose screw-holes are not quite large enough to admit the screws. It is made in different forms, but most commonly in the shape of a long, stiletto-like, four-sided blade, thick at the haft, and tapering to a fine point, which is useful for marking lines on wood, leather, zinc, or any other material. A good reamer may be bought at from 6d. to 1s. The tool just described is often called a scriber because its point is useful for scribing (Latin scribo, I write) or marking lines on wood, etc. A small rat-tail file may be used by the amateur as a reamer. (Every man his own mechanic, 1881, by Francis Chilton Young, p. 127) I also saw passing references that seemed to imply that they can be used to enlarge a hole in wood to make it easier to start or turn a screw. But it seems to me that the intended use was "enlarging holes in sheet materials" as Paul suggested in his original post. They don't do a good job of making longer tapered holes in wood. I am very aware of this every time I try to tune my banjo. Brian ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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236001 | Thomas Conroy <booktoolcutter@y...> | 2013‑01‑09 | Re: reamers - used for what? |
I believe this is one of those differences between American and British English; one of the British meanings of "engineer" is pretty close to what Americans call a "machinist." Just as Americans use "engineer" for the guy who runs a locomotive. Different dialects. Even in America engineering used to be a lot more hands-on. I had an intro to computer programming class back in the late seventies where the teacher complained that the engineering department at U.C. Berkeley had lost its connection to reality. When he went through, and it can't have been that many years before because he wasn't even middle-aged, they had a class in "Dynamite." That's all it was, a whole term on dynamite, and they went out and blew things up. Real things with real dynamite. Can't get much more hands-on than that, at least not with explosives. Tom Conroy Berkeley Cliff Rohrabacher=A0 wrote: On 1/8/2013 4:14 AM, paul womack wrote: > Modern engineers use ~ ~ ~ Small but salient correction: The engineers don't use the tools. The tradesman=A0 selects which tools to use to accomplish=A0 any given operation and it is the tradesman who uses the tools.=A0 The engineer generates and applies the specifications to the drawing. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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236003 | Jerry Davis <jwd@u...> | 2013‑01‑09 | Re: reamers - used for what? |
On 1/8/2013 4:14:00 AM paul womack wrote: > I mention all these explicitly, since none of them are anything > like the "old" reamers. > > http://galootcentral.com/components/cpgalbums/userpics/10152/rimer.jpg > > These two pages are from 1845 (lower) and 1928 (upper). > > There appears to be a distinction in use between the "tapered bit" > for wood, which comes in multiple sizes, and the "square" and "half round" > rimers for metal, which only come in one size. In the catalog (Timmins?) scan, and in Smith's _Key to Sheffield Manufactories_, the bits are listed as brush bits. Salaman says that brush bits were used by brush makers to bore the holes for inserting bristles. While it's not an earth shattering revelation, it is one documented example of their usage. Jerry ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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236044 | paul womack <pwomack@p...> | 2013‑01‑10 | Re: reamers - used for what? |
Brian Welch wrote: > > But it seems to me that the intended use was "enlarging holes in sheet > materials" as Paul suggested in his original post. I think I've found the answer, or a good approximation. The answer is context - In the modern era, cheap and widely available twist bits make holes that are parallel and accurate to size, at least for most purposes. Only "high precision" work needs a (modern) reamer. But the old blackmiths drill, with a diamond shaped tip did NOT cut accurately to size, did NOT cut parallel, and changed size with every sharpening! Hence a need to ream almost every hole. BugBear ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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