Newbie here.........great big dummy of a newbie.....

Got my Grizzley set up.......made my power reamer......5' blank w / reamer tape contact cemented to the blank.....wrapped end.....epoxyed drill bit arbor.....no problems.

I'm working on my first project....a St. Croix 7' kit......I'll bass fish with it.
Handle kit needed to be reamed.....quite a bit.....
used my calipers and masking tape to mark the reamer......and I ream away.......
whooooo boy.......this method is not for accurate hole reaming, as I was told,....but I saw it used in one of my videos....and I thought it would be ok......nope.
Too much wobbling of the reamer blank, reames a hole that is not perfectly round.....I am surprised it did not crack the foregrip.
Back grip is ok.......foregrip is another matter. Maybe the winding check will cover the imperfections in the reamed hole....maybe not.

I was told not to do this because of the whiplash...(thanks Mike Barkley...)....I see now why folks are using short metal reamers in their Grizzleys....(no wobble). I also see why folks are using a drill press to enlarge their cork.......reaming is a pain. Hope that it becomes easier with metal reamers in the Grizz.

So..being the perfectionist that I am.....I'll either live with it.....or I'll order some rings and build another foregrip.

Newbies.........don't do what I did....get the proper tools to do the job......(my Nicholson files are on order)
another lesson learned.....

Sorry to be so long.....pb

Pete,

You are likely to have the same problem with any reamer that long, metal or not. You can't control something that long, spinning that fast. You might be in to much of a hurry. Unless you are using some really big handles, I would go no bigger than 12" I usually drill my rings to fit the smaller spot of the blank where the grip will rest (to the closest size of a mandrel that I have) and then glue them up and turn..

I have never tried reaming in the Grizzley (or any lathe) and think that it would be rather difficult power reaming when the gip is horizontal (for me anyways) I stick a drill in a vise with the chuck pointing straight up and then chuck my reamer. This way I can lower the grip on to the reamer with much more control and precision and control the speed by how fast i lower the grip. This works with either rat tail file or blank piece/grit strip reamers. Just remember to have the drill in reverse while power reaming.

Mike

I guess I'm really old fashioned, but I still ream the grips by hand with a rat tail file. The advantage that this has is that you can't rush. It might get out of round a bit, but I always have a nice snug fit on the blank and the winding check always covers up any gap.

i use the drill like mike to get the major epoxy out and then use the rat tail file by hand like Gerry to finish the job. With a little persuasion and force, one can make a hole with precision that does not need the winding check to cover up a bigger than blank size hole. Thank you for winding checks when one makes a mistake and wants to hide the error, but i would prefer not to put them on (silver or black) unless someone wants a fancy accent. Your are right, the correct tools make a big difference.

MI Builder

Get scrap blank sections and glue on the sanpaper strips . You can make them different sizes to fit different blanks. With the right taper blanks they ream and fit perfict