I ordered some carbide reamer grit from Merrick Tackle. Wondering if anyone has used this stuff.
Any info would be great.

Thanks,
Marc

You would have been better off buying a roll of reamer grit distributed by Flex Coat and sold by a number of suppliers on the sponsor list. It's a grit glued onto a heavy duty cloth backing that's much longer lasting and much more durable than the carbide grit.

Heat from reaming tends to loosen the grit and you would need to apply more grit as they fall off of the reamer blank. Grit also tends to get imbedded into your handle and that causes the possibility of loose grit scratching your blank when sliding on your handle. That problem is all but eliminated when using the cloth backed grit.

RainShadow/Forecast (Batson) has a cool reamer kit that can also be used with a drill or a handle. In the past when I made my own reamers, I found that the grit would come loose and stick to yhe imside of the cork
Good wraps Bob

Lance Dupre Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You would have been better off buying a roll of
> reamer grit distributed by Flex Coat and sold by a
> number of suppliers on the sponsor list. It's a
> grit glued onto a heavy duty cloth backing that's
> much longer lasting and much more durable than the
> carbide grit.
>
> Heat from reaming tends to loosen the grit and you
> would need to apply more grit as they fall off of
> the reamer blank. Grit also tends to get imbedded
> into your handle and that causes the possibility
> of loose grit scratching your blank when sliding
> on your handle. That problem is all but eliminated
> when using the cloth backed grit.

Ditto! I scratched a beautiful RX7 emerald green blank about a year ago. Go with the cloth backed reamers and save yourself some grief!

[shop.mudhole.com]

The Mudhole reamers are excellant! If you plan on doing any power reamers, the Forecast "Dream Reamers" are the ultimate reamer setup they are available individually and by the set!!

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

Do these come in smaller sizes? .26" x .45" in the small size at mudhole is still WAY to large for the rods I generally build.
My butt diameters are usually between 1/4" and 3/8".

Ray

Baston kits comes in 3 sizes
Good Wraps Bob

Ray Cover either of the two products noted above will meet your requirements.

I just checked the OD of the small reamers at appproximately one inch back on the spiral.

Mudhole Professional Reamer - 0.22 in

Dream Reamer - 0.19 in

Both reamers have a nice taper on the end and you should be able easily use them on "your rods".

Gon fishn

OK, I looked at the sizes on the mudhole listing and they had the smallest end on the small size listed as .26 and the large end listed as .45"

Glad to hear they make smaller.

I have been using home made reamers and to keep from scratching the blanks I have been running a .22 rifle cleaning rod with a patch loaded with cleanser to clean out the bore of the handle before putting it on the rod. It would be nice to have a reamer that would allow me to skip that step.

Thanks,

Ray

The smallest Dream Reamer that I have measures .185 at the tip and .338 at the largest point that has abrasive. It's 14 long not including the handle

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

I have had good luck with a 22" belt sander belt in #40 grit - about $1.50. I make a long spiral cut about 1/2" wide around and around the belt. I take the butt section of a broken rod - everybody's got more of them than they would like - and apply contact cement to the butt section and to the cloth back of the sandpaper strip. I apply the sandpaper strip to the butt in a spiral, leaving a 1/4'' gap between each spiral.
Okay, so I'm cheap! It still works as well as any bought reamer I have used, and if I want to make another reamer of different diameters all I have to do is break another rod.

IF (big word there) you use the grit and make your own, don't cheap out on the amount of adhesive you put on the blank (or whatever you'll be making it out of). Get a thick coating on there, sprinkle on the grit, and then press the grit into the thick layer of adhesive by turning it on a piece of cardboard laid out on the bench. That gets the grit more "encased" in the adhesive.

I spiral a piece of 1/4" masking tape around the shaft before applying the adhesive and prepare the surface of the shaft properly first. Once the adhesive is applied, I remove the 1/4" tape and then sprinkle the grit on there.

When done, use it on a scrap piece of something and it'll remove most all of the pieces of grit that didn't get adhered very well.

These work OK when hand reaming cork, but my near-20 year old reamer didn't last long when I put it on a drill. That did wreck it for me. I re-coated it, but didn't get the adhesive in as thick of a coat and had to re-re-do it again...

I use the Batson's for drill work and allow it to cool and use slow speeds with the drill. Any reamer will fail when the operator gets it too warm and it's above the temp of the adhesive's break-down point. Even such a nice product as Batson's... I use my grit reamers for hand reaming cork only. They work just fine for that.

Putter
Williston, ND

Just another thought.

One of the things that makes particles come off my home made ones is that I almost always have stabilized wood on my handles. I really think the wood is harder on the reamer than the cork is.

Are the factory made reamers going to hold up to the wood accents on the handles?

Ray

Ray,
I use them regularly on acrylics/woods (haven't used them on stabilized wood but see no reason why they wouldn't work) The key, like Randy said, is to go slow and back off to clear often. I put my variable speed drill in the vise, put in the reamer (pointing up) and lower and lift the piece up and down on the reamer. Works good for me.

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

Thanks Mike,

If they will handle acrylic the stabilized wood should be no problem. Acrylic monomers is what they force into it to stabilize it. Thanks for the info.

I have a bunch of stuff I have put on @#$%& to raise funds for more tools. :-) I will get me a couple of these.

Ray

BEWARE OF THE WODER REAMER. I have had good luck with rainshadow and forcast products and am not trying to give batson a bad name! I will be honest though. I was so excited when the reamers were anounced and actually pre purchased a full set 4 months in advance of the arrival on the market. I got mine and loved the looks of them and was touting them on this site and verbal to anyone who would listen. Then while using the small reamer for only the second time and working SLOW and allowing for cooling (more to save my drill then anything) the substrate failed. I mean desinagrated. It cost me twenty dollars by the time I was done with shipping and handling to get it replaced and the guys at batson told me it was not ment to be used under power. NOT UNDER POWER THOUGHT THAT WAS THE REASON FOR BUYING THE THING. That is not what they advertise as it is supposed to be able to be chucked and used in a drill. Just my 2 cents and others have told me the same thing. Keep that in mind before you fork over 80 bucks for it. billy

Bill,
Exactly what were you trying to ream?

I for one can say I have not had a problem reaming normal cork with them, and I use power. As a matter of fact I taught a class of fifteen Agiculture Teachers how to build there first rod using a power drill and I did all of there handels with the small reamer and its still going. I did however put larger grit on them since and works even better...

I have never used them by hand, always chucked in a drill and they have stood the test in a LOT of wood, acrylic and Andy's burls which is tougher than any of them and love them! Don't force them, let them do the work and back off/clear often!

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

It was on andy's burl cork and i did back off often. The part that kind of upset me more then anything kerry was that it cost me 20 bucks to replace when i only had the thing for a month and used it on 3 rods. Also to have the rep tell me it was never ment to be used with power kerry thats what it's selling point is and why would it be designed with a removable handle if not to use it under power? Don't get me wrong I have used your products for years and will continue to do so. Just surprised at the way this one was handled. Think you should be careful about how its marketed so as not to misreprsent. just my two cents as i said. I did change the grit on my new one and won't chuck it only hand ream so as not to void warrenty again but bought it to power ream not hand. Any questions Kerry you can e-mail direct at broderick6@comcast.net if you wish to keep it off the forum. Thank you for your response glad you took the time to reply.