I'm sure this is old news to some, but...

I recently bought a reamer kit and I got three pieces of blank and some abrasive grit. I applied epoxy to the blanks and rolled them in the grit.

Although I was told these were not for machine use, I decided to try putting them in my 18V 1/2" DeWalt cordless drill and turning at low to medium speed. It was AWESOME! I can now ream out a 10" rear grip PERFECTLY in two or three minutes. Then, I do the same thing with the front grip and Graphite Arbors, too. (for them, a very slow speed works best, by the way)

In four rods, I've had to spot-apply grit only once. GREAT time saver! I would warn against tightening down the chuck too much, as you can crack the blank, like I did.

TH

I also make my own reamers with grit. Word of caution. Make double sure that the cork you ream is clean in side. Just a few grains of grit can cause rod failure. The grit well cut in to the blank in time. Grit is of a carbon base.
Good look Bob

The danger here is that the heat generated from using these items in a machine can loosen the adhesion of the epoxy and cutting grit can be released at high speed and hit whoever or whatever. Wouldn't feel too good to have an eyeful of that stuff. Just use caution if you are going to do this against all the recommendations.

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Good warnings.

I don't turn the drill up very fast, perhaps 250 rpm or so, and every few seconds, I pull the cork off and tap it out, and then slide it back down a little farther, and so on.

Even at the cordless drill's full speed, I don't think a piece of grit would fly hard enough to hurt anything. I guess it could get in your eye, but I've never even had a piece fly that far.

Now put that thing in a lathe, and crank it up to 5,000RPM, and you might have a different story!

TH

famous last words! never say never, please wear safety glasses, I don't want to hear that you can't build rods anymore cuz you got one eye!

Get a coarse grit belt for a belt sander and cut a 3/8 or 1/2 inch strip. Lather the back of the belt with U40 Rod Bond and spiral it up the blank scrap you will be using as a reamer. Tie the ends down with a few wraps of thread and let it cure.

The gaps between the belt strip allow the reamed cork dust to be removed, possibly more easily than a reamer with a solid grit surface. You can ream a cork in seconds and the reamer could last a lifetime. I have been using these for two years now.

Not my idea, but a tip I picked up from someone (can't remeber who).