# Chucking Reamers



## Beez12 (May 21, 2021)

Sigh.... Well continuing down the rabbit hole of this new found hobby,  I now am in need of some chucking reamers. Have any of you fellas had any luck with HSS Chucking reamers off Ali? If not, what can you recommend that’s not going to cripple my pocket book (the government is already doing a good job of that).

Much appreciated!


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## YYCHM (May 21, 2021)

PM @Tom Kitta and see what he has.  He is in Calgary.


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## Bfb123 (May 22, 2021)

I order mine through KBC, usually 2 business day delivery, their “house brand” is stamped from Bosnia or somewhere from Eastern Europe.


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## DPittman (May 22, 2021)

I've got a 29 Asian set that you see everywhere and I've been happy with them. Reamers are expensive but sure are nice to have a selection of them.


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## YYCHM (May 22, 2021)

DPittman said:


> I've got a 29 Asian set that you see everywhere and I've been happy with them. Reamers are expensive but sure are nice to have a selection of them.



Post a link to what you have please.  I've been on the lookout for a SAE reamer set for quite some time now.


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## DPittman (May 22, 2021)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/281637770353

https://accusizetools.com/products/hss-chucking-reamer-sets

http://www.cdcotools.com/

I think I bought my set from the last link CDCO Tool but wouldn't touch that outfit again with a 10ft pole.  I had mostly acceptable merchandise from them but when I did not "Frank" would not even respond back to me.  They seem to have good prices but taking the gamble on getting burned is not worth it to me, there are alot of other sellers of the same import tooling.


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## YYCHM (May 22, 2021)

Ahhh.  I'm looking for hand reamers not chucking reamers.  Perhaps the reason why I haven't found anything acceptable yet?


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## DPittman (May 22, 2021)

Wow check out what these carbide reamers cost.  This is from KBC fl


yer I got in the mail yesterday.


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## Johnwa (May 22, 2021)

I’m tempted to order a set from China but all I’ve found are metric so far.


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## PeterT (May 22, 2021)

I tried some of these carbide reamers from Aliexpress BB Store (not to be confused with Busy Bee!!!!). They are shorter shank, I suspect for CNC but not sure. Anyways very pleased with them so far. Good value, reasonably shipping, very sharp, nice accurate finish (mild steel & aluminum). Unfortunately predominantly/entirely metric. You have to take care of carbide, its harder but also prone to micro chipping. But for the price available with reputable Asian suppliers who cares. Is not likely you will be re-sharpening them anyways, but you can re-purpose the material into a cutting tool if so inclined.

I've also had good luck with both KBC HSS house brand (Europe) & any USA line, but prices get up there. I've resisted buying a set because inevitably I'm trying to fit something to something so it always comes down to a specific size. If you have a 0.250 dowel pin with a +/- tolerance then you need a thou under for press fit or something over for sliding fit. If you have drill rod it may have a different tolerance. So (at least for what I find myself doing) not sure what a set would accomplish. Thus far I buy them as I need them, label them & just keep a tally sheet handy so I know what I have.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/400...earchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_


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## DPittman (May 22, 2021)

I've got a set of metric ones from china also and they are shorter than my larger set and I suspect of poorish quality although I've only used them a bit on aluminum and brass so far and they were of course fine for that.


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## YYCHM (May 22, 2021)

Johnwa said:


> I’m tempted to order a set from China but all I’ve found are metric so far.



That's the same problem I have been having.


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## PeterT (May 22, 2021)

It might just be my own experience but seems like HSS from China has been crappy. End mills, reamers, drills, even stock material for cutters. My hunch is carbide is available to us mortals from Asian sellers because that's what they are using for real world tooling for manufacturing & this is a sideline sale. Maybe their HSS is more for hardware stores and woodworking. N-Am HSS from reputable places is great quality. Its all I use for drills for example, unless its a special application.

Unfortunately, like lathe cutting tools, the price of HSS is approaching or exceeding the price of carbide. But its not as simple as that because there are many applications where HSS is preferable as a cutting tool material, never mind re-sharpening & custom shapes. HSS has toughness & can be tweaked or dressed (if you know what you are doing) which is more in the domain of home machinists. A brand new razor sharp carbide that becomes micro fractured after the first hour of use will look chipped & serrated under magnification. That doesn't do you any good as a long term tool & will show up in the finish & dimensions. That's why some people have a hate on for carbide & swear by HSS. But then you see their setup - maybe a loose worn machine, a spindly toolpost, eyeball centering, nasty mystery material, rotational runout, vibration, interrupted cutting, incorrect nose radius, incorrect or limited speed & feed... you know, our everyday hobbyist stuff LOL. But that's not carbides fault, its an application mismatch. Look at the exact same tool in a controlled, rigid CNC environment & its spraying perfect steel chips like a woodworking machine goes through lumber. Day in & day out before replacement. HSS would not have a chance which is why it was replaced (industrially) decades ago. So my advice is just ease into it & try a few of this & that. Your machine & jobs will likely vary vs someone else.


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## Beez12 (May 22, 2021)

PeterT said:


> It might just be my own experience but seems like HSS from China has been crappy. End mills, reamers, drills, even stock material for cutters. My hunch is carbide is available to us mortals from Asian sellers because that's what they are using for real world tooling for manufacturing & this is a sideline sale. Maybe their HSS is more for hardware stores and woodworking. N-Am HSS from reputable places is great quality. Its all I use for drills for example, unless its a special application.
> 
> Unfortunately, like lathe cutting tools, the price of HSS is approaching or exceeding the price of carbide. But its not as simple as that because there are many applications where HSS is preferable as a cutting tool material, never mind re-sharpening & custom shapes. HSS has toughness & can be tweaked or dressed (if you know what you are doing) which is more in the domain of home machinists. A brand new razor sharp carbide that becomes micro fractured after the first hour of use will look chipped & serrated under magnification. That doesn't do you any good as a long term tool & will show up in the finish & dimensions. That's why some people have a hate on for carbide & swear by HSS. But then you see their setup - maybe a loose worn machine, a spindly toolpost, eyeball centering, nasty mystery material, rotational runout, vibration, interrupted cutting, incorrect nose radius, incorrect or limited speed & feed... you know, our everyday hobbyist stuff LOL. But that's not carbides fault, its an application mismatch. Look at the exact same tool in a controlled, rigid CNC environment & its spraying perfect steel chips like a woodworking machine goes through lumber. Day in & day out before replacement. HSS would not have a chance which is why it was replaced (industrially) decades ago. So my advice is just ease into it & try a few of this & that. Your machine & jobs will likely vary vs someone else.



Good advice, thanks for everyone’s input.


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