I have the standard straight-fluted snap-on reamer used for GM TREs and having problems figuring out how to use it.

I have a cheapo ryobi drill press and it seems too fast to use with the reamer. only goes to 500rpms and it makes a sound like hell on earth even with lots of oil.

I tried a hand drill that is not speed adjustible but fixed at 450 rpms, seems too fast as well.

My variable speed drill does not have a big enough chuck.

I tried using it by hand in a vice but it just seems to spin and not do very much.

I also tried attaching a socket wrench to it but it only seems to be spinning but not cutting.

Do I need to use a super slow drill press for this? Can it be done with the tools I have?

I am reaming Toyota aftermarket high steer arms.

... it makes a sound like hell on earth even with lots of oil.

I tried a hand drill that is not speed adjustible but fixed at 450 rpms, seems too fast as well.

It's possible you ruined the reamer and now won't cut by hand like it was probably meant to.

If you ran it in reverse in the hole for any reason you probably did ruin it. Reamers have pretty delicate edges.

This shows a t-bar on the reamer:

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?store=snapon-store&item_ID=8154&group_ID=946

I didn't run it reverse, and I know it has a handle, although I thought hand use was mainly for cleaning an existing hole versus opening new holes had to be done with a drill. I thought I read some posts saying people had used hand drills and presses.

I can't imagine taking out that much material simply turning it by hand.

Power drill , ultra low speed .

You wont get it to cut by hand. If anything it would just dig in and bind up. But I doubt that will happen. It takes some force/tool load to cet a cutter like a reamer to start cutting, especially if the material is hardened at all. I would thing this operation should be done in a mill, not by hand. Without seeing what exactly it is your doing that would be my suggestion. Reamers MUST be run at a slow RPM. The bigger the reamer the slower the RPM. You probably dulled the reamer by squeeling the hell out of it at such high RPM. I bet it's dull. A dull reamer will not cut for shit.

Your talking about a taper reamer .... 1.5" per foot / 7.15 degree correct ?

450-500 RPM is about 4-5 times too fast.

If your reamer is new/super sharp sometimes running them backwards and lightly stoning them with a fine hand stone will "dull" them a bit and relieve there tendency to chatter or "dig" in.

I've also reamed D60 arms at home with a drill press that was going way too fast... with the same shitty results. I actually achieved a good finish on the holes by clamping the arms to the drill table and "jogging" the press with one hand and keeping good firm down pressure with the other. The key is to never let the drill get to it's operating speed. It's not ideal but with patience and a good amount of cutting oil it can be done.

Jeff

I got it to work with some musclepower and a 12mm socket wrench. You just have to grind away at it with downward pressure like you guys suggested. I may have dulled it, but it is still cutting, just very slowly.

I kind of expected it was going to make chips come out when using it in the drill press, definetly not the right idea.

Chris, use the T-bar over a socket wrench -- it is easier to control.

Optimally, this should be done on a mill. If that's not available, a drill press with as low a speed ad possible is workable. Even a drill press turned manually is better than ham-fisting it with a hand-held power-drill. Keeping the reamer in column with the hole is just that important.

How long is your reamer, in total? A hand-reamer intended for a T-handle is different than a Morse-tapered mill bit.

Randii

i did a set of arms about 6 months ago,i put them on the knuckles so they were secure and used the reamer in a milwaukee right angle drill,really low speed.worked really well,used a little cutting oil and don't rush it.