Storing reamers, what to do?

[aliva]

Could try these from MMC. just need a box or tray to put them in. I use these for all my loose taps

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

www.mcmaster.com

 

[Bob Korves]

I don’t know. They all have a piece welded onto the ends to lengthen them. I think I will be cutting them all off back to original length to help facilitate storage.

I only cut things down to a smaller length when I need that length for a job I am doing, and do not have a better idea. Cutting them shorter to gain accuracy is also a good reason, but you really need to grind them coaxial after cutting them shorter.

 

[Christianstark]

That is pretty cool and we'll priced. I like the stackability.


Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

If they were made for machinists instead of artists they would probably cost 4-5 times that!

 

[Batmanacw]

I got really tired of searching through a bin full of reamers to find the one I needed....the only reason I knew I had a particular size was by looking at my inventory on my phone.

I sorted out all the "on size" reamers I had, all the over/under reamers, and the odd size reamers.

I took the block out of my over/under reamer set and glued it to thin plywood to make a nice stand.

Then I drilled a 2x4 for my on size metric reamers (3 to 14mm) and another for my on size standard reamers (1/8 to 1/2) 32nd steps.

Now I have very quick access to any of my reamers in those blocks. I also know instantly if I have the reamers within those size ranges. Huge time saver.

I still need to fight with my inventory list bin of reamers for any other odd sizes or 64ths reamets which I don't have a ton.

 

[Wozza]

I won an ebay bid for a lot of 36 reamers of assorted sizes. Now I have to add them to my existing pile and figured out how to store them. Some are really small. What have you all done?

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

Hi guys
I will make this post as way of an introduction and to show @Razzle how I overcame the problem he asked about some time ago.

Firstly I live in Manchester UK and I am a novice machinist, I recently bought a Hobby lathe from WARCO here in the UK, its a Chinese import and probably goes by many names around the world.

I am finding machining really interesting and it fits in well with my other Hobbies of MIG, TIG welding. I am sure as I read through your posts I will learn a great deal.

Now for the issue of Storage of Machine reamers

Like the original poster I decided to take part in an auction (not Ebay) and I won a box full of machine reamers with a few hand reamers in the mix, many were not in any kind of protective tubing and I wanted to be be able to locate them easily. I have been searching for a solution that nearly led me to buy a ready made storage chest (lots of money) and then I realised there was a much cheaper and simpler solution.

I already had an old tool chest that was again won as part of an auction and decided to use 25mm electrical ducting, I bought 4 lengths of 2 meters at a cost of £12 sterling. I dont know if this kind of ducting is available in other countries as it may not meet the required codes, but for those who can get it, it will be an option for their storage needs.

As you will see from the attached images the ducting has a clip on cover and a self adhesive strip which came in handy when sticking inside the tool chest drawers.

I simply measured the required lengths and cut to size with my portaband saw, glues the boxes to the cover strip and sanded the excess away.
I also cut a small piece of the cover strip to place my size labels.

Here are some pics, I hope this helps at least some of you

 

[Boswell]

I will make this post as way of an introduction

First, welcome to our community. Second, what a great idea to use what I would call Wiremold PVC Raceway to store your reamers. I could see this also working for any number of items, Drill Bits, End-Mills, etc.. Looking forward seeing more of your creativity. BTW, thanks for the PICTURES.

 

[dbb-the-bruce]

For an extremely simple way to keep them from rolling around in my drawer - I just found the thickest single ply cardboard I had lying around and removed one face of it. Maybe not the the most durable or elegant but sure as quick and easy.



I've also got a 2 cheap parts boxes with 20+ draws each. I milled MDF Vee groove inserts for some of them:


I think I would look for single side corrugated cardboard from one of those shipping supply companies or the shipping dept. at work if I needed to do more. Use it as a liner in a flat box or draw like above. I think you can get plastic like that also. Long skinny tools really stay put.

Probably all sorts of other cheap material (like the wire channel etc) kicking around that could be picked up as scrap or cheap.

 

[jwmelvin]

I used “corrosion-inhibiting mesh sleeve” from McMaster, in a flat drawer:

I see @aliva posted that over a year ago; that's probably what let me to use them. Thanks!