What's new
What's new

Floating Chamber Reamer Holders???

MDH

Cast Iron
Joined
Jan 24, 2005
Location
Missouri
During recent thread/discussion about chambering, folks started talking about floating chamber reamer holders. I’ve got a couple here, neither I’m overly impressed with.. Guess my question is who makes a good floating chamber reamer holder?

Somebody mentioned Kennametal and Erickson, who carries these?

I make & chamber 3-4 barrels a month, not sub MOA bench rest stuff, but quality reproduction Winchester barrels for the old lever actions & single shots.

Pros and Cons of different types would be greatly appreciated, esp. from those that have been doing this for a while

Thanks

Mike
Hunter Restorations
WWW. Hunterrestorations.com
 
Mike, I got my Kennametal/Erickson floating holder from J&L Industrial. They had an outrageous sale on it, but the one I have normally sells for around $700.00.

I have used it to chamber about 150 barrels with very good results. If it were to be lost, stolen or broken, I would pony-up and pay the $700.00 if it were not on sale.

You are going to get a bunch of different opinions on it, but this one has been the only floating holder that I think does a good job. I am not doing bench-rest guns either, but I am getting very good accuracy with the barrels chambered.
 
The floatimg reamer holder i use is a morse taper 5 SECO with both angular and radial correction. Priced around $2400

wal
 
MDH,
I bore a .875 piece of round aluminum to slide my reamer into and a set screw to hold it. I have a 4" handle that screws into the side of it. I machine a cone on the end with about a .032 radius. In the tailstock chuck, I have a 1" piece of stainless that is machined flat across the face. >250 back from the face I turn a .500 shank to fit in my drill chuck. I use the tailstock to push only. The reamer is allowed to float in whatever axis that the bored hole lets it move.
Butch
 
the right start

I (IMHO) think that the important question here is not how well you'll be holding the reamer, but rather how much metal do you intend to remove with the reamer. If you are planning to use a (FINISH or ROUGHER) reamer to do it all (cut the chamber from blank with just the rifles bore done) no amount of reamer holder expense is gonna help. As Butch described (in another thread) his favorite way leaves the chamber reamer with very little work left to do and a taper bore done with the lathe - prior to using the finish reamer. I know that taper reamers love to cut/go sideways instead of forward and as such need to be guided by a lot more than just the pilot will provide, such as a good concentric tapered bore (short of the shoulder) start with very little metal left to be removed. If anyone has better, more concentric ideas short of a $150,000 cnc lathe - love to hear them here.
 
Last edited:
Gentle

If you were right then my chambers should either be to big in diameter or off center.
But they are not.
The diameter is very simple to check and the concentricity is easaly checked with a dial indicator.
So I assume you not are right.

Technika
 
Just wondered if anyone has had any experiance with the spring type reamer holders? I have never used one, but personally dont like the looks of them, firstly it pushes the reamer at the rear on its centre, which relies on your tailstock, and centre being absolutley perfectly in-line with the bore, and secondly it only allows for angular movement? perhaps im nitpicking, as they obviously seem to work for those who use them, on a plus side they look like they are easy to make.
reamerholder.jpg


KB
 
I do not use one.

Some people who write books about chambering rifle barrels advocate using a floating holder. And people who SELL floating holders advocate using one. But I have actually never met a single gunsmith that USES one. In fact two seperate gunsmiths told me they HAD one they had each used exactly once, and had problems as a result of using it.

If you think about how the setup SHOULD be done for chambering a rifle barrel there is nothing good a floating holder can do for you. If the setup is done properly the reamer will be pushed in a straight line that is on the exact centerline of the rifle bore...WHY would you need to introduce float if this was properly setup to begin with ??

If the setup is done properly you get a chamber that is the same dia at the back as the reamer measures on an optical comparator at the same datum point, this shows that everything was in as near perfect alignment as we can achieve.

If your tailstock center and and it's axis of motion are not exactly aligned with the centerline of the rifle bore you are not done setting up yet and have no business doing any machining yet :-)

Bill
 
Willbird,
I don't care how aligned your tailstock is, tell me how it will ream a straight hole in a barrel that does not have a straight bore? If you have done many barrels and checked them you will understand what I mean. Also what fixture do you put in a perfectly aligned tailstock to hold your reamer that is perfectly aligned with the axis of your headstock bearings?
Butch
 
Willbird

I've had the opposite experience, I know quite a few quality gunsmiths that use some sort of floating chamber reamer. And when folks like Butch Lambert and Rustystud (who have done literally thousands of barrels) start talking about chambering, I just sorta sit back listen and learn.

Thanks
Mike Hunter
 
Willbird? From bowers board???? :skep:

If so, PM me. :smoking:

I've been learning match chambering from Mike Rock and his crew. They use the floating reamers. I'm looking for one myself right now. The main thing that they keep telling me is that it needs to be floating in the X, Y and Z axis. I've got a dozen or so rifles chambered by Mike and his guys and they are the most accurate rifles I've ever seen.

Mike
 
Gentle

IMHO i believe a reamer must do some work when chambering or any type of accurate reaming. When i say work i mean .040 OD or .020 aside but not less than .040 this ensures a greater load bearing on the front of the reamer but not too much. Also i prefer chambering slow 55rpm with high pressure cutting fluid/cooling system.

wal.
 








 
Back
Top