what do you guys use for reamer storage?

SDConcepts · Jan 4, 2012

i'm looking for a good professional solution. i have looked at all the hout cabinets but we have a ton of odd and extra sizes that don't fit into them. right now i have a giant drawer full of them, and some are in packages and some aren't, some are tiny and some are big. right now that drawer is a giant mess.

i have thought about taking a second drawer and separating the metrics and then i was going to do drawer dividers to cover a range of reamer sizes say .001 - .25 then .25-.5 and so on.

trevj · Jan 4, 2012

Reamers in our shop are a mixed lot.

We have sets in indexes that are kept complete, number, letter, and fraction.

Sizes above those, are kept in Vidmar drawers, divided up by size.

I'd think that any drawer type cabinet that had thin drawers, like a Map cabinet or Drafting cabinet, would serve, if you were looking to not spend much.

The stuff takes up a lot of room!

The trade-off is between being well organized, or taking up only a little space, it seems.

Cheers
Trev

RJT · Jan 4, 2012

Best solution I have come up with for small (under 1/2 inch) is take a wood 2 by 4 by 18" lay it down flat and drill blind holes of the approprite size on 1 inch centers. When you get a new reamer between sizes, drill a new hole. Mark the board with a fine tip sharpie next to each hole. You also know when a reamer doesn't get put back, and if you have a reamer of a certain size. I did this years ago and now have 6 strips of reamers that stay organized and are easy to get the right size quickly. They sit on a shelf in a cabinet ready to go.

TDegenhart · Jan 4, 2012

RJT said:
Best solution I have come up with for small (under 1/2 inch) is take a wood 2 by 4 by 18" lay it down flat and drill blind holes of the approprite size on 1 inch centers. When you get a new reamer between sizes, drill a new hole. Mark the board with a fine tip sharpie next to each hole. You also know when a reamer doesn't get put back, and if you have a reamer of a certain size. I did this years ago and now have 6 strips of reamers that stay organized and are easy to get the right size quickly. They sit on a shelf in a cabinet ready to go.

Along with that, store the cutting edge down .

Tom

cmailco · Jan 4, 2012

Akro-mils industrial --not the light duty plastic stuff-- is a good option. I believe they offer three configurations in one footprint to make the cabinets stackable. Pretty well built and easy enough to label. Come with plenty of dividers as well.

Bobw · Jan 4, 2012

I've got 8 drawers of reamers, broken up into groups of sizes, usually doesn't take more than a minute to find what you need. Old hardware store hardware bins.

If you've got 30 guys working for you and you have 1000's of reamers, that might not work, but for a few guys and a few hundred reamers, works pretty well.

I've always wanted to get my hands on some old library card catalogs, 100's and 100's of beautiful little long wooden drawers, but those things are expensive.

Blue print cabinets look like they would be nice and handy also.

I just can't see dumping $3k on a fricken cabinet, when all it does is hold stuff.

dcrace · Jan 23, 2012

Best thing I have found, although sometimes tough to come by is to use the plastic inserts that come with pin gage sets. We got lucky at an auction and picked up a set up to .750 super cheap due to the fact most of the pins were damaged or missing. Takes up a bit of shelf space in the tooling cab. but each size in .001 increments are clearly marked.

Bitec SMI · May 30, 2013

Good idea

I like this idea, wonder if I can talk our QC department into scrapping out a few of the old pin sets to donate to the tool crib...?

dcrace said:
Best thing I have found, although sometimes tough to come by is to use the plastic inserts that come with pin gage sets. We got lucky at an auction and picked up a set up to .750 super cheap due to the fact most of the pins were damaged or missing. Takes up a bit of shelf space in the tooling cab. but each size in .001 increments are clearly marked.

BobRenz · May 30, 2013

My grandfather had a cabinet with low drawers that were divided into narrow sections. He stored his reamers that way as long as I can remember, and I do it the same way.

pirko · May 30, 2013

In the Czech Republic we are using this solution.

Regards Libor.

PeteM · May 30, 2013

Hopefully, someone will resize the picture above, so lines are readable.

McMaster, Brownells, and others sell clear plastic tubes in various diameters. Reamers that aren't part of a set go in those to avoid damaging the edges. Markings on the reamer are usually visible clear through, but if not a label goes on the outside. They then go into a divided drawer, with a range of sizes together.

I also keep a list of reamers in stock, to know at a glance if I'm wasting my time looking for an off size.

This approach doesn't take much time to stock reamers (slip in tube, if not already so equipped; add a note to the stock table). The edges are safe, retrieval is pretty quick, and storage takes very little space. FWIW, I also have sets of over-under dowel pin reamers and fractional reamers. The former is useful, the latter probably not worth the time to assemble.

ewlsey · May 30, 2013

I have yet to figure out why anyone needs a set of number or letter reamers. Or even a full set up fractional.

I stock .125 to .625 in press fit, nominal, and +.001 for dowel pin work. Then there is a handful of metric reamers for the same task.

The rest are just a jumble of mixed sizes. There is no real order, other than by size. The real problem is keeping an accurate inventory. Otherwise you end up ordering the same odd ball reamers for every new job that comes in.

I store mine is a Vidmar-ish cabinet.

John Welden · May 30, 2013

RJT said:
Best solution I have come up with for small (under 1/2 inch) is take a wood 2 by 4 by 18" lay it down flat and drill blind holes of the approprite size on 1 inch centers. When you get a new reamer between sizes, drill a new hole. Mark the board with a fine tip sharpie next to each hole. You also know when a reamer doesn't get put back, and if you have a reamer of a certain size. I did this years ago and now have 6 strips of reamers that stay organized and are easy to get the right size quickly. They sit on a shelf in a cabinet ready to go.

Killer idea, I'm going to do that if I get a chance.

jCandlish · May 31, 2013

I can't take credit for these, 'cause I got them that way. They sure are old-timey and correct. Brass plates on hardwood blocks. If you look closely you will see that there are virgin locations that have just been piloted. Otherwise the populated locations have been stamped with the size.

Steve@Reliance · May 31, 2013

That stuff looks slick, it appears to be a modular setup almost like lego. I have never seen that before, where can you get it?

Pattnmaker · May 31, 2013

I made a liner for a drawer in a toolbox for taps and spare drills that would work well for reamers. I took 2 pieces of baltic birch plywood and cut a bunch of stopped grooves in it using a corebox bit in the mill. The wood is less likely to chip cutting edges. I put one of these in the bottom of my drawer and glued some spacers on the top and then put the second one on top. I made it pretty quickly and could make it much faster now with CNC.

pirko · May 31, 2013

Steve@Reliance said:
That stuff looks slick, it appears to be a modular setup almost like lego. I have never seen that before, where can you get it?

Do you meen like this

regards Libor

CS223 · Nov 20, 2019

I realize this is a very old thread but it came up while I was looking for tool storage solutions. The pictured Brick-Box source question was never answered. The mfr. link is:
Pokorny Dačice - Content

mhajicek · Nov 20, 2019

Or print your own.

what do you guys use for reamer storage?

Stainless

Titanium

Titanium

Diamond

Hot Rolled

Diamond

Aluminum

Plastic

Stainless

Aluminum

Diamond

Diamond

Diamond

Titanium

Hot Rolled

Stainless

Attachments

Aluminum

Cast Iron

Diamond

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