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Are these actually reamers?

dzarren

Plastic
Joined
Jul 30, 2019
Hi all, I recently bought a stack of machinist tools, some mics, spring calipers, and the like.

I got these Allen key looking things with it, and when I was buying the lot, the guy referred to them as "German Reams" and he put great emphasis on them as good tools. I have looked online at different types of hand reamers, but cannot find anything that resembles these here.

They look like allen wrenches as you can see, but they certainly do have a cross section that looks a bit like a reamer.

They don't really have a significant taper, so i dont know how well they are going to ream by hand. Also some of them are pretty damaged due to rusting.

What do you guys think of these things?

Thanks.

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I have never heard of a reamer like that . That’s not to say they were never made or don’t exist it’s just that They look a lot like Bristol type Allen wrenches . We use them with our s16 collet pads
 
The gent may have been having a larf with you, but they look like spline or Bristol wrenches to me. I'd not obsess to much about them, throw them in a drawer and if you ever come across a socket cap screw with such internal splines rather a hex or Torx give them a go.
 
The gent may have been having a larf with you, but they look like spline or Bristol wrenches to me. I'd not obsess to much about them, throw them in a drawer and if you ever come across a socket cap screw with such internal splines rather a hex or Torx give them a go.

Pretty sure Milland has it - Bristol's spline keys. Once used a lot in old electronics and instrumentation (knobs, spacers, etc.). Might someday help you get some bit of kit apart.
 
There were a number of spline drive fasteners that MB, Porsche and BMW used that I still have the L shaped keys that look like those pictured. We c called them Ribe sockets.
 
spline or Bristol wrenches to me. I'd not obsess to much about them, throw them in a drawer and if you ever come across a socket cap screw with such internal splines rather a hex or Torx give them a go.

+1. Not a very commonly needed tool. If you don't need 'em, put 'em on eBay.

From wiki:


The Bristol (or Bristol spline) screw drive is a fastener with four or six splines, but is not necessarily tamper resistant.[SUP][59][/SUP] The grooves in the wrench are cut by a square-cornered broach, giving a slight undercut to the outer corners of the driver. The main advantage to this drive system is that almost all of the turning force is applied at right angles to the fastener spline face, which reduces the possibility of stripping the fastener. For this reason Bristol screw drives are often used in softer, non-ferrous metals. Compared to an Allen drive, Bristol drives are less likely to strip for the same amount of torque; however, the Bristol drive is not much more strip-resistant than a Torx drive.[SUP][citation needed][/SUP] It was patented in the United States in 1913 by Dwight S. Goldwin and put into production by the Bristol Wrench Company.[SUP][60][/SUP][SUP][61][/SUP]

This type of drive is commonly used in avionics, higher-end communications equipment, cameras, air brakes, construction and farm equipment, astronomy equipment, and military equipment. Variants with a pin in the center are often found in game systems, to discourage improvised attempts to use a slotted screwdriver to drive the fastener.
 








 
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