Reamer DIY

[stuckinthemud]

So, I'm building a small harp and sourcing tuning pins is proving entertaining. One option I have is to file my own pins but if I step away from standard taper I'll need to make my own reamer. I don't think I've ever seen one, never mind made one, can they be made from hard wood, perhaps with a cutter inserted or are they strictly a metal construct?

 

[Rorschach]

You can make them from wood with an inserted blade.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

An old saw blade - with an edge burnished onto it a bit like the one you'd put on a cabinet scraper - can easily be used as the cutter:

Making the Tools. Part I: The Tapered Reamer or
http://blackdogswoodshop.blogspot.com/2014/08/making-tapered-chair-reamer.html

 

[stuckinthemud]

I guess the cutter is slightly raised above the surface of the reamer "barrel"?

 

[JohnCee]

I think it would be hard to make a reamer sufficiently accurately.

 

[Inspector]

My father made a couple Appalachian or Mountain Dulcimers with wooden tuning pegs. He made a reamer by grinding an old three corner/triangular saw file. I don't think you could make a wood reamer with a metal edge small enough to use in a harp or any musical instrument. The tape was his depth stop to ensure consistency. High tech eh!

You can buy violin/instrument taper reamers from companies serving the luthers and on Amazon, eBay etc.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Violin-Cell...776095?hash=item1a46ba7b5f:g:g00AAOSwH1VaoTp8
http://www.dragonwhispers.com/taper-pin-reamerc/
http://www.robinsonsharpshop.com/hardware.html
https://www.instructables.com/Cookie-Tin-Banjo-Part-1--Make-a-Tuning-Peg-Hole-R/
https://www.stewmac.com/SiteSearch/...MI7YLypYSN7wIViBmtBh1HWQDTEAAYASAAEgJ52vD_BwE
Pete

 

[profchris]

If you are making the pegs to fit your reamed holes, a taper pin reamer from Ebay is I think 32:1, and 1/4 the price of a luthier reamer or less.

 

[IanA]

Hello - I made a harp a few years ago and also had some difficulty in sourcing the hardware until a friend recommended Robinson's Harp Shop in California. I bought all the hardware, from the brass soundboard eyelets to the tuning pins, from them. Overall they were extremely helpful and very reasonably priced . For a nominal charge they designed a string plan and supplied the strings in the appropriate diameters etc. Their website details the products available


P.O. Box 161
Mt. Laguna, CA 91948-0161

Phone: (619) 473-8556
Fax: (619) 473-8212

Email: [email protected]

 

[Phill05]

So, I'm building a small harp and sourcing tuning pins is proving entertaining. One option I have is to file my own pins but if I step away from standard taper I'll need to make my own reamer. I don't think I've ever seen one, never mind made one, can they be made from hard wood, perhaps with a cutter inserted or are they strictly a metal construct?

These are a pair I was left in a toolbox from an old friend who made stringed instalments.
They are square section and hardened they cut wood well I use them for opening holes out in brass.
One has the name Sorby on.

 

[hodsdonr]

Make yourself a D-Bit Taper reamer of the correct dimensions. These are easily made and used in Model Engineering. ( google Toolmakers Reamer or D-Bit taper reamer) . Turn it up from some silver steel and file a flat exactly at the mid line, then harden.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

If you don't fancy making one, one of these should do:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/reamer-3mm-12mm-carbon-steel-ENGINEER/dp/B002F9MOG2/

 

[profchris]

If you don't fancy making one, one of these should do:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/reamer-3mm-12mm-carbon-steel-ENGINEER/dp/B002F9MOG2/

Ah, from my experience using one of those for wooden tuning pegs, it won't do! The taper is not long enough, and so the tuning peg slips. The forces of metal strings on friction tuning pegs are even higher.

This is the kind of thing, around 30:1 taper:

TAPER PIN REAMER HSS 2MM 2.5MM 3MM 3.5MM 4MM 4.5MM 5MM 5.5MM 6MM 1/8" 1/4" | eBay

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Ah, from my experience using one of those for wooden tuning pegs, it won't do! The taper is not long enough, and so the tuning peg slips. The forces of metal strings on friction tuning pegs are even higher.

This is the kind of thing, around 30:1 taper:

TAPER PIN REAMER HSS 2MM 2.5MM 3MM 3.5MM 4MM 4.5MM 5MM 5.5MM 6MM 1/8" 1/4" | eBay

Interesting, I've always thought the cure for slipping pegs was a bit of rosin!

 

[JohnCee]

Interesting, I've always thought the cure for slipping pegs was a bit of rosin!

No, pegs don't work properly unless their taper exactly matches the taper of the holes. Bodges only cause more headaches in the long run...

 

[IanA]

Your question re making wooden tuning pins. I suspect steel ones at £1.50 from Robinsons would be a better option. The pins need to be a very close fit in their reamed holes otherwise they will slip under their high tension and make both tuning the harp and keeping it in tune difficult. I think Robinsons do sell a reamer for the pins.

 

[xy mosian]

Stuckinthemud, I may be able to help.
I have hitch pins, tuning levers and tuning pins for a Harp. These were removed from a commercially made harp which had broken beyond repair. Give me a day and I'll count the bits. They are yours if you are interested.
The pin taper is quite slight and if you are making just one harp then a suitable sized hole could be 'reamed' with sanding paper wrapped around a pin.
xy

 

[Woody2Shoes]

No, pegs don't work properly unless their taper exactly matches the taper of the holes. Bodges only cause more headaches in the long run...

I was kind of assuming that they would be the same taper - different would make no sense?

 

[profchris]

Wooden pegs are ... wood ... so they move around. Violin makers have a matching reamer and peg shaper, to fine tune the fit. As supplied wooden pegs are just fairly close.

The original poster was planning to make metal pins, and my thought was that he could match the taper on a bought reamer, rather than having to make a matching reamer. But metal pegs also need a shallow taper.

With a steep taper, pegs basically just fall out with the tiniest knock.

 

[cowtown_eric]

no instrument maker am I, but I was into lee Valley today and saw an assortment of instrument making bits/pieces tools

https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/search#q=guitar pegs&sort=relevancy&numberOfResults=24
dunno if that fits the bill or not

Eric

 

[JohnCee]

I was kind of assuming that they would be the same taper - different would make no sense?

Well of course it wouldn't, but my point is that the peg and hole have to be matched to better than manufacturing tolerances to work properly. If you ream the peg holes with, say a 1:30 reamer, and shape the pegs with a 1:30 shaver, without paying attention to blade adjustment (which slightly alters the taper), the peg and hole tapers are unlikely to match well enough for smooth, reliable operation.
Anyway, this all just applies to instruments like violins and cellos with wooden pegs. I know nowt about harps.