Best Tools for Home Improvement As with all tools, the more versatile you can make it, the better of an investment it will become.
Table of Contents
Reamers the Value of Precision
3
Annular Cutter
9
The New Wave of Home Improvement
Reamers The Value of Precision
A reamer is a drill bit that is used to shape or enlarge holes. Now, there are many different kinds of reamers. There are the adjustable hand reamers, the straight reamer, the machine reamer, the rose reamer, the shell reamer, the tapered reamer, the Morris taper reamer and the combination reamer. The most popular reamers are the hand reamer and the tapered reamer. Choosing the correct reamer can make any job a success or a complete failure. Also, it can take a lot more time to complete a project if you do not have the proper tools and in today’s economy time is money.
So how do you know which reamer is best for your project? First of all you need to make sure you have the proper equipment at your disposal to operate a reamer. A reamer will be extremely successful when using either a lathe or a drilling machine otherwise known as a drill press. Secondly, all reaming jobs must be preceded by drilling a hole to begin with a little smaller than the size needed. By smaller it is recommended that the allowance is no more than 0.13 of a millimeter. The allowance is the difference between the hole drilled in the first place and the desired diameter of the hole upon completion of the project. If you have an allowance greater than 0.13 of a millimeter
it can severely damage the reamer to the point that it could never be used again.
Okay, now that you have your hole predrilled in the material you are working with, which type of reamer should you use? Well, if all you want to do is clean up the burrs from the hole and make it look neat and clean, you can use a tapered hand reamer for this. However, if your hole has to be precise, you may want to consider using a tapered machine reamer constructed for precision. These reamers can get a hole within 0.02 of a millimeter. Also some jobs require that the cylinder walls of a
hole have a smooth surface finish. This is needed for
many
precise
engineering
applications.
Reamers can be used on a variety of materials varying from plastics to cast iron to aluminum. If you are working with metal or plastic, reamers are the perfect tool for precision. However, if you were working with concrete or stone a reamer is not a good choice for materials of this nature. Instead of ruining a good and expensive reamer, use masonry drill bits. Usually holes in concrete or stone do not have to be as precise with an allowance of less than 0.2 of a millimeter. Masonry drill bits will get the hole close enough for concrete and stone.
As you can see, reamers are a wonderful tool for projects that require precision. However, as with anything, they have their limits as to the material best suited for use. You cannot go wrong using masonry drill bits when it comes to concrete, stone or tile.
Annular Cutter The New Wave of Home Improvement
Whether you want to drill a hole in metal, wood or stone, it seems that old fashioned drill bits just don’t cut it any longer. With the advent of more advanced tools like the annular cutter, the shelf life of traditional drill bits seems to be limited. Certainly, when it comes to drilling normal sized holes in rock or creating large holes in solid metal, there are far better types of machinery on the market than what your father has in his tool box. As modern consumers, we demand more of the equipment we use for home improvement projects. Holes no longer crack or have dimples surrounding the surface area when the new wave of home improvement tools is put to use.
Drilling a large hole in a door to put in a doorknob is an age old DIY job. One method of achieving this hole was to drill several holes beside each other. Eventually, the holes would combine to create something resembling a space for a doorknob to be placed. This process took some time and required great patience. Of course, the above scenario really involves amateur DIY enthusiasts but even they can benefit from the power and convenience of an annular cutter. Instead of having to bore primer holes before getting to work with the big drill bit, this type of cutter allows you to go straight through the metal. You will only have to use it once to cut the perfect
hole. All you need to do is ensure that the surface being drilled is clean and free of all debris. Most cutters are magnetic nowadays so the bottom of the magnet must also be thoroughly cleaned. The cutting edges of the cutter are located right at the edge which allows the surface speed of the tool to remain constant during the cut. Instead of having to force your way through the material like you would with a normal drill bit, the cutter smoothly saws through the metal, never pausing throughout the job unless you elect to stop and clean the cutter.
Masonry drill bits are the weapon of choice when it comes to dealing with stone and concrete. They are a major improvement over older drill bits which had a pronounced habit of either breaking under extreme pressure or chipping the rock. These types of drill bits work best when paired with rotary hammer drills because they operate a piston which hammers the drill bit into the hole. In contrast, regular hammer action drills tend to vibrate. If the material is extremely hard and pressure is put on the drill bit, it could crack. Rotary drills are more expensive but as they penetrate hard material more easily than their regular hammer counterpart, it is certainly worth
paying a little extra. If traditional equipment is not up to the standards we now have, items like masonry drill bits are here to save the day. Consumers understand the importance of longevity and performance and this realization has encouraged manufacturers to produce superior quality goods.
For more information about masonry drill bits and reamers reamers,, please check out www.hermanscentral.com