PARF REAM for 20mm holes

Create a review for a woodworking tool that you are familiar with (Shopsmith brand or Non-Shopsmith) or just post your opinion on a specific tool. Head to head comparisons welcome too.

Moderators: HopefulSSer, admin

User avatar
reible
Platinum Member
Posts: 11283
Joined: Thu Jul 20, 2006 12:08 pm
Location: Aurora, IL

PARF REAM for 20mm holes

Post by reible »

This is just make you aware that this tool exists. I have one on order and will do a bit of a review when it arrives. The only place I know to order it was from Axminster in the UK. Have a few other things on the order but the shipping was rather excessive I thought, $20 on an order of $51.

So what is it for?

If you get in to the 20mm hole systems you will find a reason to want one. Even freshly drilled holes can have fibers left in the MDF which makes the hole tight when inserting the 20mm dogs. While I have made most of my holes with a router or the shaper origin they still can be tight for what ever reason. Don't want them loose but too tight is pretty bad as well. You can also damage holes and this can help with that at sometimes.

What do you get?

It is a ream that fits in a drill and simply reams the too tight hole to the correct size.

I'm not sure how this link is going to work but give it a try:

https://www.axminstertools.com/us/insta ... f%20reamer

If it gets lost then just go to the main page and search for "parf reamer"

I plan to go over all my tables and check with a dog and then mark the tight ones and ream them. Since I'm pretty much sold on this system and plan to make more tops this should be well worth the $20 now about the shipping???? Well I have some other things to share the cost over so maybe it isn't that bad in the long run.

Ed
{Knight of the Shopsmith} [Hero's don't wear capes, they wear dog tags]
RFGuy
Platinum Member
Posts: 2739
Joined: Mon Dec 31, 2018 8:05 am
Location: a suburb of PHX, AZ

Re: PARF REAM for 20mm holes

Post by RFGuy »

Thanks Ed. Let us know how it works for you when you receive it. I wonder the same thing with regard to MFT holes varying in size. I did my first MFT top in Baltic Birch plywood using the Woodpeckers Hole Boring Jig. I have some 20mm bench dogs that are meant to be a tight/exact fit. Some holes they slide into with minimal force and have no resulting slop. Others are tight to where they won't insert at all. So, I pulled the hole boring jig back out and did a 2nd pass routing those holes. Now the bench dogs insert easily in those holes, in fact a bit too easy. For me, I think what is happening is when I did all the holes originally it is hard to keep all the sawdust and wood chips out of the jig and around the router guide. Sometimes these get in the way and cause a hole that is slightly smaller somewhere around the circumference of the hole. This PARF reamer tool could be useful in only removing material on the side of the holes that isn't perfectly round. If it does this without further widening the hole that would be great. However, what I don't understand is why a 2nd pass of routing results in holes a bit oversized. My router is heavy and sits flat on the hole boring jig. The router guide collars are high quality. Presumably all the holes and alignment of the hole boring jig are close enough to ideal that they are not the cause of error. Any tips or suggestions? Not trying to chase precision here or anything. Just would prefer to keep the dog holes on the underside of 20mm more so than over 20mm. For clamping it doesn't matter but for fence alignment and ensuring square cuts off of them it does matter.

P.S. Still waiting on some benchdogs and hardware from Benchdogs.co.uk. It has been stuck at customs for 2 weeks now with what appears to be paperwork errors. Frustrating because only the shipper (Benchdogs.co.uk) can resolve it and they are dragging their feet on it. I hate ordering from out of country. :(
📶RF Guy

Mark V 520 (Bought New '98) | 4" jointer | 6" beltsander | 12" planer | bandsaw | router table | speed reducer | univ. tool rest
Porter Cable 12" Compound Miter Saw | Rikon 8" Low Speed Bench Grinder w/CBN wheels | Jessem Clear-Cut TS™ Stock Guides
Festool (Emerald): DF 500 Q | RO 150 FEQ | OF 1400 EQ | TS 55 REQ | CT 26 E
DC3300 | Shopvac w/ClearVue CV06 Mini Cyclone | JDS AirTech 2000 | Sundstrom PAPR | Dylos DC1100 Pro particulate monitor
User avatar
reible
Platinum Member
Posts: 11283
Joined: Thu Jul 20, 2006 12:08 pm
Location: Aurora, IL

Re: PARF REAM for 20mm holes

Post by reible »

Shipping notice arrived in my email today saying my order should be here by the end of the day on Friday (1/29/21). It remains to be seen if that happens. I also have some revision dogs coming, they are for the parf guide system and let you add holes after the fact. I ran into that the other day, wanted a couple more holes and trying to figure out a way to still use the jig after was a problem. I solved it sort of by I'm really not sure how accurate those two holes are..... Anyway they too are in the shipment.

I have the woodpecker jig as well. That was my first way of trying to get a MFT style top. I did not have any holes undersized enough to not take dogs but I don't think I was using any precision dogs, just the ones from woodpecker.

I don't know how much time you spent getting the bushing aligned to the bit but if you had the bushing set up correctly and checked again when you went back the holes really shouldn't have gotten bigger. I have heard of people having issues due to bad alignment of the bushing/sub-base so I would check that first.

The other thing that can happen is router bits that are not quite as accurate as you might expect. I have seen that personally with other router operations. If you have a router bit that turns out to be say .001" smaller then nominal you will with have a hole that is too tight by twice that. Likewise .001" to large your hole is then twice that too large. So on going back for a second round of cuts did you use the same bit?

Ed
{Knight of the Shopsmith} [Hero's don't wear capes, they wear dog tags]
sehast
Gold Member
Posts: 497
Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2015 6:53 pm
Location: Milpitas, CA

Re: PARF REAM for 20mm holes

Post by sehast »

My reamer is also due to be delivered tomorrow. I plan to use it with my Rockler portable drill guide to ensure the least amount of run out on the existing holes. Just using a hand drill I think has more risk of producing a larger hole than is desired. Anxious to see how it goes.
User avatar
reible
Platinum Member
Posts: 11283
Joined: Thu Jul 20, 2006 12:08 pm
Location: Aurora, IL

Re: PARF REAM for 20mm holes

Post by reible »

Mine came early, got it today rather then Friday. Garage shop is 40 degrees so I don't really want to venture out and try it tonight. Maybe tomorrow??

I have the portalign that I'm planning to use, I was a little surprised that Peter was free handing it. The ream does have a taper to get things started so maybe it isn't an issue but for now I want to go the safe route.
pa1.jpg
pa1.jpg (170.28 KiB) Viewed 2337 times
pa2.jpg
pa2.jpg (176.95 KiB) Viewed 2337 times
Ed
{Knight of the Shopsmith} [Hero's don't wear capes, they wear dog tags]
cham-ed
Gold Member
Posts: 126
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2015 6:35 pm

Re: PARF REAM for 20mm holes

Post by cham-ed »

In the world of machine shops a drill bit is a roughing tool. if you want a round accurate size hole a reamer is the way to go. so it ought to give great 20mm round holes.
RFGuy
Platinum Member
Posts: 2739
Joined: Mon Dec 31, 2018 8:05 am
Location: a suburb of PHX, AZ

Re: PARF REAM for 20mm holes

Post by RFGuy »

reible wrote: Wed Jan 27, 2021 3:24 pm I don't know how much time you spent getting the bushing aligned to the bit but if you had the bushing set up correctly and checked again when you went back the holes really shouldn't have gotten bigger. I have heard of people having issues due to bad alignment of the bushing/sub-base so I would check that first.

Ed
Thanks Ed. I think you nailed my problem here. In doing a search I found out that there are issues with guide bushings in my OF1400 router (see below). Essentially the design of the router base and how it mounts the guide bushings on the OF1400 can make it very difficult to have concentricity between the guide bushing and the bit. When I make my next MFT top I will either need to solve this with the OF1400 or use a different router. Of course, the reamer is another option for me to finish 20mm holes if I still have issues too.

https://www.festoolownersgroup.com/fest ... -solution/

FYI...Wow, your Portalign drill guide looks almost identical to the Kanzawa drill guide that I bought last year. I didn't know they copied the design from them.
📶RF Guy

Mark V 520 (Bought New '98) | 4" jointer | 6" beltsander | 12" planer | bandsaw | router table | speed reducer | univ. tool rest
Porter Cable 12" Compound Miter Saw | Rikon 8" Low Speed Bench Grinder w/CBN wheels | Jessem Clear-Cut TS™ Stock Guides
Festool (Emerald): DF 500 Q | RO 150 FEQ | OF 1400 EQ | TS 55 REQ | CT 26 E
DC3300 | Shopvac w/ClearVue CV06 Mini Cyclone | JDS AirTech 2000 | Sundstrom PAPR | Dylos DC1100 Pro particulate monitor
User avatar
reible
Platinum Member
Posts: 11283
Joined: Thu Jul 20, 2006 12:08 pm
Location: Aurora, IL

Re: PARF REAM for 20mm holes

Post by reible »

I don't want to say how many routers I have but I could use a different one each day and some would be unused in February..... I'm unlikely to have used the 1400 at that point and now have to have a look at mine at some point to see if it is one of the good ones or one of the bad ones.

It is more likely that I used either one of my Hitachi's or Dewalt's set up with the better dust collection. The 1400 I've never set up with bushings. I am surprised that there is no adjustments but I guess the interchangeability of bases etc took precedents over that. I do have a collection of bases for it and most of them I have not used yet. For the things I have used it on it has worked really well. Not sorry I have it but now I have something to question once the weather warms up. Easy enough to not use it for guide bushings if it is one of the bad ones since I have a lot of options.

Ed
{Knight of the Shopsmith} [Hero's don't wear capes, they wear dog tags]
User avatar
reible
Platinum Member
Posts: 11283
Joined: Thu Jul 20, 2006 12:08 pm
Location: Aurora, IL

Re: PARF REAM for 20mm holes

Post by reible »

I'm waiting on some parts for the portalign to make it a 2021 version. It did not come with a chuck which was fine most of the time, you just take the chuck off the drill then put it on the tool and attach the drill to the other end. I think it makes more sense to get a chuck that can live on there. In fact it has come already. It is cheap investment and will allow me to used this at a moments notice rather then having to deal with a change over.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DU ... UTF8&psc=1

I had a $5 coupon to use so it was a bit less for me. It feels decent and should work well for what I intend for it.

The other item which should be here tomorrow is this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019V ... UTF8&psc=1

I will also leave this on the tool. I can then use one of my battery drills so I don't have to deal with cords.

Sometime this week I hope to try the ream and do a few holes with this setup to see how it all works together.

Ed
{Knight of the Shopsmith} [Hero's don't wear capes, they wear dog tags]
User avatar
reible
Platinum Member
Posts: 11283
Joined: Thu Jul 20, 2006 12:08 pm
Location: Aurora, IL

Re: PARF REAM for 20mm holes

Post by reible »

The 2021 version is ready for testing.
portalign7.jpg
portalign7.jpg (152.94 KiB) Viewed 2224 times
I was thinking of a spring return and do have a spring that might work..... or not.

Ed
{Knight of the Shopsmith} [Hero's don't wear capes, they wear dog tags]
Post Reply