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Help... Taper pin installation

G

Gary's RV7A

Active Member
Help... Taper pin installation - found solution...

See my last post for my solution.


Ok, I've read all the story on how hard it is to taper the hole in the nose gear strut. I'm in the middle of this and I'm so close to having a tapered hole. I'm about 3/8 of an inch short. I'm so close but I can't make any progress. The tapered reamer has a few chips in it from use. I'm assuming I need to buy a new tapered reamer... If so, what is the best reamer I can use for this project? I'm currently using a #3 brown and sharpe taper reamer. Up to this point I've been turning the reamer at 100 rpms. Is there any alternative methods to reaching the end? Thanks!
 
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Gary's RV7A said:
Ok, I've read all the story on how hard it is to taper the hole in the nose gear strut. I'm in the middle of this and I'm so close to having a tapered hole. I'm about 3/8 of an inch short. I'm so close but I can't make any progress. The tapered reamer has a few chips in it from use. I'm assuming I need to buy a new tapered reamer... If so, what is the best reamer I can use for this project? I'm currently using a #3 brown and sharpe taper reamer. Up to this point I've been turning the reamer at 100 rpms. Is there any alternative methods to reaching the end? Thanks!
Click to expand...

You mentioned 100 RPM which I assume means you are using a drill/press. These reamers are designed to be hand-turned. It's just dull. You need a new reamer. Try it again with a large tap wrench and apply a fair amount of pressure to get it to cut right away and produce decent-sized chips...otherwise the reamer will dull very quickly and never cut well. Many folks (including myself when I first tried) seem to have trouble getting these reamers to cut. It's usually improper technique/pressure. Use a good cutting oil as well. I found that drilling the straight hole was harder than finishing the tapered hole on the gear socket on my RV-3. I used a #3 B&S reamer/pin as well. Once I figured out the pressure to apply (with a new reamer), the reaming was very quick and easy.
 
Reamers

I first tried doing it by hand with lots for pressure. Made little if no progress, very little chip production. Then I chucked it up to my drill and was able to make progress based on depth and chips. Then it stopped making chips. The reamer must be dull. Another $50 reamer, this tapered hole is getting to be very expensive. Wish Van's would sizes the hole with the engine mount... Anyway, that's another topic.
 
Good luck with that

When you run out of patience after the second or third reamer, call your local wire edm source and they can cut the tapered hole in the gear leg and then you match ream it to the engine mount.
 
Update - my solution

I wish I would of done this before I ordered another reamer. Any one need a new reamer??? Cheap...

Anyway, I had a bunch of sanding cylinders (Dremel 431 1/4" 60 grit sanding bands) that fit into the tapered hole. I thought maybe if I could clean the surface a little, it would allow the reamer to move down so it could cut on a clean new edge. I was surprised by how much material it was removing, lots of sparks! The reamer dulls quickly in the same position. I was short about 3/8" before I tried this sanding technic. After sanding, cleaning and reaming (by hand) 4 times, the tapered pin fits perfectly. I set my dremel on high, sanded from both openings because the sanding cylinder wouldn't reach all the way through. I was done in 1 hour after several hours of making no progress with the reamer by hand or with using a hand drill. I used 2 sanding cylinders, a lot faster and cheaper than buying a new reamer. After all the problems I had initially, this made quick work of the problem. Maybe I should taper the main gear?
 
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I just got through reaming my engine mount and nose gear for a taper pin. Did it by hand and it took about an hour of some serious sweat breaking work. Lots of cutting oil! About halfway through the reamer stopped making chips. I lightly dressed the edges of the reamer with a sharpening stone (my finest grade grit). After that I was able to make more quick progress. I'll probably be sore for a week, but it is done!
IMG3246-M.jpg
 
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