Micro Reamers

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rnewcombe

Lurker
May 15, 2009
24
22
Does anyone know anything about Micro Reamers? I bought a package of six from Bruce Weaver years ago and wonder if there is a comparable product made today.
 

rnewcombe

Lurker
May 15, 2009
24
22
A package of eight, not six.

They are very good for keeping previously-reamed bowls clean; they are not strong enough to cut through an old cake that has been built up for years.
 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,248
108,343
Looks like the Cook's reamer I have.

vintage-cooks-pipe-reamer-tool_1_97f9bfd47c92a297d43a3c2b55f99aa6.jpg
 

rnewcombe

Lurker
May 15, 2009
24
22
Yes, that's it. So ... where can we get them, or is there someone who might be interested in making them? I don't like a cake, so I use it after each smoke, and it fits inside all of my pipes, big and small. Have you tried it?
 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,248
108,343
Yes, that's it. So ... where can we get them, or is there someone who might be interested in making them? I don't like a cake, so I use it after each smoke, and it fits inside all of my pipes, big and small. Have you tried it?
They haven't been made for decades I believe. They're design is too small for most of my pipes at their parallel position and from there they adjust out to where they would unevenly remove more cake at the bottom of the chamber than the top. A Pipnet reamer would do a better job, and I just use a Case XX clip blade for all of my reaming. The Cook' s reamer I just keep around as a piece of pipe history.
 
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Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,248
108,343
The spring tension on these little demons is terrible, very easy to cut yourself holding them together to adjust the screw. Here at their widest parallel point they don't even touch the sides of the pipe and there are no more threads on the screw to adjust it down further to ream conical chambers.

5636

5637

From there here is an outward adjustment that would do more damage than good.

5638
 

rnewcombe

Lurker
May 15, 2009
24
22
I removed the screw so long ago that I forgot to mention that. I find these reamers are ideal for removing5660 the cake exactly as it builds up -- more on the bottom and less on the top, leaving the inside of the bowl smooth from top to bottom.
5660
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
By 'ember's account, they don't sound like much fun. I think a small pocket knife or the small blade on a regular pocket knife might do this job, used gently. Or just scoop and wipe the bowl out, and you won't need a reamer, as several of us do.
 
Yes, that's it. So ... where can we get them, or is there someone who might be interested in making them? I don't like a cake, so I use it after each smoke, and it fits inside all of my pipes, big and small. Have you tried it?

Suggestion as an alternative:

If you use a bristle pipe cleaner bent "U" shaped and use it as a sort of reamer twisting around the bowl then going up and down until you are left with no residue.

It won't remove build up but it will surely prevent build up.
 
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rnewcombe

Lurker
May 15, 2009
24
22
That is exactly what I did for 20 years, as recommended by Jim Benjamin, but once I found this very gentle reamer, it removes just the slightest amount of build-up and is very gentle inside the bowl, at least the way I use it. It removes it better than a bristled cleaner. The blades are not particularly sharp. They are just right. Obviously they are not made any more, so I will keep using it the way I do now. My biggest concern when buying an estate pipe is that so many of them have been reamed improperly, so the inside looks lopsided. That is the problem with using a knife or a traditional reamer.
 

rnewcombe

Lurker
May 15, 2009
24
22
I was replying to sandollars' suggestion of using a bristled cleaner, and not embers' suggestion to use a knife. To embers ... I am sure you are much more skilled than I am to be able to use that knife. I would ruin the bowl if I tried. (I know from experience.)
 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,248
108,343
My biggest concern when buying an estate pipe is that so many of them have been reamed improperly, so the inside looks lopsided. That is the problem with using a knife or a traditional reamer.
Not if you lay the blade flat and turn the pipe against the blade. I've only ever had to ream estate purchases as even pipes I've bought new thirty years ago barely have any cake. With proper aftercare reaming just isn't, or is rarely necessary.
 
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