Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi all, I am wondering which bridge pin reamers folks use. I see there are 2-5 degree reamers out there and some are pricey while others are not? I assume that is quality of the steel and hardness, etc. Just wonder what folks are happy with?

I have an inexpensive one that I bought from Grizzly years ago. I use the unslotted pins made by Gurian’s company and they fit fine with this reamer. It does the job.

I took a page from Trevor Robinson's book and ground the tang of a file into a bridge pin hole reamer. It only took a few minutes to do and works O.K. It doesn't hurt the functioning of the file and you could still put a handle on it if you didn't mind removing it when you needed to ream pin holes.

StewMac 5 and 3 degree reamers and I've used mine commercially often using them every day for over a decade now. Excellent steel, still sharp as can be, got my money's worth and I'm happy with many more reams to go from these likely.

The ROI may not be there for builders who ream as often as you complete an instrument.

I made a mini version of a chairmaker's reamer. It matches whatever angle my bridge pins were. The blade is a broken hacksaw blade. It works surprisingly well.

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I have the 3 degree reamer from LMII and love it.


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_Mike Tracz
MCT Guitars
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3 and 5 degree reamers from SM, never regretted biting the bullet and coughing up for them, but I do repairs as well.
I prefer 3 degree tapes for my builds, but good pins not always available in UK at a reasonable price.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I use the StewMac 3 degree, and it works very well. I also have a Grizzly 3 degree, which is fairly useless. Technically it does get the job done, but at the cost of your wrist It takes a lot of pressure before it will cut.

Same here.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I've have a 5° reamer that I bought from LMI years ago and it's worked fine for the 7 acoustics I've used it on.

I recently bought a 3° reamer from Philadelphia Luthier Tools on Ebay. I tested the reamer, it cut quickly and matches my 3° pins. Haven't used it on a build yet but it appears equal to the LMI.

Kevin Looker

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.