Thus far I have not had to deal with these, but I can envision their usefulness in model engineering & tooling/machines in general. I'll lay out what I think I've gathered thus far, please correct me or add any other useful information I should be paying attention to.
It seems to me the N-Am standards for tapered pins are numbered 0 through 7, with a taper of 1/4" per 12" (1:48) and metric/DIN are 1mm per 50mm (1:50). So far so good?
https://www.mcmaster.com/products/taper-pins/taper-pins~/?SrchEntryWebPart_InpBox=taper+reamersI see tapered reamers and I see tapered drills which match these taper ratios & pin sizes. In 1:48 I see both reamers & drills, but in 1:50 thus far I have only seen reamers (no drills unless I missed it). Both are quite spendy. Reamers are a bit less spendy. Asian reamers are quite a bit cheaper than N-Am but I don't have a read on quality yet. They come in different flavors: straight & spiral flute.
What I don't understand is some reamer shanks have an extended cylindrical section but typically always have a square end like a tap. Some cylindrical extensions are every short inferring they probably are not intended to be chucked as in drill press mode. If the reamer has an extended shank can it be carefully run in under power to the point of finishing to depth by hand using a tap handle? Or when they say 'hand reamer' they really do mean (entirely) reamed by hand? With reamer in mind you would obviously pre-drill with pilot hole. I have read somewhere they actually stagger increasing diameter drill sizes presumably to leave less material for the reamer to use. I'm looking at ~ 3mm size just to play with, do you think this staged drilling is necessary in plain mild steel?
On the Asian/AliExpress sellers, there are also carbide tapered reamers for not that much more - any pros & cons to consider? (generally I've found carbide to be of better quality than HSS but of course every order is a surprise on way or the other).
Re the pins themselves, is the general procedure to tap them home & that friction fit is sufficient for most running shaft type installations? Is retaining glue ever recommended for more permanent installations? I've seen some applications where the small hole end is chamfered & the pin is peened over for retention. But if memory serves that was a much softer pin alloy, maybe like a shear pin. Most pins I see are mild steel or hardened steel.
What about length sizing. Should one be targeting that the pin head & tail both end up shallower than the shaft they penetrate? Or is that just too fickle & one should assume it will end up proud once mated & then finish the excess lengths to suite?