Another stupid question!

Been reaming holes in a few 4130 plates. The reamer worked fine for about
20 holes and then the holes started getting a bit smaller to the point the
bolts got a bit snug.
In my ignorance I thought this one hand reamer would pretty much last me
the whole project, but it's obvious I'm going to need a half a dozen of
them at least just to do the wing hardware.
I did a bit of searching on the net and found some info on reamers. All
hand reamers seem to be HSS which would put me back in the same boat I'm
already in so I was tempted by the carbide reamers I saw for sale.
So, my question is; can you use a carbide tipped reamer designed for use in
a lath in a simple drill press effectively? Or, for that matter, can you
use a reamer designed for use in a lathe as a hand reamer?
Or am I just barking up the wrong tree altogether?

By the way, just for info, the holes I've beenreaming are 5/16 and 1/4. The
material is .090 4130 and the holes were all laser cut about 1/64
undersize. I would ream the first hole in each plate and then clamp
together the plates in pairs to ensure accurate alignment of the holes in
each pair of plates.
Just in case it's not the reamer's fault at all!