# Small honing tools



## Chriske (Sep 18, 2012)

Hi guys,


Where do I get small honing tools and is willing to ship to Europe(Belgium). I was thinking of 3/4", and even smaller.  I need these to finish stirling engine cilinders. Or maybe there's someone out there using homemade honing tools, and is willing to share his idea..?


Thanks in advance


Chris


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## Cogsy (Sep 18, 2012)

I just got a 2 stone brake cylinder hone off ebay for about $22 US including shipping to Australia from the USA. It's supposed to do from 11/16" to 2-1/2". I used it for about a 7/8" bore and it worked just fine.

If you do a search for 'brake cylinder hone' you should find it, but the exact title of the ebay listing was : Lisle Brake Cylinder Hone 11/16" to 2 1/2" #10500


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## abby (Sep 18, 2012)

Google flex hone , there are several on Ebay.


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## gus (Sep 18, 2012)

You could make your own honing tool.
My Cheapy DIY Cylinder Hone was made with material from scrap bin. Just finished honing a 21mm I.D. cylinder liner for a 7.5 c.c. Glow Plug Engine I am now building.
I had expert advise from forum members who use DIY honing tool to hone their cylinder liners,
See fotos.


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## rickhann (Sep 18, 2012)

I make my own.  I have attached a photo of ones I have made.  I am by no means an expert on honing, but I would not recommend a brake cylinder hone because of it's flexibility.  Rather than correcting any minor lack of parallelism or out of roundness, it will just smooth out the surface and not correct the irregularities.


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## jasonh (Sep 18, 2012)

I have used flex-hones on my Stirling engines... and they worked. QED.
Don't expect them to make bores parallel, it's more of a surface finish thing.

http://www.brushresearch.com/


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## gus (Sep 18, 2012)

jasonh said:


> I have used flex-hones on my Stirling engines... and they worked. QED.
> Don't expect them to make bores parallel, it's more of a surface finish thing.
> 
> http://www.brushresearch.com/



Been using the commercial three stone honing tool driven by a slow speed
drill to rehone compressor cylinder before installing new piston rings.

W/o this procedure,rings will not run in and good sealing not achieved and oil pumping happens.


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## gus (Sep 18, 2012)

rickhann said:


> I make my own.  I have attached a photo of ones I have made.  I am by no means an expert on honing, but I would not recommend a brake cylinder hone because of it's flexibility.  Rather than correcting any minor lack of parallelism or out of roundness, it will just smooth out the surface and not correct the irregularities.




You are my Guru.

I was told Rolls Royce practically semi-manual auto hand hone their cylinder sleeves to get perfect or near perfect paralell bore.


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## Tin Falcon (Sep 19, 2012)

http://www.americanlap.com/Barrel%20Laps.htm
or look here. 
Tin


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## Chriske (Sep 19, 2012)

Thanks guys,

for all the info you posted so far.

I found one of my owne, this one seems to be a bit rough to hone. Someone used it with good result...? Let me know please.
That's the one Jasonh refered to.

@ gus:
Seems to me rather easy to make. Could you provide some more info please.  What I want to know is how do you manage to widen(open) this honing tool not ending up with a conical shaped thing.

@ rickhann, a few well made honing tools, same question as with gus how precise do you open this honing tool..?

@ Tin Falcon
These one from americanlap company can be opened with great precision I assume.?

Some other info I got from another forum, this is the message :

_For such an application lapping is much easier than (real) honing.  Small honing tools are available, but at a price driving water into your  eyes!!! Google pemamo._
_     A lapping tool can even made from hard wood, and Chinese diamond pastes are cheap._


To be clear on the matter, I got lots of carborundum waiting on a large shelf, all grain sizes, starting from carbo #80 to #1200. I even have Ceriumoxide, grain size 2 to 3 microns. I buy these to grind and polish glass disks (to be used in telescope optics)

Thanks again guys...

Chris


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## rickhann (Sep 20, 2012)

Chris,  The hones I have made have two half moon shaped pieces.  One is tapped and a couple grub screws used to expand the hone.  The finer the thread the finer the adjustment.  As far as how much to expand the hone between charging, You will have to do that by feel.  To me honing is as much as an art as it is precision machining.  You will know when you have a good bore by the feel of the hone.  i.e smooth from one end to the other.  You can feel the hone hit the "high spots".  Be careful when you are near the ends so that you do not "bell mouth" the bore.  Making the hone longer will help alleviate this problem.   I did not have a problem with the hone being conical because if it is a bit conical from one end to the other. when you move the hone through the bore, it will only remove material at the larger end end of the hone and once again, you can feel it.  That is the extent of my honing expertise.  Good luck  Rick


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## dcflysrc (Sep 20, 2012)

rickhann said:


> I make my own.  I have attached a photo of ones I have made.  I am by no means an expert on honing, but I would not recommend a brake cylinder hone because of it's flexibility.  Rather than correcting any minor lack of parallelism or out of roundness, it will just smooth out the surface and not correct the irregularities.


 

Hello Rickhann

     I like the hones that you are displaying. Is it possible that you could show us how you make them and the difference between the hones in your pictures? The information on the material of the hones and the compound that you use for honing. Pictures along with the descriptions would be very helpful to all of us not familiar with the process.   

                                                                 THANKS   DCFLYSRC


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## Jasonb (Sep 21, 2012)

Have a read of this thread by Ramon, he describes two types of lap, both parallel and also shows how to use them and then lap the piston to the cylinder. I used the aluminium one and similar lapping paste on my Firefly and it works very well.

J


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## rickhann (Sep 21, 2012)

The hones I made are just like the ones described by Ramon's thread except the workmanship on his hones is much better than mine.  The lapping compound I use is called "Timesaver Lapping Compound".  I bought a kit from McMaster-Carr that contains 4 different grades for lapping soft metals and 4 grades for lapping hard metals.  I highly recommend it.   The only other thing I can add is that the material used for the lap should be softer than the material being lapped.  That way, the abrasive gets lodged in the lap rather than the cylinder.

Rick


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## dcflysrc (Sep 21, 2012)

Jasonb said:


> Have a read of this thread by Ramon, he describes two types of lap, both parallel and also shows how to use them and then lap the piston to the cylinder. I used the aluminium one and similar lapping paste on my Firefly and it works very well.
> 
> J



Thanks  Jason for the link to Ramon's thread on the laps. I will read the whole build thread after seeing the engines.  THANKS  AGAIN    DON


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## dcflysrc (Sep 21, 2012)

rickhann said:


> The hones I made are just like the ones described by Ramon's thread except the workmanship on his hones is much better than mine.  The lapping compound I use is called "Timesaver Lapping Compound".  I bought a kit from McMaster-Carr that contains 4 different grades for lapping soft metals and 4 grades for lapping hard metals.  I highly recommend it.   The only other thing I can add is that the material used for the lap should be softer than the material being lapped.  That way, the abrasive gets lodged in the lap rather than the cylinder.
> 
> Rick



Thanks for the info, I always like to see what people are using to get the job done. I appreciate your sharing the info   THANKS  DON


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