Honing machine, useful tool? or antique

[skipskip]

I have an ammco honing machine.

AJUN 248 by skipskip, on Flickr

Works well, but I don't know what anyone might use it for.

Whenever I have needed to hone things, I have used a tool that fits in the chuck of an electric drill.

Is honing even done anymore?

the Ammco company said that this is used for con rod wrist pins, brake cylinders and the like.

Sunnen sells similar machines today for big $$ so I assume they have a purpose.

Can someone enlighten me about honing and why you would want a machine rather than stones on a stick?

Thanks

Skip

 

[vssjim]

Basically it must come with all the mandrels and stone sets and such, with out tooling it does not have much value.

 

[A_Pmech]

It depends on whether you need to hone ID's or not.

Without all the supporting tooling and equipment it's just a motor and a reduction drive.

 

[09zkrankin]

When doing small stuff like con rods or atv cylinders honing machines are much easier to use, nut like everyone else said without the mandrels and such it's not worth much


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[skipskip]

mandrels


AJUN 251 by skipskip, on Flickr


stones and heads


AJUN 249 by skipskip, on Flickr

 

[A_Pmech]

Now we're getting somewhere!

 

[DocsMachine]

They essentially have no purpose or use except to hone bores, and even then, only the bores of parts you can bring to the machine and hold by hand in front of it.

It has some tooling, but for a general job shop, you'd need a lot more to be ready for whatever new project walked in the door.

On the other hand, if you had a lot of one thing to do, it's fairly inexpensive to tool up for just that one job.

Bottom line? No, unless your shop/garage did a LOT of drum brakes, engine builds that required new wrist pins, or other similar jobs, it's not worth wasting the space on. (And that's coming from a ******** tool junkie that owns two metal shapers. )

Doc.

 

[countryroad82]

They are a Godsend if you replace kingpins on big trucks. At least if you use brass bushings, which IMO is much better than nylon which wears out quick! If it were cheap enough I would ****** it up and let the trucks shops know I had it.

 

[Zeke]

Be handy for small engine rebuilds.

 

[WWIIjeep]

They're great if you work on drum brakes and rebuild wheel cylinders (or the other uses mentioned). If not, they tend to gather dust and cobwebs in the corner of the shop.

 

[Fcvapor05]

Whenever I have needed to hone things, I have used a tool that fits in the chuck of an electric drill.
....
Is honing even done anymore?
....
Can someone enlighten me about honing and why you would want a machine rather than stones on a stick?

If you're building an engine with close tolerances you need a much more accurate tool than a drill hone.

A quality hone, new or old, will give you very fine control of the shape and size of the cross-hatch pattern created on the honed surface.

 

[diggerrick]

That's the machine you want for resizing rods. Even aftermarket rods commonly need touched up a little before assembly. I thought every engine shop had one.

 

[Fcvapor05]

That's the machine you want for resizing rods. Even aftermarket rods commonly need touched up a little before assembly. I thought every engine shop had one.

Every engine shop that knows what they're doing certainly does.

 

[ttpete]

That's the machine you want for resizing rods. Even aftermarket rods commonly need touched up a little before assembly. I thought every engine shop had one.

That's OK for pin bushings, but if you want to do a good job, you'll want a Tobin-Arp rod boring machine.

 

[Packard V8]

Whenever I have needed to hone things, I have used a tool that fits in the chuck of an electric drill. Is honing even done anymore? Can someone enlighten me about honing and why you would want a machine rather than stones on a stick?

Your toy tool on a drill motor just makes bores shiny. To make them round, straight and exact finished ID requires a honing machine with the appropriate tooling and an experienced operator. So yes, it's still done every day. Some days, we do 500 connecting rods, each to within .0005" of a specified diameter. Other days, wheel cylinders, kingpins, 2-stroke jugs.

That's OK for pin bushings, but if you want to do a good job, you'll want a Tobin-Arp rod boring machine

.
Yes, a Tobin Arp rod boring machine, used correctly, can deliver identical center-to-center lengths, albeit at a much higher cost per rod. For a typical stock rebuild, the Sunnen Rod Shop is still the industry standard.

And no, the old Ammco, if it doesn't have the dial gauge and new tooling, isn't worth anywhere near what an equivalent age and condition Sunnen will bring. Still, if someone offered it for scrap price, I'd find a home for it.

jack vines