How To Use A Flex Hone

Projection Firebolt continues apace, love readers. This by holiday weekend, Todd and I tore into the onetime BSA Hornet mill I picked up to do a full inspection and major cleaning. I of the pieces most desperately in need of sprucing upwardly were the cylinders. They were gross and, in their state, completely unusable. I had a program, though. A clever plan that involved a drill, some oil, and about a thousand tiny silicon carbide assurance.

Y'all all have heard of the Flex-Hone, correct? Fabricated by Brush Inquiry Manufacturing, the Flex-Hone is a super elementary, piece of cake-to-utilize smoothing/deburring/honing tool used to clean up cylinders that need a little cleanup only don't demand to exist fully rebored. The tool itself is super elementary; just a twist of heavy wire with nylon strands woven into it and abrasive "globules" attached to each nylon strand. You typically utilise one when doing something simple in your top end similar replacing your piston rings. Equally I alluded to earlier, I used a Flex-Strop to make clean out the Beezer'due south cylinders, and while I did, I took some pictures to put together this handy how-to reference guide. So, without further ado, let'due south get to it.

Step i: Choose Your Weapon

And there it is!

240 grains of polishing fury.

Flex-Hones come in a dizzying array of sizes, styles, and grits. The globules are made from all sorts of materials—silicon carbide, aluminum oxide, boron carbide,tungsten carbide, etc.—and the combinations are nearly endless. Figuring out which tool is right for your chore can be a little intimidating, but thankfully, BRM offers tech support by phone or electronic mail. Very handy. Since the A65 engine'south cylinders are un-plated cast iron, I chose a basic, heart-of-the-road, 3.25-inch tool with 240 grit silicon carbide globules. I grabbed mine on Amazon, but you can notice Flex-Hones at diverse tool and hardware stores. Information technology was just rough enough to scrub off the surface rust and other junk without really scoring the bores.

Step 2: Mise en Place

Become your mess in place.

At present that y'all have your fancy new Flex-Hone, get all your stuff together. You'll need a stout drill, the part yous're honing, the Flex-Hone itself, some shims (but in case), and some lubricant. You can totally use motor oil, but I went ahead and bought BRM's special honing oil because I'm a sucker for fancy-pants ad speak. I highly recommend using a corded drill for this job instead of a bombardment-powered i. Something similar this old, 80s-era Milwaukee Magnum has the grunt and speed y'all want, grabs the tool more than tightly with its manual chuck, and its speed is more easily controlled. Your mileage, of course, may vary.

Step 3: Prep the Part

Gross.

Ready to hone!

Project Firebolt's cylinders werenasty. They had a dainty coating of surface rust and were noticeably scuffed and dinged. I wanted to get them cleaned and honed before even trying to measure out them. Getting an accurate reading on your diameter gauge is a lot easier with a smooth, make clean bore than it is on a bumpy, rusty one. Prepping the cylinders was pretty simple. Once the piece was cinched upward in my vise, I practical a liberal coating of the special honing oil to the cylinder and sprinkled a little on the tool for good mensurate. With the Flex-Hone mounted on the drill and the cylinder thoroughly lubed, I was gear up for the next footstep.

Pace 4: HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE

Honed (probably) to perfection.

Sadly, there are no pictures of the actual honing here since my hands were kinda full so you'll have to employ your imagination. To strop the cylinder, run the drill up to about iii-quarter speed and plunge it into the oiled diameter. You lot desire to work the Flex-Hone in and out of the diameter for one minute, making certain it comes half-mode out each side of the cylinder. Keep a steady speed for 55 seconds, then for the last five seconds increase both the drill speed and the in-out speed. Once the minute is upward, remove the Flex-Honenotwithstanding spinning and power down. That last function is important. Never stop a Flex-Hone in your cylinder or insert i that's non spinning.

Stride 5: Bath Fourth dimension!

♪♫I'1000 gonna wash that crud...

...right outta my bores♫♪

Once your bores are thoroughly honed, they'll be covered in a slurry of oil, metal, and grit from the tool. The all-time way to deal with this is a nice, warm bathroom. Using a mix of hot water and simple dish soap, I lathered up the cylinders and done them out with a cloth. At present, I did this in my bathtub which made an unholy mess, so exist warned. Maybe exercise yours in your basement slop sink or something (mine was full with another, non-cycle-related projection). Just brand certain yous become all the gunk off and dry out the part really well before returning to the shop.

Pace half dozen:Inspection and Oiling

Now, let'southward encounter what we have wrought.

In that location you lot go! Now you have some freshly honed cylinders and it'southward fourth dimension to stop up. Take a expert look at your handywork. You're looking for shiny bores and a overnice, tight, cross-hatch pattern in there. That cross-hatch pattern helps the rings catch on to the cylinder walls and makes certain that oil gets to where it'southward needed and stays there. If you come across any major remaining imperfections, or if your cross-hatching isn't quite the thing, you might have to go in for another pass. If everything looks good, glaze the bores in a dainty, thin layer of motor oil to protect your work and ward off wink rusting.

Denouement

Set to be reinstalled.

All told, this project took me about an hour showtime to stop one time I had everything together. It was piece of cake to do with the basic mechanic tools I had lying effectually (aside from the Flex-Hone itself, of course, which I had to order) and cleaned upwards those nasty cylinders a care for. Now, fair warning, the actual honing role of this process, the role with the drill and the oil and the spinning tool, isextremely messy. Information technology flings gunky, hard to clean honing sludge all over your work area. So, you know, a couple drop cloths over your demote and tools is a good idea.

If you're even a mildly competent wrench comfy with the insides of engines you tin totally do this. Just choose your tool wisely, follow this guide, and cheque out some of BRM's videos and you'll be set. Good luck!