For anyone running an old boring stand like ours where the bar sits directly on the deck I've found that dry Teflon lube is really helpful. It makes it much easier to slide the bar around and keeps it from scratching the surface. Any wet lubricants would hold chips...
My lathe does have a 4-jaw chuck, but this small one is quicker and easier for small jobs that need to be precise. I machined up a spud for the small chuck, and I just chuck it in the lathe's 3-jaw. It saves a lot of time. Randy Torvinen Torvinen Machine Menahga,...
I needed a spring seat cutter pilot that wouldn't hurt the guides on a special set of heads. I tried 3 different pilots that came with the cutters I have and couldn't get better than .005 runout. I used a Chevy oil pump shaft as that's excellent material to make...
We all know the challenges of flat tappet cams these days, with what seems to be regular failures. When I break them in, I like to preheat the oil some to get better flow right off the start. Also, adding an extra quart of oil perpetuates extra “splash lube” as well....
When removing guides from an air-cooled cylinder head, where you are pressing from the spring side into the port, I cut the guide away flush to the spring pad. I press the guide from here. This way the protruding guide material does not expand and damage the cylinder...
Tight ring lands in used pistons due to carbon, rust, or even slightly pinched can be a real problem to overcome. Keeping old rings and using them as scrapers has always been in my playbook, however, applying fine lapping compound liberally and working the ring back...