To hone or not to hone....

[FATGUY]

I'm rebuilding/restoring my first project saw. A Poulan 3400 (like the one Brian S. did) It had spark and compression (135 PSI) and would not start, so I bought a new carb for it (thanks Calvin "lawnmowertech37")I decided I had to rip the whole saw apart and do it right, The way Brian S. did his. When I got it apart, the piston top had quite a bit of carbon build up, so I stoned the top and it all came off. The cylinder has no scoring but it is pretty shiny. I got a service manual for it, but it made no mention of how to recondition the cylinder for new rings. I did some searches but saw no definitive answer on this site. So guys, do I hone or not? What do I use? where can I get it? Any help would be appreciated.
:crazy1:

 

[epicklein22]

Hone it, helps the rings set well and will boost compression. You can use a lot of things to hone, a real cylinder hone, brake hone, high number sand paper like 320 or emery cloth. I like to use emery cloth, gives a nice cross-hatch and is cheap. You can pick it up at any hardware for under 2 bucks.

 

[pioneerguy600]

I'm rebuilding/restoring my first project saw. A Poulan 3400 (like the one Brian S. did) It had spark and compression (135 PSI) and would not start, so I bought a new carb for it (thanks Calvin "lawnmowertech37")I decided I had to rip the whole saw apart and do it right, The way Brian S. did his. When I got it apart, the piston top had quite a bit of carbon build up, so I stoned the top and it all came off. The cylinder has no scoring but it is pretty shiny. I got a service manual for it, but it made no mention of how to recondition the cylinder for new rings. I did some searches but saw no definitive answer on this site. So guys, do I hone or not? What do I use? where can I get it? Any help would be appreciated.
:crazy1:

If your cylinder does not have any deep scratches in it you do not have to hone it at all but I always at least rub a piece of 230-280 grit aluminum oxide sandpaper around inside the bore and use it to radius the transfer ports and intake/exhaust ports as well to make sure there is no sharp edges anywhere inside. A ball hone of the proper size is the most recommended hone but I use a long stone cylinder hone on my rebuilds if I think it is necessary. The ball hone is available through Baileys (Site sponsor) With either the sand paper or ball hone the recommended method is to use sparingly and move the hone up and down in the cylinder to achieve a cross hatch pattern . This will aide in ring seating but remove as little of the cylinder wall material as possible because you are essentially wearing the cylinder lining material thinner and making the bore oversize, in essence wearing the cylinder out. Others will chime in with their experience and recommendations.
Pioneerguy600

 

[Farley9n]

Caution!!!!

The Poulan 3400 has an aluminum bore and a chrome piston. Not chrome, not nickosil, just aluminum like a B&S mower.
DO NOT HONE..................Bob

 

[FATGUY]

oh boy:monkey:

 

[blsnelling]

I have no experience with an aluminum bore. Chrome or NiSi plated bores do not need honed when replacing the rings. The only time you need to hone one is when cleaning one up such as after a piston siezure.