Homelite honing?

[ChainsawmanXX]

I got a Homelite that a guy wants me to hone the cylinder i told him that i have never done it but he said "Well just try it." Sooooooooooo i have the honing tools (not flex hone the regular spring loaded ones.) and a drill press, Any tips and tricks? pleassseee!!!! lol :msp_biggrin::msp_biggrin:

 

[Eccentric]

I got a Homelite that a guy wants me to hone the cylinder i told him that i have never done it but he said "Well just try it." Sooooooooooo i have the honing tools (not flex hone the regular spring loaded ones.) and a drill press, Any tips and tricks? pleassseee!!!! lol :msp_biggrin::msp_biggrin:

What model Homelite is it? Unless it's one from the 1940's, it has a chrome plated bore. Don't wanna do anything beyond removing the glaze...........or you'll ruin the jug. Why does he want it honed? If it's chrome lined, then either the chrome is gouged out (and the jug is ruined) or there's alluminum transfer from the piston coating it. If there's alluminum transfer........then you're better off carefully cleaning it off. Do a search here for "muriatic acid" and "alluminum transfer". Lots of good reading...

 

[thomas72]

If you hone it do it just enough for break in. Try your best to remove as little material as possible. If it is an old saw then you may not want to hone it. The plating my be on the thin side and honing will just make it worse. If it is not honed the saw will break in still, but just take a little longer. Also, if it has bridge ports make sure the ports are not beat out. A lot of those old saws will suffer a lot of wear on the plating around the bridge port.

 

[Jacob J.]

I agree with Aaron- do not hone a chrome or Nikasil cylinder. You're just asking for trouble. If you haven't honed a steel-sleeved cylinder, then you may want to find an experienced person and get some tips from them.

I recently bought some used cylinders and two were modern pro saw cylinders that were ruined by someone with a hone. Not only did they hone through the chrome plating on one, but the axis of their hone was off and then honed out the cylinders crooked, so now they're "out of round" and completely junk.

 

[ChainsawmanXX]

Wow Glad i havent honed it yet. Id say its a mid 80's homlite a 133 im sure its to cold to go out in the shop and check haha
But it has a bunch of pits in it like someone welded around it and it has slag on it lol
What do you suggest i do? it seemed to have good compression before i tore the saw down.

 

[RBurtcher]

Since this thread is up. What's the proper grit hone typically used for cylinder wall material make. How do you know what type of rings are used that are included with piston kits. I would assume the cylinder kits are ready to go.

1: nikasil (if used at all)

2: chrome (if used at all)

3: cast sleeve

4: alum

 

[ChainsawmanXX]

View attachment 172020View attachment 172021

Here are some pictures of the piston, The first picture isnt as good as the second one. But here they are. Tell me what you think please!

 

[pioneerguy600]

View attachment 172020View attachment 172021

Here are some pictures of the piston, The first picture isnt as good as the second one. But here they are. Tell me what you think please!

I don`t see a piston but the cylinder is in rough shape, honing won`t do any good there. Just rub it well with scotchbrite pad or fine grade sandpaper, 320-400 grit to remove glaze, clean it up real well and put in the new piston and rings, it should run good for plenty of hours if not used for production cutting work.
Pioneerguy600

 

[Ax-man]

I'll agree with those that say don't hone it with any tools other than your hands and sandpaper down to a 400 grit. It is the best way to avoid ruining a cylinder. Doesn't take all that much time either.

There is even a 600 grit out there to finish it up with. This stuff is more for scuffing paint if your applying multiple coats oof paint.


Hones can and do remove too much metal in a cylinder if not used right especially in a chainsaw cylinder because the plating is only a few thou of an inch. You don't want to resize or rebore a chainsaw cylinder. They don't make oversized piston and rings for saws. Once it is gone it is gone and there is no turning back. Don't ask how I know.

You can't get in too much trouble with sandpaper. Basically the paper is just putting fine line scratches and some deglazing on the surface of the cylinder wall and removing rough edges from any scoring. Saws will still run with scored cylinders as long as they are not too far out of round and the piston is good and is of the proper size that hasn't been worn down from dirt ingestion from a bad air filter. You also need good rings with the proper ring gap and the piston ring grooves or ring gland as it is called aren't worn past a certain tolerance.

 

[ChainsawmanXX]

I don`t see a piston but the cylinder is in rough shape, honing won`t do any good there. Just rub it well with scotchbrite pad or fine grade sandpaper, 320-400 grit to remove glaze, clean it up real well and put in the new piston and rings, it should run good for plenty of hours if not used for production cutting work.
Pioneerguy600

Haha yea sorry its been a hectic day
But i bumped into the guy that owns the saw today and i dont really think he knows what he is talking about i told him what you guys said and he said "Well if honing it doesnt work then we'll just take it to a guy that will re-chrome it" Never heard of that? But i think i will just take your guys advice and use the sandpaper to scuff out the pits in the cylinder. Then hone a junk cylinder so it looks like I used the honing tool. Thanks for all the help guys!

 

[Brian VT]

Homelite 133 ? Is that a string trimmer ?
Anyway, re-plating the cyl. is likely more $ than it's worth.
I would look for a new piston/cyl./rings. (from a site sponsor, ebay, etc.).

 

[Zero Gravity]

You can use a ball hone of the correct diameter. Just don't go hog wild. It should not take more the 15 to 30 seconds. That is exactly what a ball hone was made for, service rebuilds.

ZG