I've spent the last few years outfitting my home shop with first a nice Bridgeport and then a nice Acer 1440G lathe. I'm a real amateur though, not very proficient at using either one (yet). In fact, I don't even have the lathe powered yet (working on an RPC for it, while the Bridgeport is powered by a VFD).
Anway, I'm into rebuilding old motorcycles and soon will have a need to rebore a coupla jugs for an old 2 stroke (about 2.5" bore). I've done some reading on it and I was surprised to hear quite a few people downing on the Bridgeport's ability to do this job with reliable accuracy and without chatter. I would think it would be the cat's meow for a job like that? And then it seemed several people sang the praises of using a lathe and how it's much more accurate and rigid for that sort of job. So now that I have a nice size lathe that weighs over a ton, I'm thinking maybe I can build a simple fixture to bolt the cylinder (using its own mounting holes) to an adapter mounted to my lathe's face plate. Then get a rigid boring bar setup and bore the cylinders that way.
I'm not doing this to make a living, nor do I mind a lengthy setup time. Just would seem a shame to have bought all these fancy machines and not actually use them for something useful like this. I know I can outsource the job as I have in the past. But if I could develop a sense of confidence I could do this job, I might go for it. Especially if I find some old junk cylinders to practice on first.
Also, I have an old AMMCO hone, which I believe is similar to the Sunnen.
Any and all comments welcome.
Anway, I'm into rebuilding old motorcycles and soon will have a need to rebore a coupla jugs for an old 2 stroke (about 2.5" bore). I've done some reading on it and I was surprised to hear quite a few people downing on the Bridgeport's ability to do this job with reliable accuracy and without chatter. I would think it would be the cat's meow for a job like that? And then it seemed several people sang the praises of using a lathe and how it's much more accurate and rigid for that sort of job. So now that I have a nice size lathe that weighs over a ton, I'm thinking maybe I can build a simple fixture to bolt the cylinder (using its own mounting holes) to an adapter mounted to my lathe's face plate. Then get a rigid boring bar setup and bore the cylinders that way.
I'm not doing this to make a living, nor do I mind a lengthy setup time. Just would seem a shame to have bought all these fancy machines and not actually use them for something useful like this. I know I can outsource the job as I have in the past. But if I could develop a sense of confidence I could do this job, I might go for it. Especially if I find some old junk cylinders to practice on first.
Also, I have an old AMMCO hone, which I believe is similar to the Sunnen.
Any and all comments welcome.