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First Hone

Micmac1

Cast Iron
Joined
Jun 9, 2017
We send all of our honing out to a outside vendor, considering purchasing a new Sunnen MBB1660 basic honing machine, mostly to help with cycle time on jobs. all job shop work tightest tol's are +0/-.0005. Finishes in the RA32-RA16 range. Materials mostly nitralloy 135, carbon steel,cast iron and occasional bronze and stainless. Typical job shop work, quantites from 1-10 pcs mostly. Mostly Bushings & clevis thru holes .50 dia - 3.0" dia, lg usually around 1"-6" max. What would be the cons to this particular machine for this type of work, seems to be the only size sunnen offers in the budget and tooling will be purchased on a job by job basis
 
Probably the best machine for low volume. Just don't be shocked at how much you spend on tooling for each size hole! I don't know how much a new one is these days, but you might consider buying a used one and cleaning it up. IMO, you want the 1660 if you can find one, not an older one.
 
No cons it is a good fit for what you are describing. Do you self a favor and buy a new hone. Everybody will tell you there are lots of used hones out there cheap, they leave off the worn out part. Like any machine new machines with tight tolerances work better. For oil use Sunnen's SHO965 it smells good
 
Yes were ar looking at a new one. roughly 15k but thats obviously without tooling and its another 5k for the grit guard filtering unit. is the grit gaurd unit neccesary for this low volume work? there are afew basically new condition MBB1660 unites on ebay, one shows only aprox 10 hour of use but still considering just going new. last time a few years back we were looking into the same one never pulled the trigger they were in the 12k range.
 
Yes were ar looking at a new one. roughly 15k but thats obviously without tooling and its another 5k for the grit guard filtering unit. is the grit gaurd unit neccesary for this low volume work? there are afew basically new condition MBB1660 unites on ebay, one shows only aprox 10 hour of use but still considering just going new. last time a few years back we were looking into the same one never pulled the trigger they were in the 12k range.

No on the PF150 filter. Your volume is low and your best finish is only a 16RA. If you were looking for a 8ra or better the filter would have some advantage.
 
Hello Micmac1,
I think your decision is good on this purchase, but it might be a good idea to buy a used hone that is fully tooled.

Honing machines create the truest bore, these tools magically straightens and easily hold sub .0001 tolerance.

good luck, I will inform you if and when I make a similar purchase.
 
Larger sizes of Mandrels that take replacement shoes can be had much cheaper on ebay than new.

Buying the smaller sizes can be a crap shoot if their used. Smaller sizes I'll only by unused off of ebay.

Even if you buyoff of ebay it'll get expensive, I hate to think what I've got invested in mandrels/stones/shoes/trueing sleeves etc
 
We ended up buying a used MBB-1660 in almost new condition for less than half cost of a new one. So my question is now, do we need to use the Sunnen Hone oil @ $135/5gal or is there another brand to try.
 
You absolutely need proper honing oil for the process to work worth a damn. Sunnen MB-30 is the goto, but it stinks. It's also expensive and you need about 15 gallons. I've modified my machine to use two gallons. My shop is attached to the house, so it's a non-starter because of the smell. I haven't tried it, but look at what Tennessee Abrasives has. Honing Stones/Sticks Manufacturer | Honing Supplies | Made in the USA - Tennessee Abrasive, Inc. They claim little odor and also have other honing supplies. FWIW, there are import Sunnen mandrels and stones. I've never tried it, but the prices are so much better it might be worth the experiment- Sunnen Mandrel-Sunnen Mandrel Manufacturers, Suppliers and Exporters on Alibaba.comAbrasive Tools
 
You absolutely need proper honing oil for the process to work worth a damn. Sunnen MB-30 is the goto, but it stinks. It's also expensive and you need about 15 gallons. I've modified my machine to use two gallons. My shop is attached to the house, so it's a non-starter because of the smell. I haven't tried it, but look at what Tennessee Abrasives has. Honing Stones/Sticks Manufacturer | Honing Supplies | Made in the USA - Tennessee Abrasive, Inc. They claim little odor and also have other honing supplies. FWIW, there are import Sunnen mandrels and stones. I've never tried it, but the prices are so much better it might be worth the experiment- Sunnen Mandrel-Sunnen Mandrel Manufacturers, Suppliers and Exporters on Alibaba.comAbrasive Tools

Use Sunnen's SHO965 It works as well as MB30 and smells good.
 
What did you do to modify tank to only run with only 10 gallons? Were going to try that with the SHO965 oil

It will run on 10 gallons but not much less. To modify the tank you need to get rid of tank volume. That can be done by adding bricks or large pieces of scrap metal to take up space.
 








 
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