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Sunnen dial bore gage

jl1132

Plastic
Joined
Jun 22, 2019
Hello, im interested in a listing for a sunnen 2-6" dial bore gauge, the reason im looking at this one is for the fact you can retract the fingers to move it around a cylinder easier, I do alot of 2 stroke cylinders and it would be nice to measure them while still clamped down in my honing tank. With my current dial bore I have to unclamp the cylinder to measure the opposite end because otherwise the gauge just gets caught up in the ports trying to move it around in the cylinder. My question is can the sunnen be zeroed out using a outside micrometer? I see sunnen has a setting fixture for the gauge which is costly so im hoping i can possibly avoid that. Thanks
 
Yes you can set them the same way you set any other bore gage, the setting fixture just makes it easier and faster and more foolproof.
 
Thank you for the replies, I understand the sunnen setting fixture would be ideal and maybe later down the road if i can get a good deal on one id go for it but for now if I can get by with my mics that I take care of ill set it up as I do with my current gauge. My current gauge is actually the England made Mercer that sunnen re-branded back in the day. The gauge I found is for a very good price and would like to snag it while I have the chance. Im not needing to hold extreme tolerance on these cylinders although I do my best to be as accurate as i can be. With the max limit specs some of the manufacturers give you would think you wouldnt even need a bore gauge. Making ring gauges would be nice, maybe some day when I have a lathe.
 
Bore gages on an engine cylinder aren't just used for checking high precision diameters - they save a lot of time when checking multiple cylinders for geometric features like roundness, barrel and taper in multiple spots.
 
Hello, im interested in a listing for a sunnen 2-6" dial bore gauge, the reason im looking at this one is for the fact you can retract the fingers to move it around a cylinder easier, I do alot of 2 stroke cylinders and it would be nice to measure them while still clamped down in my honing tank. With my current dial bore I have to unclamp the cylinder to measure the opposite end because otherwise the gauge just gets caught up in the ports trying to move it around in the cylinder. My question is can the sunnen be zeroed out using a outside micrometer? I see sunnen has a setting fixture for the gauge which is costly so im hoping i can possibly avoid that. Thanks

it depends , is this a very low production, or are you doing thousands of cylinders. don't take short cuts it will cause issues
air gages is old school, if making high production, bite the bullet and buy the complete set with the sunnen bore gage.
 
Im just a small independent shop with me as the only employee. I service atv's, motorcycles, snowmobiles and marine. I was having to farm out any machine work before to a older guy who is the only guy around within 3 hours that has any engine equipment, he is very busy doing tractors and trucks and id get set behind 4-6 weeks before he could bore me a set of cylinders and whatnot and during the winter months of course people want their stuff back asap. Over the last few years I have invested in boring bars, honing cabinet, valve seat and guide equipment and all sorts of tooling. I do enough rebuilds to where I could make profit investing in equipment rather than having someone else do it.
 
Look guy, when I started out, I used the only gage I could afford "Pokeepsie Standard bore gages"
Only around .030 rage per setting, check around ebay, you may need #4 and #5, often cheap.

Actually working those 2 stroke cylinders, one has to watch for wash out at the ports, hard to do it right without instant gaging.
 
Sunnen calls the feature you desire GR for gage retract. A micrometer will set it just fine.
 
I do the same kind of work and while I like Sunnen stuff I use mitutoyo bore gauges. They are small enough I can usually measure the bore while still mounted in the boring bar stand.without the gage retract The sunnen stuff is really expensive unless you can buy it used?
 
Yea I found a nice used 12" 2-6" for a damn good deal, I have just never handled one before therefore I was unsure about setting them up with a mic. Nothing wrong with any of my gauges just that its a pain to snake the gauge around the ports and not get the thing all caught up in them while im honing which is the only reason why id like the sunnen.
 
I was unsure about setting them up with a mic. Nothing wrong with any of my gauges just that its a pain to snake the gauge around the ports and not get the thing all caught up in them while im honing which is the only reason why id like the sunnen.

When I still was in the working world Sunnen had a leasing option for the gages. I don't know whether it's still true.

Eugene
 
I use the AN600 honing head and my sunnen honing machine to do 2 stroke cylinders over 2 5/8" bore. I also have a homemade smaller version of it that uses the jn honing stones. That is easier for me to control the stone pressure and get straight bores.
 
I have the AN600 mandrel on an old MBB 1600 standard horizontal honing machine, it is a great combination, for small cylinders!
And, I am too cheap to buy the Sunnen gages, instead using the Standard Poughkeepsie dial bore gages often found cheap, and easy to repair yourself, yes, I picked my fu**ing feet at Poughkeepsie!
 
My question is can the sunnen be zeroed out using a outside micrometer? I see sunnen has a setting fixture for the gauge which is costly so im hoping i can possibly avoid that. Thanks

We have a few dozen Sunnen bore gages here and rarely set them with the setting fixture. We supply them to the floor guys with a ring gage or size blocks with end caps. Given the choice of using size blocks or a micrometer to set the gage, I'd go with size blocks every time.
 
For an alternative setting fixture for your bore gauges...eliminates the need to juggle the gauge and micrometer while setting..
Purchase a gauge block set. (they have become pretty reasonable)
Get a good quality tool makers vise , the kind that has a rigid fixed jaws part of the body and tightens the moving jaw using
an Allen screw

Set the size desired with a stack of the blocks, and lightly clamp then at the bottom of the vise jaws. Insert the bore gauge between the jaws above the blocks, set gauge by rocking/rotating for highest reading.

Cheers Ross
 
I bought my Sunnen dial bore gage in 1978. (Don't buy any other brand.) Even back then I think it was $700. I used a micrometer to set it until 2004 when I could finally afford the setting fixture. So for now use a mic. You can get a cheap mic stand on ebay to help you. The Sunnen setting fixture is not something you avoid. It's something you will desire big time.
 








 
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