I'm looking at port matching a couple heads I have to intake manifolds I've built. I was thinking of picking up a electric driven grinder instead of using my air powered die grindering.

Any suggestions?

Regards,
Justin

 

I picked up a craftsman unit from sears and rigged up a speed control using a dimmer switch. It has ported over 50 heads and numerous intake manifolds and has yet to fail. I searched on the website and only could find milwaukee ones. http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_1...inder

 

you'll definetly want something that works with 1/4 in shank.
i used this one but after a good deal of punishment the bearings in it started to go a little. Easy enough to replace. I used a variable lamp light socket to adjust speed. had good torque.

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/4LF06

if your planing on getting more serious about it or have cash the Matabo brand ones are real nice. I played around with one once don't remember the exact model. It had a machinist chuck and was SUPER smooth(virtualy no vibration).

if i recall it was something like this.

http://www.allprotools.com/Met....html

some guys like the old school and newer Milwaukee ones. never used one personally but have read they are pretty heavy. APPARENTLY with a risk of knocking you out

m.

 

I use this:

http://www.harborfreight.com/c...44141

with this:

http://www.harborfreight.com/c...43060

and I've ported about 20 heads and a large number of manifold collectors with it. It's big enough to really get leverage when using carbides. No problems so far and cheap as sh*t.

 

What sanding discs and carbide bits should I get? I'm just looking at doing basic port matching on aluminum heads and stainless steel collectors.

Regards,
Justin

 

i have always purchased stuff from these places with success
i like the flame shape, tree radius and oval in varying sizes depending on what your working on.

the double cut ones seem to work the best. I generally don't like any of the course cut or aluma-cut ones as they really eat into the piece.

the long shank stuff is pretty cool too. lets you get into the deep spots

http://www.carbidebur.com


http://ruffstuff.com/ thats where i used to get a bunch of stuff from too. They had a lot of Standard Abrasive items for cheap.

For finishing you will want to look into flap wheels, cartridge rolls and even cross buffs. Another particular thing i really liked was a Flapper Stick Mandrel is what is called. a long shank with a slit in the end that you could put strips of sand paper into. really handy for finishing ports.

http://www.standardabrasives.com/
is who makes a lot of the finishing sanding stuff

It takes a little while to get a feel for the different burrs and finishing products. youll get to know what works for you and not.

m.

 

Are these worth buying?

http://www.harborfreight.com/c...=3745

Justin

 

Those will work to some extent, but you'll find that long shank carbides are important to really see what your doing. With a large grinder, having it held where you have alot of leverage, you really need some shank length to allow you to see.

The more the better though, so those would be just something to add to the pile.

 

I'm using the harbor freight die grinder. #1 lasted 2 years but the thing did not have a good rotating balance, it vibrated really bad. #2 is balanced much better and has little to no vibration. I used a long shaft carbid bit in #2 for a couple of seconds and stoped cause it was not rotating on a straight axis and not making steady surface contact. I buy all my carbide bits from McmasterCarr so I'm gonna guess the grinder is at fault on this.

For $30 they definitely get-R-done. Theres better stuff out there but as a hobbyist I'll stick w/the harbor freight ones untill I get a good air compressor.

 

That's weird....I have no issues like that whatsoever with mine. I could see having some balance issues when the carbides get worn, but only if your operating them at crazy speeds.

If you don't have a speed controller on the harbor frieght....or any of them for that matter....whew...that's nuts. The harbor freight one does 25,000 rpm which is WAY high for porting anything as far as I'm concerned. I like alot of control, but enough torque to swipe right what I need. I run the speed control at about 1/3 - 1/2 and have no issues.

 

Yeah they're a handfull @ full speed. As soon as I saw the link you posted for the speed controller I knew thats something I need. I just never put two-and-two together.

 

Yeah, definitely get the speed control...lol. It's rated for 15amps and that grinder doesn't pull near that, so it's all good on that end. You'll see that it's WAY better with the controller. I accidentally had the controller set on full on once and that die grinder went full speed...I was HOLY SH*T....hahahaa.

 

Hi yes get a speed control lol then you can run long shank bits....no way to do that going full speed unless you want it to whip back and get stuck in your face

I have this makita



the top one

http://www.mlcswoodworking.com....html


Oh and the links marcin posted are good stuff.


Modified by essex at 8:32 AM 3/1/2008

 

<FONT SIZE="huge">www.mondello.com</FONT>

Joe is the ****. I buy all my porting tools from him. best selection of abrasives and bits and its all online.