Ball hone or straight stone hone

[geary]

Guys, I’m about to hone a couple of cylinders for a Johnson PO-15 and would like some opinions on which hone is a better choice, the ball hones or a straight stone hone ? The original cylinders are in fair shape for their years but are .010 over size at 2.761 ! I found a couple of the starboard cylinders (with the compression release) that are much closer to the 2.750 measurement but will need a good cleanup. I understand the ring gap should be .009 – .012 so the original cylinders are to far worn to reuse. I still need a port side cylinder that is 2.750 + a thousandth or two so I can put it back together ! Any help will be greatly appreciated !

Gary

[Bob Wight]

I’ve always used a ball hone with very good results. It does a good job of cleaning up the cylinder, taking the sharp edges off the ports and leaving a good cross hatch pattern without removing a lot of material. However, a ball hone will not fix an out-of-round cylinder.

Bob

1937 Champion D2C Deluxe Lite Twin
1954 Johnson CD-11
1955 Johnson QD-16
1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18
1958 Johnson QD-19
1958 Johnson FD-12
1959 Johnson QD-20

“Every 20 minute job is only a broken bolt away from a 3-day project.”
"Every time you remove a broken or seized bolt an angel gets his wings."

• This reply was modified 4 years, 1 month ago by Bob Wight.

[fleetwin]

There are arguments for both style hones I guess. The straight/rigid hone will do a better job of pointing out worn areas of the cylinder, but you must be sure you are using a quality hone and new stones. The question is whether or not it is a good idea to keep “honing” until the cylinder appears true. Honing is actually boring, just very slowly. The ball hone is great for smoothing out port edges and contacting all surfaces that the rigid hone may not have reached…

[rudderless]

Many years ago my friend brought his Suzuki 250 for me to “bore” the cylinder .010 over for his new piston. I explained to him I did not have tools to do that. I just had a hone with new stones. Well an hour later I had that cylinder at .010 with a .005 clearance….well..pretty close anyway. Ran for 2 years before it was sold. He did buy me new stones.

I use an old surface plate with abrasive paper to true the stones before use and use it to “spot” the cylinder. I have a large brake hone I use as a bottom hone…has short stones.

For many years I have used copper fitting brushes in a slow drill to give a final surface finish…something like plateau honing.

[geary]

Thanks Guys for the comments ! So I guess either type will do the job, being I only have the straight hone I think I will start with it ! But do plan on ordering a ball hone while waiting !

Gary

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