Angle/Straight die grinders

[Baker343]

Put together my first EE 2.5 with 5 honed and one 020. It fired right up and survived a couple races at the Long Beach Grand Nationals.
It felt really good to put my first motor together and now I would like to play with some porting. Mainly just raising the exhaust ports a little with a degree wheel.
Any suggestions on a entry level tools. Not looking to make a living at it, just want to play with the extra stuff I have.

[Stoker boy]

Harbor freight has some die grinders, McMaster Carr has some as well, McFadden Dale hardware.
The type that have a cable with a rotary head at the end give you room to work. I use bits that have a double cut. I use them on steel and aluminum if you’re doing aluminum keep them well lubricator or the aluminum will clog them up.

[Whaaaaat]

Air or electric?

Never owned electric die grinders.

Air I have everything from $9 harbor freight to $600 Sioux in my box.

The burrs will cost you more than the tools to spin them.

Stay away from the low grade harbor freight.
Cheap harbor freight straight grinders have no balls. Any angle ones sound and feel like there about to explode any minute.

I'm interested in this answer too. I like to have enough tools so as not to have to change bits much during a job.

[David - WI]

CC Specialty's 1MC is about the cheapest one worth buying for porting, but you'll have $1G in it to get set up : http://www.ccspecialtytoolstore.com/...it-p/ppk10.htm

[Whaaaaat]

Am I the only one that wants to take home the dentists tools?

[David - WI]

Am I the only one that wants to take home the dentists tools?

Those and the little dinky Foredom right-angle handpiece are just too puny (gears, shafts, collets).... look at the size of the 1MC in the video.

[Stoker boy]

I have pneumatic and electric. I’ve only ported Nic blocks. Sometimes with the nic stripped out which is the best way sometimes with the Nic still in. If The Nic start chipping the block goes to US chrome.

It’s a good idea to use something like thick gorilla tape inside the cylinder to protect the walls just leave yourself enough room to cut the port you are working.

It’s boring and tedious work don’t get in a big rush don’t try to take giant cuts, take your time.
I use cartridge rolls for the finishing work to chamfer the edges.

[Stoker boy]

Air or electric?

Never owned electric die grinders.

Air I have everything from $9 harbor freight to $600 Sioux in my box.

The burrs will cost you more than the tools to spin them.

Stay away from the low grade harbor freight.
Cheap harbor freight straight grinders have no balls. Any angle ones sound and feel like there about to explode any minute.

I'm interested in this answer too. I like to have enough tools so as not to have to change bits much during a job.

The cheap harbor freight 90° certainly feels like it will blow up in your hands.

[David - WI]

https://www.cratex.com/

Cratex is what my friend recommends... he ports a lot of cylinders.

[Chaz]

No matter what you have .. it will never be enough ..

Best place to start is with Dykem blue and a good scribe str / 90*

A few good sets of divider's and calipers.

Any crazy lighting .. from coal miners headlamp to ones that will wedge in the rod slot .. you will need it . I bent up a bunch of tin sheetmetal pieces , drilled holes in it to bolt to the block ... clunk a magnet light to it .. ahh m thats better .. I can see now ..

I bought a half a dozen 8" aluminum squares at H.F. 3.0L Merc sleeve 6.195" no prob, go over to the band saw and cut the tail on the 6 3/16" mark. Now I have a vertical rest for scribing port widths ... for everything from 2.5's to Lil Yamaha's.

I had a Makita electric die grinder back in my car days .. heavy , fast , didn't bounce , great for stock removal ... even past your scribe line if you weren't careful.

Most people drop the bit in the right hand corner "climb cut" to the left hand corner , stop , "coast cut" back to the RH corner . After repeating a few times , they have the RH wall with a hole in it and a LH floor with a hole in it. The floor that span's between ... is just a big hump .
As Mike Carney taught me long ago , grind with a smile .. That's right , start light from either side , progressively push a little harder .. then back to light or no pressure by the end of the stroke. Lift off the work go back to where you started , and make another pass. If you have been a member of the dig a trench club , it will be as hard to change as it is to quit smoking ...

Cable drive is very good , precise and as stated , about $1000 will get you started in the right direction. I have 5 or 6 straight 1/4" drive handles and one 1/8th drive in working order (bearings get sloppy) and a few MC1 handles. I kill the gear sets in those pretty quick , and buy the Foredom replacement's. Problem with those is they don't have the forward nut extending outside the body making it impossible to run the Left Hand burr's which are necessary in making both sides of a ports wall the same. RH only will cut clean on one side and chatter on the other .
I see cable as the perfect tools for finish work.

If you think porting as knocking off the casting slag and making it pretty .. then you can stop with the above.
If you know that all factory stuff leaves a bunch on the table , then your gonna need air for fast stock removal.
I buy those long HF air grinders a dozen at a time and load em up with carbide , stones ( mounted points on 5" mandrels ) a boride stone to shape them and sanding rolls . Speaking of mandrels , a 12" one is great for getting in exhaust logs. Don't forget to finish with cross buffs ..
I made a long 1/4" drive 90* out of a box of broken grinders . The head is still a little too long .. but man will it cut !
The very best 90* is to get a Dotco Airframe drill , You can get a short chuck for them or any of the Pan~Am Nova line of incredible attachments will screw right on your motor. I've got a couple .. they are priceless to me.





https://www.cylinderheadsupply.com/porting---polishing.html?
gclid=CILbif3OoMUCFUeUfgodhlsA3w

http://www.ruffstuff.com/

https://www.panamericantool.com/

http://www.ccspecialtytool.com/

BTW ... did I mention ... Grind with a smile ...

[Baker343]

No matter what you have .. it will never be enough ..

Best place to start is with Dykem blue and a good scribe str / 90*

A few good sets of divider's and calipers.

Any crazy lighting .. from coal miners headlamp to ones that will wedge in the rod slot .. you will need it . I bent up a bunch of tin sheetmetal pieces , drilled holes in it to bolt to the block ... clunk a magnet light to it .. ahh m thats better .. I can see now ..

I bought a half a dozen 8" aluminum squares at H.F. 3.0L Merc sleeve 6.195" no prob, go over to the band saw and cut the tail on the 6 3/16" mark. Now I have a vertical rest for scribing port widths ... for everything from 2.5's to Lil Yamaha's.

I had a Makita electric die grinder back in my car days .. heavy , fast , didn't bounce , great for stock removal ... even past your scribe line if you weren't careful.

Most people drop the bit in the right hand corner "climb cut" to the left hand corner , stop , "coast cut" back to the RH corner . After repeating a few times , they have the RH wall with a hole in it and a LH floor with a hole in it. The floor that span's between ... is just a big hump .
As Mike Carney taught me long ago , grind with a smile .. That's right , start light from either side , progressively push a little harder .. then back to light or no pressure by the end of the stroke. Lift off the work go back to where you started , and make another pass. If you have been a member of the dig a trench club , it will be as hard to change as it is to quit smoking ...

Cable drive is very good , precise and as stated , about $1000 will get you started in the right direction. I have 5 or 6 straight 1/4" drive handles and one 1/8th drive in working order (bearings get sloppy) and a few MC1 handles. I kill the gear sets in those pretty quick , and buy the Foredom replacement's. Problem with those is they don't have the forward nut extending outside the body making it impossible to run the Left Hand burr's which are necessary in making both sides of a ports wall the same. RH only will cut clean on one side and chatter on the other .
I see cable as the perfect tools for finish work.

If you think porting as knocking off the casting slag and making it pretty .. then you can stop with the above.
If you know that all factory stuff leaves a bunch on the table , then your gonna need air for fast stock removal.
I buy those long HF air grinders a dozen at a time and load em up with carbide , stones ( mounted points on 5" mandrels ) a boride stone to shape them and sanding rolls . Speaking of mandrels , a 12" one is great for getting in exhaust logs. Don't forget to finish with cross buffs ..
I made a long 1/4" drive 90* out of a box of broken grinders . The head is still a little too long .. but man will it cut !
The very best 90* is to get a Dotco Airframe drill , You can get a short chuck for them or any of the Pan~Am Nova line of incredible attachments will screw right on your motor. I've got a couple .. they are priceless to me.





https://www.cylinderheadsupply.com/porting---polishing.html?
gclid=CILbif3OoMUCFUeUfgodhlsA3w

http://www.ruffstuff.com/

https://www.panamericantool.com/

http://www.ccspecialtytool.com/

BTW ... did I mention ... Grind with a smile ...

Got you to bite Chaz, as always thanks for the info

[Chaz]

Am I the only one that wants to take home the dentists tools?

LOL ... I forgot , I bought a bunch of rubber points in every grit available along with a set of 1/8" mandrels to run them. My wife says , they seen me coming .. I tell her it was like with you ... was worth a shot ..

Wait , I take that back ... the rubberized points are good for knocking the casting noogies off the inside of stock reed blocks .. so yes a lil bit of the dental stuff is worth having.

[Chaz]

Got you to bite Chaz, as always thanks for the info

Hook , line and sinker ..

Chaz = wunderin , why I spent more than half my life behind a welding helmet , the other half giving myself a migraine .. starring down tiny holes that bend around the corner where you'll never be able to fully see .. or do anything about it ..

[Instigator]

Slow and easy, and expect to spend 10 times the labor that you expected.

I keep a cup of muratic acid on the bench to clear my carbide burrs clogged w/aluminum.

I think I have more $ in carbide burrs than I do grinders.

Course, I’m too cheap to buy the good, 90* minis.

I buy the $19 HF and throw them away when they die.

And I second Chaz’s comments on the Maikita electric.
Its big/heavy but that helps keep it stable when your using it for a chain saw.

I use tons of burrs w/6” shanks.

And Yeah, too much light is just right.
I spend more time rolling the block around to get the light where I want it, than grinding!

Porting looks/sounds glamorous but it ain’t!

I think you have to feel the improvement in the motor to understand/accept the process.

[Whaaaaat]

[QUOTE=Chaz;3303378]No matter what you have .. it will never be enough ..



Truer words have not been spoken.

It's like a disease.