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Dave Baker - Puma Race Engines (www.pumaracing.co.uk)
Thomas Allemani wrote in message
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Greetings : I am "breaking the glaze" on an engine and I have light
cutting
oil here but no "honing" oil. Went to the local auto parts shops and got a
blank stare from most when I asked for honing oil. The napa store can sell
me a 55 gal drum of it. Dont need that much, for 1 engine, Sooo= my
question
is can I use light cutting oil for honing the engine?
And whats the difference? A machanic told me they used # 10 motor oil for
this in the shop he worked in. But I thought to ask this group before I
start anyway. Any information would be appericated, Thanks Tom.

Sunnen do a purpose made honing oil but like all Sunnen stuff it's
ridiculously expensive. Paraffin (kerosene) with some oil mixed in to
thicken it up a bit makes a serviceable alternative. I use the old paraffin
from my parts cleaning tank so it's already a bit thicker and oily and I
then add some more oil to bulk it up. Maybe 1 part oil to 3 parts paraffin.
I've honed engine blocks with it for 15 years and although I'm sure the
right honing oil would help me remove material a bit faster it does the job
just fine and it's basically cost free. I imagine diesel or central heating
oil would be equally good instead of the kerosene as they are basically
similar hydrocarbons. Ideally you want something fairly thin and a constant
flow of it from a pumped source or someone standing next to you with a
squeezy bottle. As well as helping the stone work it also keeps the block at
a more constant temperature. Honing generates a lot of heat.