Hello all,

I have been looking at $80-100 import boring head/bar sets. For that
money, I would not expect to start rebuilding V12 engines, but it would
hopefully teach me a little and tolerate abuse as an adjustable hole
saw. Is that a reasonable expection?

Boring heads appear to be sold by diameter, with no mention of capacity.
Some searching and reading leads me to suspect that one can mount the
bar parallel or perpendicular to the axis of rotation, with the latter
allowing larger holes to be bored. Is that accurate?

Any cautions or advice?

Bill

"Bill Schwab" wrote in message
ink.net...
Hello all,

I have been looking at $80-100 import boring head/bar sets. For that
money, I would not expect to start rebuilding V12 engines, but it would
hopefully teach me a little and tolerate abuse as an adjustable hole saw.
Is that a reasonable expection?


We had some Chinese boring heads at school. You could easily hit a hole to
..001", closer if you take your time.

I would recommend replacing all the fasteners (basically the setscrews for
clamping the tool, and the slide) before use. Correctly adjusting the
tension on the clamping screws for the slide is important for good results
and bad hardware makes your life *difficult*.

YMMV.

Regards,

Robin

For a couple of bucks you can make your own easily and with surprising
accuracy. Check out this video:
http://www.homestead.com/tool20895/VideoPrices.html. This guy is really
pretty good. If you don't want to buy it you might be able to rent it
cheep from http://technicalvideorental.com - I have no afflation with
either...

Robin S. wrote:
"Bill Schwab" wrote in message
ink.net...
Hello all,

I have been looking at $80-100 import boring head/bar sets. For that
money, I would not expect to start rebuilding V12 engines, but it would
hopefully teach me a little and tolerate abuse as an adjustable hole saw.
Is that a reasonable expection?


We had some Chinese boring heads at school. You could easily hit a hole to
.001", closer if you take your time.

I would recommend replacing all the fasteners (basically the setscrews for
clamping the tool, and the slide) before use. Correctly adjusting the
tension on the clamping screws for the slide is important for good results
and bad hardware makes your life *difficult*.

YMMV.

Regards,

Robin

Replacing setscrews etc on most all of the import stuff makes a world
of difference, and is highly recomended. I cant see why they make a
half assed decent item only to put such cheap and soft setscrews etc
in it........



On Wed, 21 Dec 2005 23:18:03 -0500, "Robin S."
wrote:

"Bill Schwab" wrote in message
rthlink.net...
Hello all,

I have been looking at $80-100 import boring head/bar sets. For that
money, I would not expect to start rebuilding V12 engines, but it would
hopefully teach me a little and tolerate abuse as an adjustable hole saw.
Is that a reasonable expection?


We had some Chinese boring heads at school. You could easily hit a hole to
.001", closer if you take your time.

I would recommend replacing all the fasteners (basically the setscrews for
clamping the tool, and the slide) before use. Correctly adjusting the
tension on the clamping screws for the slide is important for good results
and bad hardware makes your life *difficult*.

YMMV.

Regards,

Robin


--
\\\|///
( @ @ )
-----------oOOo(_)oOOo---------------


oooO
---------( )----Oooo----------------
\ ( ( )
\_) ) /
(_/
The original frugal ponder! Koi-ahoi mates....

On Wed, 21 Dec 2005 23:18:03 -0500, "Robin S."
wrote:


"Bill Schwab" wrote in message
link.net...
Hello all,

I have been looking at $80-100 import boring head/bar sets. For that
money, I would not expect to start rebuilding V12 engines, but it would
hopefully teach me a little and tolerate abuse as an adjustable hole saw.
Is that a reasonable expection?


We had some Chinese boring heads at school. You could easily hit a hole to
.001", closer if you take your time.

I would recommend replacing all the fasteners (basically the setscrews for
clamping the tool, and the slide) before use. Correctly adjusting the
tension on the clamping screws for the slide is important for good results
and bad hardware makes your life *difficult*.

YMMV.

Regards,

Robin

Hey Bill,

What Robin says about the lock screws, for sure if it's an
"off-shore"!!

There are usually two or three spec measurements given in the adverts.
One is the accuracy of course, one is the "bore size" capability or
the effective "adjustment" range, and then the one to note is the
measurement as to the size shank of the boring bar to be held, usually
from 3/8 to 1" size. That last one is a little harder to suggest
what's right for you, and best you have a look in your bin of boring
bars and see what diameters are good for you. You can sleeve a small
one into a big hole if you need to, so consider that too.
Most boring heads have both a horizontal hole, and a vertical hole,
and some have two or three verticals, so covering a broader range of
work-hole diameters.
Some boring heads are called "boring-facing heads", and have a
capability to advance the boring size outwards at each revolution,
allowing "facing" or trepanning.
Drop into a dealer, and look at the selections.

Take care.

Brian Lawson,
Bothwell, Ontario.

You can make a pretty nice one for less than $100. I made this one and it
has met all my needs.
http://www.statecollegecentral.com/m...the/MLA-7.html

Randy


"Bill Schwab" wrote in message
ink.net...
Hello all,

I have been looking at $80-100 import boring head/bar sets. For that
money, I would not expect to start rebuilding V12 engines, but it would
hopefully teach me a little and tolerate abuse as an adjustable hole saw.
Is that a reasonable expection?

Boring heads appear to be sold by diameter, with no mention of capacity.
Some searching and reading leads me to suspect that one can mount the bar
parallel or perpendicular to the axis of rotation, with the latter
allowing larger holes to be bored. Is that accurate?

Any cautions or advice?

Bill

Bill Schwab wrote:
Hello all,

I have been looking at $80-100 import boring head/bar sets. For that
money, I would not expect to start rebuilding V12 engines, but it would
hopefully teach me a little and tolerate abuse as an adjustable hole
saw. Is that a reasonable expection?

Boring heads appear to be sold by diameter, with no mention of capacity.
Some searching and reading leads me to suspect that one can mount the
bar parallel or perpendicular to the axis of rotation, with the latter
allowing larger holes to be bored. Is that accurate?
Yes, generally you can go almost as small as the boring bar or as large
as the rigidity of the perpendicular bar will allow without excess chatter.

Any cautions or advice?
Never use the lever feed. Go slow, take several small cuts, and use the
geared downfeed or raise the table. If after your final cut you don't
want a score line in the bore be sure to reduce the diameter before
pulling the boring head out of the hole.

Bill

"tomcas" wrote in message
...
Go slow, take several small cuts,

I'm not sure I agree with this, or at least it should be expanded. Those
boring heads are capable of taking some pretty heavy cuts. Roughing is just
that. Rip it down as fast as possible. Only the last .005" is important.

When you're first getting used to boring a certain material using a certain
cutter, remember to take consistent finishing cuts (radial depth of cut) and
a consistent feedrate. Boring bars do flex so if you can get a consistent
measurement using a .005" DOC, then your second last cut should be to final
diameter minus .005". I don't recommend sneaking up on the final dimension
unless it's very tight (less than perhaps +/-.0005") and you've got a lot of
time, a reasonably free-machining material (not 1020 for instance) and a
good cutter.

YMMV.. Just my experience.

Regards,

Robin