# Oil for ball hones and technique for honing?



## Alan H. (May 22, 2017)

I bought 1/2" and  3/4" diameter ball hones from McMaster to hone the ID on  a couple of  reducing bushings I made  for my new Aloris BXA-4 boring bar holder.   I know you can buy honing oil but I didn't want a gallon of it.  




So what lube do you use for these ball hones?   Do you chuck these in the tailstock of the lathe and hone that way or do you drive them with a drill?


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## woodchucker (May 22, 2017)

Alan H said:


> I bought 1/2" and  3/4" diameter ball hones from McMaster to hone the ID on  a couple of  reducing bushings I made  for my new Aloris BXA-4 boring bar holder.   I know you can buy honing oil but I didn't want a gallon of it.
> 
> View attachment 234094
> 
> ...



I have seen them used with a drill. you need to move the hone back and forth, so you have different areas of the hone working areas.  I would think cutting oil would work, but I'm not sure.


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## Ulma Doctor (May 22, 2017)

The tool is commonly used for honing brake cylinders .
I was shown to use them liberally lubricated with 30wt non detergent oil and 10wt light mineral oil
I have only used them with a hand held drill . You'll use a slow speed and rather large plunging and retracting movements to create a large crosshatch pattern on the cylinders surface

You don't want to spin it too fast it will sling lubrication out and the crosshatch will not form correctly. In that case proper sealing will be difficult to attain

Mineral spirits may also be used as a cutting agent

I wish the best of luck


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## Bob Korves (May 22, 2017)

Cutting oil will work.  Hones are used for putting a light cross hatch to the bore surface for better seating of rubber (or leather) seals or for piston rings.  They will not repair damaged bores.


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## rgray (May 23, 2017)

I'll second the mineral spirits thought. Keeps the stones clear of particles and from glazing.


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## woodtickgreg (May 23, 2017)

In small engine repair shops I used to put the engine cylinders right in the parts washer and flood it as I honed.  Our washer just used mineral spirits. Like Mike said a slow rpm and steady back and forth motion will deliver a nice cross hatch. If you use oil I would use a very light oil or thin it with mineral spirits so it works more as a wash rather than sticking.


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## FOMOGO (May 23, 2017)

The cross hatch is really only critical for piston ring sealing in engines. Mainly you are trying to keep the stones from loading up and embedding abrasive in your work. The use of solvent will shorten the life of the hone. Here is a pretty good general explanation.   http://www.flexhoneblog.com/2009/03/honing-oil-one-slippery-conversation.html      I have a bottle of hone oil I got from Sunnen that has lasted for many years


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## Alan H. (May 23, 2017)

Thanks FOMOGO for the Flex-Hone link.  That is helpful 

Here is their summary recommendation for honing oil (naturally recommending theirs):

​
Here is what they say is in their oil:
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Looks like a mix of mineral spirits, mineral oil, and WD40 would somewhat simulate it if you don't have theirs on hand.


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## Tony Wells (May 23, 2017)

Dingleberry hones aren't the ideal tool for what you are doing. They are more for glaze breaking and general cleanup. For size control and improved profile (taper, egg, etc) they won't really do a good job for that. I'd explore other options before spending time and money on one of those. Really no reason you shouldn't be able to bore such a bushing strictly with the machine.


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## Bob Korves (May 23, 2017)

Tony Wells said:


> Dingleberry hones aren't the ideal tool for what you are doing. They are more for glaze breaking and general cleanup. For size control and improved profile (taper, egg, etc) they won't really do a good job for that. I'd explore other options before spending time and money on one of those. Really no reason you shouldn't be able to bore such a bushing strictly with the machine.


Agreed, Tony.  In my post above I was alluding to the same thing.  Hones are not designed for changing dimensions, only for changing the surface texture.  They will remove material, but at a slow rate, and will also gradually change the bore size, the concentricity, and will add tapers and spiral grooves all at the same time if you keep on honing to open up the hole diameter.  If you want a round, cylindrical hole to a specific size, finish with a reamer.


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## Silverbullet (May 23, 2017)

I think they offer them in different grits , if there used in increasing finer grits the will enlarge the boring up to the final polish . Not as much as a stone hone but with better finishes. I use to polish and lengthen forcing cones in shotgun barrels , used eds red and it worked really well.


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## Tony Wells (May 23, 2017)

Oh yes, real hones can remove material. One shop where we did honing we regularly left 0.010 for finish, and ended up holding 0.001 tolerance with a 2 µ Ra finish in parts about < .050 wall, Incolloy around 3" ID x 18" long, plus many smaller ones. Best results we got were on hones we built in house. Those were hydraulic cylinders used in MOPS downhole.


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## kd4gij (May 23, 2017)

For boring bar bushings  no need to hone they should be split any ways.


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## Alan H. (May 23, 2017)

The hones were received this afternoon from McMaster:



I put them to work and they worked quite well and faster than I expected.  I made a batch of honing oil as discussed above and used the hones in a drill:



The finished bushings work fine and as expected.  Had fun experimenting with the hones.:


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## mikey (May 23, 2017)

I'm with you, Alan. The simplest way would have been to bore, then ream, then split the bushing but a hone will give a good finish and that's what you're after. Fine finishes in the bore will reduce chatter so good for you!


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