Old Kwik Way Boring Bar

[JPD1972]

Hi All,

I'm looking at buying a very old KW boring bar. I'm not sure what model it is but it looks a lot like an F. It is old enough that it uses cones to center the bar in the bore and not cats paws. I have looked on the web and could not find any info on this type. It does have the cones and tooling but I would like to find out more about its operation and how to inspect it before I go look at it or make an offer on it. From what I have learned it would have been made in the 30's or maybe 40's. I have found a couple sites that sells the manual for the model F but it is for later models. The guy that owns it says it was used to bore SB Chevy engines, he is however 4 hours away from me and I want to be at least 80% sure I want to buy it before making that drive or an offer on it. I will try to post the pics he sent me.

Anyone have knowledge of these old machines or better yet have a manual that I might be able to look at.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[JPD1972]

 

[markba633csi]

I always thought those things were primitive compared to an actual boring mill like the factory used

 

[OTmachine]

You might look here for information:

Cedar Rapids Engineering Co. (Kwik-Way Co.) - Publication Reprints - Kwik-WayModel FR & FT Cylinder Boring Machines | VintageMachinery.org

 

[JPD1972]

Thanks for the input but I was just informed the guy sold the equipment.

 

[C-Bag]

Thanks for the input but I was just informed the guy sold the equipment.

Yup, even antique versions of that bar are highly sought after. Especially for motorcycles. AFAIK they do nice work. My brother had one and out of all his tons of top notch machines that was the one he wouldn’t let go cheap. It’s been too many years since I ran one and the one I used in college was newer so I couldn’t tell you if it was all there or what to look for.

 

[OTmachine]

I have an old Storm bar that I set up for line boring. Works for me.

 

[Provincial]

These were used for boring pin bosses in heavy equipment before the advent of combined wire feed welder/line boring machines. They work as well on steel and bronze as they do on cast iron. A friend of mine made an adapter to mount one on the back end of his Bridgeport ram. Their portability is a major factor in their continued strong valuation.