Question for head porters

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gearjammer340

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I want to start doing this and am wondering what kind of grinder you use? I have air but would rather have something electric if I can find something thats gonna last for a long time, I dont mind spending a cpl extra bucks for something thats gonna last for a really long time and be of good quality. I was BSing with the machinist I use and he says he gets his bits from snapon and they have the lifetime guarantee like the tools so when they get dull his dealer just exchanges them for him which is cool. Not trying to set the world on fire, I just like to do as much work as possible on my rigs and rigs I work on. Im slowly accumilating the assorted tools I need to build and set up heads(porting heads is also something I'm really intrigued by hence the question). Anyways, thanks for any info you can give me about the grinder as that's the next thing I want to get. I didnt know where to post this,hope this is ok.
Thanks,
Marvin Jr
 
I have this die grinder from Makita:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004YOKS/?tag=joeychgo-20

It takes some getting used to. It spins at 25k rpm. You'll want ear protection as well as really good eye protection. This thing is noisy. Also, get a junk head to practice on before you turn yourself loose on the heads you intend to use on your car.

Personally, I think air die grinders are better as you can control the speed and they are smaller which makes them easier to manuever.
 
I have an air grinder. Wife bought it for me as an xmas present. It's a nice heavy duty Canadian tire brand but is a single speed. I could probably add an in line valve to regulate air pressure and speed.

Its good though. I really like it. I bought some basic carbide cutter shapes to speed things up. I also have a Mr gasket sand paper roll kit,which is really nice. Cheap and lots of different things in it. Also cuts faster than I thought it would.

The biggest thing with porting is to ALWAYS keep the cutter moving and NEVER force it to cut. Let it do the work for you.

A 1/2 gallon or so of coffee works well too....

Here is an excellent read on the subject. Print it out,because this kind of info has a tendancy to cost money sooner than later.

http://www.mondellotwister.com/ArtHeadPort.htm
 
needsaresto said:
I have an air grinder. Wife bought it for me as an xmas present. It's a nice heavy duty Canadian tire brand but is a single speed. I could probably add an in line valve to regulate air pressure and speed.

Its good though. I really like it. I bought some basic carbide cutter shapes to speed things up. I also have a Mr gasket sand paper roll kit,which is really nice. Cheap and lots of different things in it. Also cuts faster than I thought it would.

The biggest thing with porting is to ALWAYS keep the cutter moving and NEVER force it to cut. Let it do the work for you.

A 1/2 gallon or so of coffee works well too....

Here is an excellent read on the subject. Print it out,because this kind of info has a tendancy to cost money sooner than later.

http://www.mondellotwister.com/ArtHeadPort.htm
Click to expand...

Thank you needsaresto, When the wife gets home I will have her print that up.:cheers:
 
I use air... A very small diameter straight die grinder. I have a small valve to regulate the speed by airflow. I had a Makita, but the way I held it covered the air vents and I seized it...lol. You can also go to any hardware store and get a dial type light controller... Like you have in dining rooms to dim them... Wire that into the tool's cord, and you can slow it down too. Some bits and materials like slower speeds... Especially when polishing, and that speed control gets handy.
 
If you decide to go that route, when you buy your dimmer, be sure to get one that will work with an inductive load, which is what an electric motor is. Ones that are just for resistive loads won't quite cut it when you use it to control a motor's speed.
 
I use air and electric, but like what has been said already get a regulator for the air and get plenty of eye and face protection. A good bit of old clothes helps and if you don't have any, you will.......LOL The cast iron powder and shavings get everywhere. The main thing is be patient and take your time, it's harder to fix a mistake than it is to make them.

After a cylinder head or two you'll know if you want to do this long term.
 
gearjammer340 said:
I want to start doing this and am wondering what kind of grinder you use? I have air but would rather have something electric if I can find something thats gonna last for a long time, I dont mind spending a cpl extra bucks for something thats gonna last for a really long time and be of good quality. I was BSing with the machinist I use and he says he gets his bits from snapon and they have the lifetime guarantee like the tools so when they get dull his dealer just exchanges them for him which is cool. Not trying to set the world on fire, I just like to do as much work as possible on my rigs and rigs I work on. Im slowly accumilating the assorted tools I need to build and set up heads(porting heads is also something I'm really intrigued by hence the question). Anyways, thanks for any info you can give me about the grinder as that's the next thing I want to get. I didnt know where to post this,hope this is ok.
Thanks,
Marvin Jr
Click to expand...

Hey,your not to far from me,I do a few heads on the side for myself and others so if you ever are in the area and would like to check them out feel free.I use a makita now but used to use air,it took some getting used to but now I swear by electric.I dont use a speed control but rather go by touch and pressure to control my finish.Alot of good suggestions but ultimately its what you find to be comfortable for you.
 
Just have to add my two cents. Lead69 a great head porter and really knows
his stuff. We just got our heads back from him and I couldn't be more impressed, can't wait to get the motor going. So if you can take him up on his offer.

Also he's just a nice guy, and good friend to have.

Richard
 
BJR Racing said:
I use air and electric, but like what has been said already get a regulator for the air and get plenty of eye and face protection. A good bit of old clothes helps and if you don't have any, you will.......LOL The cast iron powder and shavings get everywhere. The main thing is be patient and take your time, it's harder to fix a mistake than it is to make them.

After a cylinder head or two you'll know if you want to do this long term.
Click to expand...

Damn metal shavings,lol!! Make me freakin itch.

Oh ya,take a shower afer your done,hehe.

I wear a welding beanie to keep that crap out of my hair and a paper dust mask to protect my lungs.

Hint;dont scratch your face or rub your eyes while doing this. Dont ask me how I know...
 
Wait til summer time comes and you'll actually rust, nothing like go ol steel and sweat. LOL
 
Good post Resto. I copied this off and will put it in the folder in the shop. Done some before by the seat of my pants and info i gathered along the way but have never done any flows after completion but that's next. A flow bench. I want to build one sometime. I'll do a post on a flow bench build and see what we can come up with. I think if i saw one i could build it. Boy, It would do for me to win a big powerball.
 
Dust masks and glasses...lol. And I run a shop vac at the opposit end of the port to pull the cuttings out and away from my cutting area. And very good non directional lighting is a must too.
 
ear protection. I cant stand to listen to the compressor run all day.
 
I used to use air many years ago when I started. It ran my small compressor to death, small 22 gallon tank, used it right up. Unless you have a large shop compressor with 5 plus hp, and a 60-80 gallon tank it will run it almost constantly, the regulator will help some but it will still run it...alot. Also the air die grinder can get very hot in your hands after an hour or so. As the pressure in the tank drops off, it slows down the air tool and now your razor sharp carbide cutter behaves like a very dull cutter now at 10,000 rpm. I use only electric now. The Makita GE600 is a great lightweight model and runs very cool. You can use it for hours, it runs very cool and ALWAYS 25,000 rpm. I have 6 of them and 6 Hand pieces for the variable speed hang up motor. I Do all the light cutting (aluminum) and cartridge cleanup (polish) work with that. You have to turn aluminum MUCH slower than cast iron. Stop and dip the cutter in some oil every few minutes to lube and cool the cutter..the cutters last MUCH longer that way. JMH experience. Good luck.

Terry
 
YES.......I third that on Fordom. My hang up motor, foot pedal and hand pieces are all fordom products. They ARE the best. I have two of the hang up motors and one of them I have used daily for 20 years now. Only maint. issues is to change out the brushes a couple times over the years. Excellent tools.

Terry
 
Definatly dust mask I don't know how many days it took of blowing my nose to get that crap out! Good thing I was only 16 then.
 
Hey resto, thanks for putting on that link. That is some good info.Although I'll be having lead69 doing my head work for me. I have found out from a little research that he does some good work. Plus he is a real nice guy. And he has offered to help me out with some head work as I'll be helping him and his wife out on some good AMC parts for her AMX. He seems like a real good dude. gearjammer340, you should really take lead69 up on his offer to do some head work for you. It is really nice of him to offer. And plus he is real close to you as well. Just my 2 cents.
 
Man, thanks for all the info guys. Was gone for a bit back now. I have a set of 273 heads I can grind on to get a feel for it and a set of J-heads I want to do and half a dozen sets of 452s to I can monkey with if I can figure it all out. I dont own but I have access to a superflow flowbench which Ive never seen used or used myself but the the machinist that has it is a friend of mine and will show me how it all works. Thnks lead69 I might be in that neck of the woods as I have a few things in longview I have to take care of later in the month, Ill let you know. Thanks again for all the info!
Marvin Jr.
 
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