k never ported or polished heads but i may try soon if i can get a cheap set to practice on from the yard but i was wondering what rpm of die grinder would be a minimum...i have a dremel sayin itll spin 20000 and ive seen some or pencil die grinders adverising like 50000 but im sure thats w/ no load. can this be done w/ a dremel or would i need a die grinder if so it would need to be electric cause i have no compressor. anyone know of a good cheap brand that wont over heat on me or what ever??? cause i have a harbor freight near me and they have electric ones that can go like 25000 at max (u can see the harbor freight website). any help is appreciated. thanks

 

dremel won't have enough juice. Get a 1/4" collet style die grinder. I got mine from princess auto for $70, harbor freight will have one that'll do you. Then get some carbide burrs, and some stones, then some sanding drums.

usually you won't be worried about a minimum, you'll take your whatever max die grinder, and limit it to around 10,000 or so, with a homemade speed controller. It shouldn't overheat, that's what they're meant to do. I'm just starting this too.


Look up sitting bull, and read his head porting thread.

 

Do a Google for Standard Abrasives. They have a "do it yourself" guide on their site that goes through everything.

Only thing I'd add to what they say is get some carbide burrs, Christmas Tree type works well down around the guides.

 

Be sure to buy the right carbides for the material, I was in a pinch and tried using my iron bits on aluminum one day....that dont work too well for too long. Sucks cuz you'll have a bit of change tied up in just 2 bits, but they work alot faster for rough in than stones or sanding rolls. Use the sanding rolls for final clean up/blending.

Your time ahead getting carbides right out of the gate and they can be used for many other projects too.

When you use the carbide bits for aluminum, be very deliberate with them as they bite hard, dig deep, and will walk all over your surface if your not careful, and when using carbides on aluminum, do it faar away from wnything you dont want covered in shavings....using the carbides on aluminum makes it look like a platoon of beavers attacking a tree with all the sheeot flying!!!

 

Another tip,check your local industrial supply for abrasives.Summit sells a "porting kit" for like $40,that has maybe $5 worth of abrasives in it.You can buy THOUSANDS of cartridge rolls for $40.If they look at you funny,ask for firecrackers,that's what cartridge rolls are called in the steel buisness.The christmas tree shaped burrs (carbide bits) are the most versatile,but if your serious about porting,but a set of several shapes and sizes.

As far as a grinder,try to find a quality electric motor w/ a flexible shaft that has a 1/4" collet at the end.These are a little pricey,but it will pay for itself about the 2nd pair of heads you do.I use air,but I'd chuck my die grinder in the trash in a second for a good electric setup like this.

One other tip,if your carbides "load up",which is real common with aluminum,but happens on steel,too,a sharpened nail ir fine pick can usually pry the material from the bit.Also be aware that many industrial supplys can resurface carbide bits,which brings them back to like new condition,just a tiny bit smaller.

 

I just finished porting my heads ...with a dremel. It can definitely be done. Turned out real nice too. The dremel's real good for really precise detail work. It's light and you can be really particular with the small details.

However, it took me three months I'm really particular when it comes to my car, and head flow is so important, so it probably didn't have to take this long - I was waiting on parts so I had time. If you're going to use a dremel be prepared to put in the hours though.

I advise getting a die grinder ...and doing the fine detail work (like around the valve guide and short side radius) with the dremel - but if you don't mind putting in the time you can do it with a dremel (and plenty of stones and sandpaper).

 

From my experience, a dremel lacks the torque. A good electric die grinder with a 1/4" collet and a speed controller is worth it's weight in gold, IMO.

Do a search for the Sitting Bull thread about porting 416's and 601 heads (305 castings). I think F-bird'88 has his diagram for a variable speed controller in there.

 

u guys mean carbide bits like this http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=3745
and yeah ill look into the rpm controller but ill probably get this electric die grinder from harbor freight its 1/4 cullet and 25000 rpm max but it dosent say flexible shaft. but after i do the majority of the work w/ the carbide bits what kinda sanding cones or what ever do i need to do the finish work. never ported heads so i wanna try it w/ a set of 305 tpi heads to put on my tbi motor for extra flow i just need to get a gasket and port it to the size of the gasket right?? this wont raise or lower my compression too much will it cause i dont wanna have to use premium for my daily driver especially w/ gas now thanks guys and gals.

 

usually they're called carbide burrs, rather then files... not sure if their is a difference, they look the same, just cheaper...

a flexible shaft won't do you much good I wouldn't think, and I've never even seen one for a 1/4" die grinder...

 

There is a company named "DuMore" that offers a flexible shaft die grinder(among many other types of tools). The collet and handle are very small, and are therefore ideal for porting in tight spots. The motor has more than adequate power, and can be speed regulated. It's not made in China, so it may cost you a few dollars more. Then again, it should last a lifetime instead of a week.

 

NONONONONONONO.

Did I just say no?

The ones you've listed will not cut Castiron for very l;ong...great for Aluminum/plastic/wood, etc...but iron will eat them up.

You'll have to spend 8bucks-plus each for a decent bit, depending on size and shaft length.

 

For bits, try www.use-enco.com. Lots of import stuff, but works great and lasts forever.

 

ah, ok, good, someone has seen those before...
Yea, I paid $40 for one short shaft one, (I got ripped off), then paid $20 when the smoke cleared (showed $12, but after shipping etc.), for a 6" long shaft one.
I think i'll be ok with those two, the short one is a cylinder, with a ball end, the long one is a christmas tree, for doing the guide bosses, etc. You probably don't need a set of 6 or anything.
I also got a 5 pack of stones for $4.99. Now just to find some tapered sanding rolls...

 

Yes,

I actually bought a set of those when I did my intake...they worked great on the AL.

Went to use them to slot some holes on 1/th plate, and ground one down to near nothing. Thought maybe it was just the steel I used (tempered) and tried another one on a head....ate it too.

But like I mentioned, for Al they worked great.

Also, I bought an assortment of stones from HF (50 in a box) for less than 10 bucks, so if you use yours up, there's another option..they actually cut steel But speed needs to be less than 5KRPMs or so, or they wear faster than they cut.

 

justlearning, I live in Frankfort. I have a set of junk heads, one I practiced on to get the feel of porting. You can have the other. There is enough hogging to be done on these to keep you busy for a straight week. PM me and let me know. I can meet you halfway, Versailles or Midway. I can pull the valves if you like too.

 

I have an electric die grinder, Makita model GE0600 20,000 rpm
works great. I got the burrs at use-enco.com.
on cast iron heads use the double cut type. I used SH-5L6, SC-5L6, and SE-5L6. Thes have a 6 inch shank which I cut off about 2 inches. These burrs will cut real good with out putting a side load on them.

 

Great link, but I cannot seem to find where the carbide bits are? I went to NAPA to find some and they wanted 65 dollars for a long shanked small ball shaped one!

What keywords, or what should I be looking for on the enco website to find the carbide cutters?

Thanks

 

I'll take a quick gander and post where you can gte started and reply back.

 

Use the key word bur Or cutting bur or dubble cut bur

 

Here ya go:

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRHI?PMSECT=0000000543

I have the 2004 Catolog in front of me, I thhink Pop's has my '05 one...part numbers are the same though...so if you have a Q about what it is, I can do a quick look in tha catolag vs. p/n

 

yea, napa will rape you on prices...
I got one from mcmastercarr.com, since you're thinking of doing an internet order, that's a good source for.... anything really...
I got the 6" long one for $12 from them.

 

Thanks for the links. I can now stock up on Carbide bits ... the last head that I did ( a Toyota 22RE head) took me about 27 hours to do... figure I can chop that time in half with the proper tools.

 

I have something like this

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS...rchResults.jsp

It was the huskey version that is 40.00 at home depot. It works great for the aluminum intake manifold but.. I havent tried it on the cast iron heads yet. Currently its hooked up to a 3gallon 1.5hp craftsman air compressor that cost me 119.00. Wish that I did get the 18 gallon craftsman for 174.00 (roughly 200 with the parts that are not included with that modem) because 3 gallons of air seems to run out quickly.

 

N/M

 

I'm not saying it is the best but a dremil will easily work
I have ported quite a few intakes with a dremel tool with the snake attachment and my friend has used the same dremel tool to port out a few of his old ponho heads.

maybe not the greatest and yes it did take a while but it does work. and worked fairly nice.

just wish I had a carbide bit like what he had rather then just the cheapo dremel cutter style bit thingy (#135 and #15 I think). those suck with aluminum and junk up real bad after lots of use

 

I was just going to ask what kind of cutting tool on the dremel... A metal cutting thingie, not a grinding rock right? You could use it on cast iron as well? all the "carbide" bits for a dremel show "for use on plastics, wood, etc. non-metal", so I just figured it wouldn't work...

I fully intend on using my dremel for finishing work around valve guides, etc, since it'll get all the details nice... but boy, that die grinder works awesome for removing a lot of material....
I think this would work nice:
tungsten carbide bit


oh, here's a hint, I will upload a pic soon, but when using a 6" long carbide bit, don't let it wobble. If it gets bad, throw it out, it's better then to let it get REALLY BAD, while it's spinning at say 15k RPM, and looking like mine did.... I barely held on to it and shut the machine off before it flew out.... bent the bit about 60* right at the chuck.... Scary stuff...

 

What I do with the 6inch ones is try to limit speed to 10K or less, also wear leather gloves and try to keep pressure on the shanks with my finger...seems to help with them bouncing quite a bit, a pair of gloves will last you a few heads

 

I cut the shanks down to about 3 or 4 inches. plenty long enough to reach down a port far enough. Dont put any side pressure on them especialy the double cut. They will cut fast enough you dont want a bent shaft whipping around at 20,000 rpm. Watch where you are cutting, binding will cause the chattering and will break the head or bend the shaft.

 

yea, tell me about it, I had mine bend about 60* while at that RPM, I barely held on to it.... my hands were so sore...

hmm yea, I don't think I need the full 6", but the intake port up to the valve guide is kinda long... If I don't put any side pressure on them, they don't cut anything though... I guess go gentle eh?

 

SONIX,
I reread one of your earlier posts are you still looking for sanding rolls? Try Eastwood. com they have a good selection of rolls and tapers and the shafts get the 4inch not the 6 inchT
What die grinder are you using? The Phenumatic I have has a long snout that will reach in quite far with a short shank bur.

 

Here's what I use.


Grinder is from sears and the speed control from Harbor Freight.

 

Cheers to the Craftsman

Sorry, I worked for Sears for a long time before getting into the computer biz!.


Plus my Grandfather is a manager for Harbor Freight!

 

TPIgirl,
I will have to get one of those speed controlers for my die grinder

 

You can make your own speed controller.

I did it with a elec box to hold a dimmer switch and an extension cord.

Works for me and was pretty cheap.

 

I used mcmaster carr for my sanding rolls... I oopsied, and got straight and not tapered, so now I have 50....

I've got an electric one, like the ones listed there.
$70 for the grinder
$30 for the parts to make a speed controller.