STIHL 028 AV rebuild questions

[Mad Professor]

I'm going to buy some Italy Meteor slugs before they dry up like Tecomec.

A good investment, like ammo was last summer.......

[ZeroJunk]

Heaven forbid if you run a ball hone in it.  Your piston will literally turn sideways in the bore and kill anybody nearby.

Ball hones do ugly things to nikasil.

Oh, I don't know. I used one the other day on a MS460. I actually timed it out of curiosity just to see how I do it. About 1 1/2 seconds one way and 1 1/2 seconds the other. It will get what little transfer is left on the edge of your ports. And, then in to the dishwasher.
I'm thinking you would really have to dog the heck out of nikasil with a ball hone to hurt it. You are not using it to remove the aluminum. It should already be gone. But, it will slick it up enough that you can see what is left if anything.
Works for me.

UGLY ball hone!

 

Oh, I know. I have done it.  And, I know how long it takes.
If you want a photo to discredit a ball hone I will whip up one worse than that.

[Al_Smith]

Geeze ,to hone or not to hone .This is starting to sound like the great oil debate which is never ending .
Now  of course you can't take the ovality out of a plated cylinder .I used that Lisle to hone a cast iron liner I installed in a Mac 125 .It was grade 50 fine grained cast iron  the same stuff Harley made cylinders out of .
I'm sure I'm not the only one to ever resleeve a chainsaw cylinder but until proven differently  the only one to have the pictures to prove it . It was the only method I could think of to save it because the chrome had delaminated .It runs fine but since I did it I have not ran that thing long enough  to even seat the tool steel piston rings .

I've got a couple of big dead hickories,one is over 3 feet in diameter .That could give me some fodder to not only give the big yellow saw some run time but also a couple more that have been taking up shelf space .I might get to this winter or I might not .

[ZeroJunk]

What kind of oil should I put on the hone ?  :D

[Al_Smith]

In the automotive industry they use honing oil .It's just kerosene with a fire retardant .I don't think it makes any difference weather it's make by Marathon or Clark American .The ratio would be the same, one to one ..An added bonus if you don't use it all up it's real handy to light off a brush pile with .

[sawguy21]

I have had good luck with a 50/50 mix of Varsol and motor oil on 4 stroke air cooleds. I have not tried honing a saw cylinder, if acid and scotch brite doesn't clean it up out it goes.

[Real1shepherd]

I posted the "wigglesorth' method/video in another thread. That is my standard for polishing a bore. Randy shows how to remove aluminum transfers right before he shows the "wigglesworth" method.

Time is not a factor for me when polishing a bore. It's not like I have a bench filled with customer saws waiting for help.

Kevin

[Al_Smith]

It might sound odd but frankly I haven't had many that hung from a lean burn .A couple had the exhaust side of the piston a tad scorched those just cleaned up nice .They were caused from restricted mufflers ,screens carboned up etc .
I've got a 038 Mag that was ran with a faulty air filter and literally grenaded the piston .Ate something evidently that didn't agree with it's digestive system  .Mahle cylinders are tough, not a chip, nothing .New OEM piston. Back in service ..At that time it had been in service for a tree company for about 20 years and I did that work at least 12-15 years ago and it was later given to me .That's one tough old saw ,one of the best.