Hone, Sweet Hone

Engine Power has a new toy in the shop! Sunnen sent the team its SV-15 hone machine and Mike and Pat don’t waste any time getting it unwrapped and into the shop. The machine weighs about 2,000 lbs. so it was a job getting the machine into the shop.

When doing engine machine work, a cylinder hone performs a few different tasks. It removes a slight amount of material after the cylinder has been bored to reach its final diameter. More importantly, it creates a cross-hatch pattern in the metal so it holds oil to the cylinder itself which lubricates the cylinder and piston rings while also helping form a tight seal between the two. This particular machine can hone cylinders from 0.00750 all the way up to 8″ in diameter. It can also hone cylinders up to 11″ in length. While it’s running the monitor displays a real-time picture of the bores profile so you can see if the cylinder’s tapered in any spot which makes it easier to correct.

Sunnen has been an industry leader in both automotive and industrial honing for almost a century. For more information check out Sunnen.com.