cylinder honing. DIY vs. machine shop?

Hey guys I just had my cylinder vapor blasted which Left a bit Of surface rust on the inside of the cylinders (he should have sprayed a little WD-40 after washing them. Duh) It's not that big a deal because I plan on honeing them anyways, which brings me to my next question. I was planning on honing them myself but the guy who did my vapor blasting highly suggested a machine shop do it. The machine shop wants $200 and a wait time of up to a month! I'm hoping to hear that honing the cylinders is a Rather easy process i could do myself. Is there any reason i shouldn't just do it myself?

The way I see it..if they were bored and ready go go then a touch up with a ball hone is fine. Hit em just enough to remove the rust

They werent bored first. I had really good compression numbers before disassembly and was planning on just a light hone/deglaze and putting it back together with all new rings

Unless you know what you're doing, you can do more harm than good. Is there a ridge at the top? Looks like it. Have you checked your piston/cylinder clearance? You can check them with a feeler gauge as per your manual. Top, middle and bottom. Rough measurements but if not badly worn and within specs, you can use a ball hone to get a 45* cross hatch pattern.
Steve

Go get one of those dingoball hones and have at it. www.enginehones.com/234240sc.html

I used a 320 grit version on my 750 but I think 240 might be better for a used cylinder. Buy the flexhone oil or use a lightweight motor oil. There are some good videos on the internet on how to do the job. It ain't rocket science.

Oh, and I don't think the cylinder will have a ridge other than there will be a buildup of carbon. A couple strokes with the hone and the carbon will be gone.

Guy that does my bore work will hone a cylinder for $5.00 a hole
with a Sunnin CK-10. He teaches a motorcycle machinist class for our
local comm. collage and hold's class in his shop so he get's paid to let the student's
watch and learn how to do it right.

zukdave wrote: Guy that does my bore work will hone a cylinder for $5.00 a hole
with a Sunnin CK-10. He teaches a motorcycle machinist class for our
local comm. collage and hold's class in his shop so he get's paid to let the student's
watch and learn how to do it right.

A hone like that straightens the hole, but it also removes a fair bit of material and increases clearance between the piston and cylinder. For a used cylinder that's in decent shape, where you just want to deglaze the cylinder and install new rings, a flex hone is the proper tool for the job.

a dingleberry hone will work just fine for de-glazing the holes.
as i am a small engine machinist i have a sunnen adjustable hone,

the same as the head on the ck-10 except i drive it with a 1/2 drill motor and hold the cylinders in a vise.
they are fully adjustable and you can take as much or as little as you like.
when i am using it to break the glaze on a cylinder i adjust it and make only five strokes.
the glaze is broken and only a tenth or two of a thousandth of material is removed.
measured with a mitutoyo dial bore gauge.

thats my .02 fwiw,

leon

p.s. i would say with a dingleberry hone that 10 strokes would be sufficient to break the glaze.

I sure wouldn't pay $200 for honing. Sounds like that guy didn't want to do the job so he just quoted it high.

Buy the tools and do it yourself. Just be mindful of the ring gap when time to put it together as always.