Which Is Better, Cutting or Grinding?

This '79 KZ400H I'm working on has some pretty fugly valve seats, so I'm considering two options - grinding or cutting the seats. I tried lapping them but I'm still getting fluid around the valves on one or two, and want to get a tight seal but I'm thinking I'll have to either cut or grind them. Grinders you have to talk financing for, while cutters are fairly affordable - anybody ever do any cutting by hand?
   

I use Neway cutters.  Photos and details in the rebuild thread in my signature.  Check starting page 4

Best to use Cutters,
Like Nessism i use Neway.
You need to remove the bare minimum to avoid cutting too deep and losing all your clearance .
Grinding is too aggressive whilst hand cutting is far more controllable.
You need to cut the 30 and 60 to leave a narrow seating area on the 45 or the reduced seat pressure can still allow seat leakage which is the usual problem with over lapping.


 

Nessism, that's a great thread! Nice Build! Nice images of the seat cutting too. Yes, I know Neway is the best, but I don't have $1,300 for a Neway cutting kit. I'll probably explore having them done somewhere, but I'd kind of like to do it myself and learn a new skill. There's a bunch of affordable cutting kits on Ebay I'm considering, but right now I'm just trying to get her all apart to work on cleaning and general condition assessment.  

wrote:

There's a bunch of affordable cutting kits on Ebay I'm considering, but right now I'm just trying to get her all apart to work on cleaning and general condition assessment.  

Don't touch any of those ebay seat cutters unless they are Neway or have tungsten carbide inserts.
Those kits you see with serrated cutters ( generally from india or for vintage bikes and cars with soft seats) are no good for the Hardened seats that are fitted to these engines.
They are intended for use on cast iron heads where the seat is just cut into the base metal.

wrote:

Nessism, that's a great thread! Nice Build! Nice images of the seat cutting too. Yes, I know Neway is the best, but I don't have $1,300 for a Neway cutting kit..  

You don't need a kit. Depending on what you do - you can get by with 2 cutters. I bought everything needed and still ahead comparing to what shop would charge.

kzrider.com/forum/11-projects/615161-kat...ect?start=120#850070