X-Head Porting....

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Your finish is getting better, as in I don’t see as many troughs. You can see the corner radius is huge. That’s because the burr or stone is so big.

Soooooooooo...I have to ask...how similar is grinding a head compared to grinding a tooth, excepting size????

Thats because I used a stone to smooth it and didn't use 25k rpm die grinder lol. Should the radius on this be smaller? Honestly for that I've been putting the burr straight in the corner like this, because it was pretty close to the same size. But I have had a problem getting the bur to come straight out and keep that vertical line straight, so then I just start bowing it out.

Grinding a tooth is different. My dental handpiece is small, smaller than the air die grinder. My burr is 1-1.5mm wide. I do have cross cut fissure burrs and all the different shapes like you can get for these big ones. I also run my dental burrs at 200k rpms and with water. Most of my cuts on a tooth are less than .5mm if I'm trying to smooth a wall or a floor of a tooth where I'll be placing a filling. My smallest width burr is .1-.2mm wide and my widest is 1.5-1.8mm. Oh also I wear loupes, which are like magnifying glasses attached to my eyes and I have a constant light.

Not having a good light source while cutting on the heads definitely makes grinding them a little harder. I've actually been looking for my extra head light to wear while cutting, but I havent found it yet lol.

Per the tooth, even at 200k rpm, it is pretty though to cut, but once you get past the outer layer it cuts much easier. Which is different from the cast iron, which cuts the same no matter how deep you get.

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Here is some of the differences in bur sizes.... this is a burr and file I use on a tooth... compared to the carbides for the heads...

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Your finish is getting better, as in I don’t see as many troughs. You can see the corner radius is huge. That’s because the burr or stone is so big.

Soooooooooo...I have to ask...how similar is grinding a head compared to grinding a tooth, excepting size????

I hope you're not considering doing your own dental work...
If you do, we need a video!
 
@DentalDart
Get your port window shape dialed in. Unless you are going to work the intake manifold like that too
Center and tape the gasket to the head, then mist bright colored spray paint over it for a nice stencil to port trace.
Use the small 1/4 - 3/8 bit to do the guide finishing and port window, even out straight wall and bowl finishing near valve job.
Use the 1/2 bit for the bowl, roof, around the guide, kink removal and then finish touch with the smaller bits. Smaller bits on the push rod pinch too. When you get into air speed issues at the turn, bring the straight back at the top and let it have a slight lip to concentrate signal and overcome the dogleg.
Unless you do the entire turn reshape and even then, you will run into one side robbing the other.
Btw Goodson is great source for building/machining/porting supplies

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Here is what it looks like when you blow through the head bolt boss on the common wall. I’m not even sure I’m going put a tube in it. May just send it.

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Here is what it looks like when you blow through the head bolt boss on the common wall. I’m not even sure I’m going put a tube in it. May just send it.

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So... I thought you're supposed to stay away from the common wall as much as possible lol.

Can you get a picture of the port straight in so I can see where it is a little more?
 
Thanks for the info guys... I havent touched the heads since last week... unfortunately I made a dumb mistake. I bought the other grinder from HF, but didn't pay to much attention and the grinder only goes up to 5/32in burrs, so my 1/4 burrs don't fit...

So I've been searching for an attachment to run my larger diameter shank burrs. Other options would be take it back and get a dremel that I can make accept 1/4 shanks, or buy smaller diameter shank burrs.
 
Thanks for the info guys... I havent touched the heads since last week... unfortunately I made a dumb mistake. I bought the other grinder from HF, but didn't pay to much attention and the grinder only goes up to 5/32in burrs, so my 1/4 burrs don't fit...

So I've been searching for an attachment to run my larger diameter shank burrs. Other options would be take it back and get a dremel that I can make accept 1/4 shanks, or buy smaller diameter shank burrs.


IMO, smaller than 1/4 shank and you will bend them pretty easy when you lean on them. HF won’t take that back so you can get something bigger than a dremel???

I tried the Fordham when I started gunsmithing because that was all the rage. Luckily, there was another gunsmith about a mile from me who let me try his. Didn’t work for me. But...you have to use what works best for YOU and not anyone else.

You could try some 5/32 shank burrs...I don’t think I’ve ever even looked for them.
 
IMO, smaller than 1/4 shank and you will bend them pretty easy when you lean on them. HF won’t take that back so you can get something bigger than a dremel???

I tried the Fordham when I started gunsmithing because that was all the rage. Luckily, there was another gunsmith about a mile from me who let me try his. Didn’t work for me. But...you have to use what works best for YOU and not anyone else.

You could try some 5/32 shank burrs...I don’t think I’ve ever even looked for them.

They will take it back, but I was hoping to be able to make it work. I'll figure out something to use. The air worked good, I just run out of air so fast...
 
They will take it back, but I was hoping to be able to make it work. I'll figure out something to use. The air worked good, I just run out of air so fast...


Yeah, it takes a pretty good compressor to use air. My compressor is in the shop, so I have to listen to it run while I port. One day I’m going to move it outside so I don’t have to hear that thing run.

With the compressor running, the radio blaring, the grinder whirling away...it’s a symphony of chaotic noise. Even the ear protection I wear is only good enough for a few hours of straight grinding.
 
I took a pedal off one of my wife's sewing machines and use it as a variable speed control for my dewalt die grinder. I had to cut the ends off and put a male plug on one end and an outlet on the other. It works for me.
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I took a pedal off one of my wife's sewing machines and use it as a variable speed control for my dewalt die grinder. I had to cut the ends off and put a male plug on one end and an outlet on the other. It works for me.
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I have one of those, I wonder if I can use it with my big die grinder...
 
One other thing I do in some situations, when using a long burr, is to grab a 7mm valve guide and slip it over the shank and use it as a "handle" to help control it when it wants to grab. I put a little oil on it, but it still will get pretty hot. Sometimes there isn't enough room to use it, but it helps when I can. I can't remember the OD, but it is smaller than the common .502.
.427 or so I think. I don't mess with many import heads.
 
I took a pedal off one of my wife's sewing machines and use it as a variable speed control for my dewalt die grinder. I had to cut the ends off and put a male plug on one end and an outlet on the other. It works for me.
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LOL...I tried that back in about 1985, damn near killed myself and switched to air. I wasn’t coordinated enough to run the grinder and my door at the same time.
 
I modulate the speed of my dental drill with my food, so hopefully it won't be to hard to learn.... (famous last words)...
 
I modulate the speed of my dental drill with my food, so hopefully it won't be to hard to learn.... (famous last words)...


Well you should be golden then, as I suppose you haven’t ground through a tooth to the jaw yet.

I struggled tonight to keep my burr speed in check with air for some reason. If I had electric and a way to set the speed and leave it, it would be easier to get a burr finish.
 
My dewalt is pretty big, and it controls it fine. It still has full power when the pedal is down.

Way back I hooked up one of those rotary light dimmer switches to my electric before I had a GOOD air supply. Problem with foot switches and dimmers is at anything less than WOT they have no torque. Sometimes this is ok like when using cartridge rolls on a 6" shank. But now I just use my electric with short shank bits for serious hogging/roughing operations. J.Rob

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Way back I hooked up one of those rotary light dimmer switches to my electric before I had a GOOD air supply. Problem with foot switches and dimmers is at anything less than WOT they have no torque. Sometimes this is ok like when using cartridge rolls on a 6" shank. But now I just use my electric with short shank bits for serious hogging/roughing operations. J.Rob

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Well, you are doing it for a living and I'm not. If it takes me a little longer, so be it. My old worn out air grinder has less torque at part throttle than my electric setup. I will never be the porter a lot of you guys are, but I will keep trying.

I am about to try and save a set of procomp heads that a previous owner went wild with a grinder on. I should send them to the scrap yard, but they are all I have to work with. So, I will do what I can.
 
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