Can You Machine a Flywheel with a Brake Lathe??
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- Опубліковано 15 жов 2024
- The answer, yes you can. In this video I show how I use my BendPak brake lathe to machine the flywheel for my Fairmont.
There were some parts I cut out of this video that might be helpful. If the flywheel starts to chatter, I recommend taking an old brake pad and holding it on the flywheel while it's being machined. This will help reduce the chatter for a better finish. I cut that part out because past experience has taught me that many viewers are concerned about making contact with moving parts on a machine like this. A valid concern for sure. If you're careful, you should be fine.
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Hi Eric. Try slowing down the rotation speed. This will help with both chatter and keeping the cutter cooler. This is how the machinists deal with both those problems. Thank you for taking the time to make the vids you have saved me a fortune over the years.
This is the only Flywheel/Brake lathe video on UA-cam. I have an AMMCO 4000 and searched and only found this.
Ammco makes a grinder that attaches in place of the drum bar for machining flywheels. If you have hot spots the lathe will not cut the hot spots they are too hard that’s what the grinder is for. They also make an attachment to use rather then using the twin cutter which works better when doing a stepped wheel.
I spent a few years at a Chevy dealer also ten at an International truck dealer. Yes no specs were ever given except for Cummins diesel flywheels. What I learned in both Chevy78-81 and International 81-92 was you could remove material until the bevel at the edge of the wear surface was gone, usually at the outside edge. What I used to do to save tool bit wear was first run the flywheel with a jitterbug Sanders with approx 80-100 grit paper to remove burnt on dirt ect that the parts washer wouldn't remove. The discolored spots are hardened areas that have overheated the steel or iron and caused it to become crystallized, only shallow passes with the carbide cutting bit or a grindstone will cut through. Some older brake drum cutting machines had powered grindstone attachments. Love the videos, my son got me started watching, thank you.
We had a neat little custom-built anti-chatter rig for machining flywheels back when I went through automotive in college. It was one of those pinchy metal salad tong things, with an old brake pad on one side, and a small drum brake return spring pulling the two sides together. Our brake lathe had a stud sticking out on the other side of the cutter bar that the other side of the tongs would clip onto. For anyone that's wanting to be extra-cautious, or just doing a lot of flywheels, it's a worthwhile hack! :)
+rhkips Neat idea. Thanks for the comment.
Eric, nice work , just a observation, keep track of how much you remove from the flywheel . some hydraulic systems only allow for .010 -.025 in material to be remove before it can be a problem. They offer shims to take up the amount removed so you can keep it close to the original specs. Also remember to make sure the fly wheel is flat all the way across. some have a raised portion that you need to take the same amount off both surfaces.
Yes sir you can.. and note to self, next time after the finish cut, take your 90' grinder with a skuffy wheel on it, and with the lathe running put a uni-directional polish finish on the new surface, when the tech that set ours up and gave the introduction to brake re-surfacing schpiel, he made a believer out of all of us.... I'm always about doing the work in house if possible, and this is a great tip... Thanks man....
I'd recommend mounting it so that the portion of the flywheel that rides against the crankshaft is your flat reference, instead of the opposite side.
Absolutely
Keep up the well done and informative videos, you're easy to understand and you obviously do know of what you speak. I too was a mechanic for 30 years and retired about 12 years ago, mostly due to arthritis in my back after breaking it on the job, just could'nt take the pain at the end, (or before the end) of each day. Getting old sucks, don't do, I'm telling you. I have found that like most of you it's in my blood. Every night I'm out in my garage doing something else on my '88 Toyota p/u, but I've found once in a while I need to brush up on some repair that after this much time I've forgotten certain details here and there. I was glad to find Eric's videos as like I said, he seems to know his shit. And we used to turn flywheels back in the 80's at a brake shop I worked t then and you mentioned about every issues we came across do so, and resolved them the same ways we used to. Anyway, keep em coming, I'll keep watching. Later and God Bless.
I bought a welder and saw Eric with Mr. Tig and loved that channel. Then many years later I bought a lathe and I see Eric and almost didn't recognize him. Looking good and very interesting project.
I'm a first year college student working to get my degree in autos and I operated this lathe machine last semester. I used the old brake rotors provided to play with the machine. It's simple and fun to watch the process
I’ve machined loads of flywheels on my Harrison M390. Some are flat , some are stepped , need to remove the 3pins and skim usually with a Diamond tip, cause they have hard spots and carbide leaves raised spots, you can skim them on a surface grinder also. I have also removed lots of material on the backside of the flywheel so it spins up to revs faster (on race car flywheels). When done replace pins” if not damaged “ if they are use silver steel , job done.
Hey Eric, on semi flywheels, we put the flywheel/ crank bolts in the flywheel loose, on the bench and put the friction disc on the flywheel to see if the disc clears the bolts and if necessary measure the gap between the bolts and torque springs to see how much material is left to machine.
the serviceability specs for most flywheels involves a percentage based visual damage check followed by a deflection survey performed by applying a specific load (in aviation, maximum operating load) to the work surface, and measuring the deflection amount for entire circumference recording highest and lowest amount by dial indicator. The max allowed can't be exceeded by the highest amount, and the average from both being under 0.01 inches. TBH I personally haven't had any flywheel pass visual damage specs and then fail for deflection threshold. I'm not certain this even applies to Automotive though, the manuals for ground based transport only used visual damage inspection of the tempered tooth ring insuring less than 30% of teeth missing, and under 30% of the teeth having no more than 30% of contact surfaces damaged, and then a relaxed state deformation check.
That dangly looking jacket made me nervous every time you lent in toward the flywheel spinning!
been doing this on the old classic Annco brake lathes for years, a similar set up but not nearly as nice as yours. never had a manual for a lathe, wouldn't be surprised if more of them can manage it.
always start with a fresh bit and try to wrap the flywheel or do whatever you can to minimize chatter. Great videos man, keep them coming!
I think your tip of setting your depth of cut on the outer section is excellent. You might also try slowing the RPMs as you get closer to the outside. You are covering a lot more surface area as the diameter increases. Does your machine click onto the speed settings in notches or is it variable where you could gradually slow it a few RPMs at a time?
Not sure if a some flywheel run out is as big a deal as a front brake rotor run out. The appearance looks good , but if equipement was a questionable older lathe like many shops have, to play it safe before removing larger size brake rotor (or in this case a flywheel with a lot of labor involved) A run out check with a dial indicator on the vehicle with the high and low spots marked, and then see if the high and low spots on the rotor or flywheel mounted on the machine correspond to the same place position as when mounted on the car. By marking the high and low point locations on the rotor or flywheel before hand and just re- mounting and re-clocking of the work on your Lathe a few times to best match what you measured , you'll be surprised how much re clocking the work on machine can make .
Years ago I worked in the machine shop at a local NAPA store. I used to resurface flywheels this way. We would cut it and then make a pass or two with a grinder that mounted on the brake lathe to take care of any hot spots.
We later got a dedicated flywheel grinding machine.
Did this too, but had problems with the cutting tip bouncing over the hot spots that were work-hardened from the slipping clutch. The hot spots were raised like welts on your skin - looking at this video, I suspect maybe we needed to get the cutting tip into a new point position for a shaper cut. Anyway, we clamped an angle grinder to the lathe arm and turned on both the grinder and the lathe to grind the flywheel. The finish was fairly rough and coarse, however, to our surprise, it worked a treat, with the clutch engaging smoothly and without shudder!
Rob S we use ceramic or diamond edged carbide tips , no raised hard spots
This is a great idea, UNTIL you encounter hard spots. That cutting tool will glide right over them leaving a bumpy finish. The only way to remove these "hard spots" is to grind them out.
My Van norman machine has attachments for turning flywheels. sometimes the flywheel will have hard spots from excessive overheating and a lathe won't do a good job of resurfacing flywheels with hard spots. That's when a surface grinder or flywheel grinder is needed to ensure a smooth flat surface.
Also outside mass flywheels are hard to do on a brake lathe because you need to machine the wear surface and the pressure plate mounting surface by the same amount to keep the pressure on the disk the way it was designed originally.
+superrodder2002 Agreed. I've seen the exact same thing. Thanks for your input.
I tried that years ago and the brake rotors bits would not cut through any hot spots on the flywheel. I suspect that is why a flywheel grinder is a stone.
I do use my brake lathe to custom grind pistons in automatic transmissions. Works ausome to add extra clutches and get precision clearances.
i think it might help to take an angle grinder with a mild abrasive disc to the flywheel after you cut it, and while its still spinning on the machine, it would remove the almost microscopic 'record' cut that the bit will make as it backs out... i know disc brakes tend to make more noise and also grab the pads a little too aggressively if they are left with a directional finish, i would assume that a clutch, being a large brake pad itself would do the same, except in this case it would cause the clutch to grab early in its biting point and make for some uncomfortable pedal feedback during the breaking in process
Great video Eric. I will try this on my Ammco brake lathe. We often don't machine flywheels because of time constraints as our shop is in rural New Zealand and we would lose a day sending it to a machine shop. I'll find an old one and have a go.
I said this to my old boss a million times. He kept saying it couldn't be done till I did one without him knowing. then we did all of them in house. Me and my big mouth lol. Great tip Eric.
Eric,
If the flywheel is cast iron, you should (as you showed) machine it dry. OTOH, if it's steel you're dealing with, use a little cutting oil brushed on prior to each pass. Yes, smoke, AKA "shop fragrance", is generated, but the cutting insert will last longer.
Eli D.
+Eli Dustman If you set the bit on the outside of the flywheel, instead of the inside like I did in the video, it won't be an issue as you won't cut too much off and heat up the bit.
Eric having also resorted to this ill say the drum cutter arm works better than the disk cutterson bigger flywheels in my opinion just mount it and run it like a disk with the drum blade on it works great
I been a mechanic for 29 yrs and have done it many times and worked just fine
my only concern would be getting the flywheel square to the tool travel. if the mounting surface isnt square with the face of the flywheel you can run it out of balance and do some real damage. most places would indicate the face of that part first before machining.
jameswoodsist But.... the whole point is the face isn’t flat and parallel 🤷♂️
@@DrewLSsix There are other videos showing flywheel specialists taking a lot of trouble to set the ''back' of the fllywheel's inner face that sits tight against the crankshaft,co-planar with the cutter.This set-up looks a bit open to run-out due even to dirt or burrs.I don't trust it even though he gets so pleased by the finished look.
Great job as usual, but please lose the sleeves when using any lathe.
Yeah, no kidding. I've seen too many lathe accident training videos to ever look away from someone wearing long sleeves while machining. I came to the comments just to see how many others would say something.
Ive seen long hair get grabbed. The people were very lucky to escape.
Stay gold.
If I can only keep my shirt out of my Creeper!
I'm a teacher CNC and conventional machining and the funny/sad thing is, we are not allowed to work with short sleeves anymore. A full overall is required. On a safety meeting with the lady from the insurance I questioned this and she said it was because of hot chips. I answered that I personally find hot chips on my arms better then losing an arm.
But well, rules are rules I guess. A accident will probably have to happen before they change.
Sander Vercammen That is lunacy, I'm not a machinist at all but a forklift engineer, any who, rule number one I've always been taught is when working around ANY sort of rotating machinery is no long sleeves, hair, ect..
Followed by no gloves, jewellery.
Sounds like a typical clip board warrior who 'knows best', they see a safety issue but not the real dangers as they have no clue. It's sickening.
Yep..Done it before with no issues set for drum cut..
Makes total sense now. Never would've done it until now. A buddy was freaking out about getting his flywheel machined years ago. Should've told him to go to a Mieneke with it.
I have cut them on a Engine Lathe (Machinist by Trade) and also sent them out. they used to Grind them on a small Blanchard Type Grinder also sometimes the small Heat Checks on the surface after machining I would not worry about. its the cracks that are a concern. But that is Cool doing them on a Brake Lathe I have often wondered about doing that if it was Possible now it is
for a better finish slow your cutting feed down to about 3-31/2, Also while it is still on the lathe take some fine emerycloth or a 3m wheel and finish by lightly sanding it by hand or with a block, that will give you a non directional smooth finish
tried this recently with my pro cut. works well for flywheels up to about 2 liter. the bigger ones go on the surface grinder.
wear on the cutting tool is much higher than when ma hining a rotor but maybe i just need a shallower cut as the rate is not adjustable.
I've also "cleaned up" a transmission basket on a lathe. I've also cut up old hub assembly's, cleaned them up on the lathe for a bolt on lathe adaptor. I.E. really big rotors with 8 to 10 inch centers. just cut up the hub until you can chuck it up in the lathe and bolt the rotor to it with the lug nuts. does this make sense? Its brilliant in my mind
In regards to stopping to let the tool cool off, if that's a carbide insert (which it looks like it is), you need not worry about heat. Machining at that low speed will never produce enough heat to hurt the tool. They do wear down and will eventually just shatter the tip off but it's not heat related failure. In the machining world carbide will get run at 6000+ RPM dry sometimes (no coolant) if the logistics of getting coolant to the insert are too difficult. Source: I am a machinist.
That flywheel out of that 5.0/T5 combo is supposed to have dowel pins. I suggest you get replacements before reinstalling the pressure plate or it can cause headaches later.
+Chad Bob Actually I'm using a new flywheel.
+EricTheCarGuy just for video purposes I'm guessing
+MEOW MEOW Not initially, I was going to use it in the car by my machinist wanted to go with a new flywheel for my build.
If those bits are carbide you don't need to rotate them, the belt for chatter is a good idea but you can slow down the lathe, take a smaller cut or lower your feed rate as well.
The "flywheel machining machine" you mentioned having used before didn't operate like this, nor did it produce a finish like this.
Will this work in a pinch? Probably....somewhat. But does it make sense once you figure in the cost of your labor, the burning up of a cutter bit, and the sub-optimal result?
In the olden days when I worked in the auto parts, I'd do it backwards at first. I'd line the bit up with the outside, and manually crank it through slowly until the surface was kinda-sorta even. Then I'd crank it all the way inside, set the bit it in some more and set it to auto. Rotors, drums, flywheels, they'd come out as smooth as glass every time.
I always used to love running the brake lathe. Also used to love grinding valves and seats for valve jobs too!
+Pat Amos Yea, that's fun too.
I did this very thing today! I put the disc side out though, then I googled to see if anyone had done it and found you. Great minds think alike! Lol
Oreilly's decided it was a great Idea to start machining flywheels. Nope. Too many people come in to get it done and the thing needs it shaved down to the limit to get rid of the surface hardening. Not one person knew what a dial indicator was when I told them they needed to check for run-out after installing.
I'm surprised you don't scratch and give the flywheel a spin before starting.
you should also be able to throw the clutch friction disc on a lathe as well to fix the run-out on those. I've seen it in some datsun manuals lol.
Bits will overheat on cast when making shallow cuts. Most lathe and bit manufacturers recommend cutting at a moderate depth. By doing so, much of the heat is carried away from the tooling into the project material.
+Chuck Nix Set the bit on the outside instead of the inside like I said in the video and it won't be a problem.
+EricTheCarGuy Even then, making the cut more deeply, such as in one pass rather than 2 passes, will keep the bit cooler because the bit is making enough contact to transfer the heat. On shallow cuts, the tool retains more heat effectively decreasing the tool life by about 50%.
Nice! good to know, I have one and I'll start doing this instead of loosing the flywheel for a day to be machined at a machine shop!!! But I think that for the last pass I would put the cutting speed a the slowest, just to be sure to have a really perfect surface...
If there isn't sufficient gap we have used bolts with shorter heads or ( not recommend ) machine/grind the head of the bolt a bit.
It's better to cut it with the crank shaft side facing in but you can't always get it set up to do that so you have to flip it. When the flywheel has excessive "hot spots" a brake lathe doesn't do a good job to get them out so you would need to bring to a machine shop or get a new wheel. Machine shops have told me this is not a good idea but I have done it with no issues. If you get a good cut you will be fine
I was always taught to not let your cutting tool rub (chirp) against the part you're working on to prolong the life of your cutting edge. Also I would think you'd want to add a little cutting oil to protect your bit/cutting edge. I understand you want the flywheel clean and oil free though. Does the flywheel become rough with time? Is this something that's typical with a clutch replacement?
+Kenneth Wilkins I think for a flywheel, oil would be a bad idea. The chips coming off the flywheel look like cast iron which is usually cut with no lubricant anyway.
Cutting oil is bad on a flywheel, you want to keep it clean as possible as it is a friction surface. And yes they are cast
I know this is very old video but to help with chatter you can take an all lead wheel weight and lightly hold up to the surface will help cut down noise
Doesn't the uneven cutting sound when you start machining at 2:26 mean it's not mounted straight on the spinning axle? And doesn't that in turn mean that when you finish making the surface uniform to that angle, the balance will be off once it's back on the car?
No, the uneven cutting noise is because of the uneven surface of what is being machined (the flywheel). It is either warped or worn.
I have no idea why I like these videos as I have no interest in mechanics but I watch every one. :)
+MrCods. I appreciate it!
Could you apply some cutting fluid to keep the bit cool so you dont burn it up?
+IIGrayfoxII It would make a terrible mess that is hard to clean up. It's easier to control the turning speed and the depth of cut. Eric forgot that the outside edge of the flywheel is moving faster than the inside. You can get some cooling using compressed air.
+IIGrayfoxII Not designed for that. If you do this, be sure to set the bit on the outside to avoid cutting too much.
+EricTheCarGuy There is also a lot more material on the outside part of the face of the flywheel, and more surface feet per minute. So lathe speed and tool feed should both be set to the outer part of the surface to be machined, always. Excellent result tho. Holding another object against the back side of the part you are machining is acceptable if you are careful and think it through properly. A slight film of oil on the face applied before the lathe is turning may also help in some applications. Those are just a couple tips for the future. But I must say, excellent result Eric.
+Theguywhowouldn't I started at the inside because that's how I do rotors. There's often more material there. It seems flywheels are just the opposite. Great insight. Thanks for your input.
+EricTheCarGuy If there is no wear on the face you are surfacing, then the outside has more material, always. You have been machining brake rotors for a while now and know what to expect. You have already worked out your procedures for doing them. The brake rotors you have encountered have more wear on the outside because of the more surface feet per minute, more friction on the outside of the rotor and more heat equals more wear. The outside of the rotor actually expands into the brake pad and is worn more. Again, great results.
machining the flywheel would not affect the life time of the new clutch? as with the minimum amount of clutch wear, slipping might possibly happen?
another question, how can i get the minimum flywheel thickness? U have taught us that for brake discs the minimum thickness is written on the disc it self. nothing similar to the flywheel?
thanks Mr Eric the mentor.
Omg is a super idea, i now is not the etcg1 but is my bithday,an thanks a lot your videos help me to repair a Ford Ranger 98 and that ranger was a gift from my grandfather,i love your videos
+masterserch lolol Happy birthday!
Doesn't your machine run coolant? Still cool to watch and wish I had one.
never thought of that used to work at a machine shop, turning rotors on the lath and flywheels on a fw machine, but that's cool.
Seen your video a while back finally bought an old brake lathe machine and tried putting my accord flywheel on Ammco 7000 the hole is too small for that 1' arbor.
Next question: Talking of using things not intended for their primary purpose, can you balance the flywheel on your tyre machine? :-) Curious to know if it is really close to perfect balance, or needs some strategic metal removing.
+Darren Coull I can't see how you'd mount it on the tire balance machine as the arbor is too large.
yes, you can machine flywheels and even refacing hubs on a brake lathe but.... for a flywheel, the induced runout is very important,
on a rotor or a drum, usually, a runout of 0.004 to 0.006 inch is acceptable but on a flywheel, it is sufficient to cause an important imbalance.
on this setup, the result have chance to be better if you minimize the adapters between the cranckshaft mounting face and trust face of the lathe spindle so the machined face should be outside relative to the lathe not in the inside as showed on this video
By the way, it is important to indicate the flywheel on a non worn surface , loosing the spindle nut, rotating the flywheel and retighten to be sure that the readings are consistent so the mounting is OK before taking any cut
eric I learned the hard way you must ad a spacer ring on the other side when mounting the same amount you cut off or it will slip I know it happened to me I had to take it right back out
carbide insert are actually quite hard to burn they will usually just chip and break before "burning up" just use a bit of cutting fluid next time and you will have no problem
Did you check the runout of the mount face prior to cutting? When you started cutting, it sounded like it was touching and then not touching as the flywheel wobbled a little bit? Did it pulse after you put it in the car?
Is this practice fine....??? My mechanic advising me to replace my older flywheel with new one... Can i avoid it by resurfacing this way???
Do the holes not hurt the blade? That's why I have strayed away from drilled or slotted rotors. Maybe it's a dumb question
thanks Eric. I have always wanted to see this tried out because years ago I learned that a fly cutter is used instead of a lathe because the surface finish quality is critical for smooth clutch operation. I expected the video would have ended with a road test of the resembled clutch. How did it drive?
The finish between using a lathe as compared to grinding is completely different and when you have hardened spots , the lathe bit won't hold up. Grinding is really the best option in my opinion.
What's the best bits to buy in your opinion. I have an old aamco with a bunch of attachments that I bought for 200 bucks!! And i grabbed a set of tortche also. It paid for its self 100 x over.
Nice Job, was that tool steel or a carbide tip, carbide runs better faster
What a smashing result, plenty good enough for the clutch to bed into.
Im supprised it works so well, i would have thought you needed a lathe/capstan for a job like that.
I wonder if a wood block with superfine sandpaper wrapped around it would make it even smoother, stick it back in the machine and smooth off :)
I'm sure it would. In brake world the slight spiral is said to pull the brakes pads in.
When I think about that, the pads would be pushed in on one side and out on the other.
+DE “AutoBravado” Nichols
I can see where your going, but i dont think a fine spiral would have much effect on pads that quickly polish the shallow peaks off.
I could be wrong, i often am lol :-D
+zx8401ztv It might, but don't let people see you do it on UA-cam. They'll come after you with torches and pitch forks saying you're recommending unsafe practices. ;)
EricTheCarGuy Haha. Your using a metaphor like zx would. And yes. Anything out of the norm sure makes people point and say "monster".
Or should I say scream monster?
+EricTheCarGuy
Yes i know exactly what you mean, some people have no idea of common sense, lacking in todays over protected pampered population.
Im sure humanity is going backwards.
Wow. The friction material on that flywheel... I wonder if that's the cause of the heat.
So, if you were to ever to charge for such a service, plan on them buying you bits too.
+DE “AutoBravado” Nichols Just start the bit on the outside and you will minimize the risk of burning up the bit.
EricTheCarGuy Good idea.
+EricTheCarGuy Are those inserts made of cheese? Should be able to get a carbide or HSS bit to 1000 deg F (red hot) without damaging it
The discoloring and heat marks are usually from someone slipping the clutch because they do not know how to drive a vehicle with a manual transmission properly and or a mechanical issue causing the clutch to not fully engage (improperly adjusted cable in the case of the fox this was installed in)
Well Eric..... I have half a dozen chevy flywheels and a brake lathe.... I'm gonna have me some fun at work today.
I actually have a flywheel cutter attachment for my ammco lathe. Ammco I'd assume didn't sell many of them because it was hard to find
would lubrication avoid the heat problem with your cutter or even just cutting oil?
I've always wanted to see this. About to install my T5 and new fly wheel (and clutch) today Eric!
+Pat Haugen Have fun. Sounds awesome.
excellent result Eric.
I used to do this back in the 80's with our Van Norman Brake lathe, worked OK until you had a flywheel with "hardened hotspots". There were many with the hot spots that did not work well. Flywheel grinder only for those ones. @EricTheCarGuy Have you came across this?
Rick Ede also stepped flywheels would be hard to do on a brake lathe
We use Diamond tip carbide inserts or ceramic , no problem on the hard spots.
I have resurfaced flywheels with a 8inch D.A. with some 36 several times never had an issue. if the flywheel is worn to the point of needing more than a couple thou taken replace it, exception being something exotic or hard to source aftermarket.
In addition, rotor turning is a thing of the past, labor costs more than new rotors in most cases.
it is possible to do this on a brake lathe. HOWEVER having tried this many times i have repeatedly had work hardened mottled metal that had hot spots leave high spots on the flywheel. every time i have tried this (8-10 times over 20+ years) it has been a fail. ended up having to take it and have it done on a table machine with the wet stones. Just my experience. results may vary.
I'm sure this method is used in the industry but what about flywheels with specific tolerances on how much you can grind off? Isn't that the reason why a blanchard grinder is used/recommended?
You do not want the radial finish the brake drum lathe leaves. That's why the blanchard grinder is used.
That's what I thought
Wouldn't matter much. The finish is for break in and nothing else. Mine was radial cut and made no difference. I've got 10 years on it with a new clutch and the surface is still perfect.
Also keep in mind that the radius of the flywheel makes the surface feet of material removal considerably different from inside to outside, I would guess that is why you torched the bit.
were you removing weight for decreased driveline mass or are you cleaning it up?
If you make a deeper cut that will make more contact and transfer the heat to flywheel which keeps your cutter cooler. Don't cut any less than
.004 at a time and that will save your cutter. Like the shop it has plenty of lighting👍
Do a timing chain replacement on a Nissan ka2.4e Hardbody engine. There are a lot of these trucks around, I know I'm interested because I have two of these trucks and one may need the timing chain replaced.
this is wanderful indeed can save lots of resources when fix fly wheels instead of scraping them. how much does this machine cost?
5 grand
+MEOW MEOW. it worth each penny of that amount
+bassamxp if you work on multiple cars then yes
+bassamxp Personally, I'd buy a real lathe for $5k. But, not everyone knows how to use a real lathe and most people can follow some simple instructions to use a brake lathe.
+MEOW MEOW veryvtrue
Why don't they give you more material to work with? Back in the god days ( 1950's ) I did brake work & we would go until we cleaned up the surface & we had more material to work with. We would hardly through out a dumb. Were the specks different then?
We where always shown to use sand paper to make that crosshatch on rotors, did you do that here?
That brake lathe is a good one. You are going to make money with that one. Looks like a very versitile machine. One shop i worked in we had a customer with a common toyota hiace van. It was an ex post office van. We had to tow it into thee shop one day with a seized front brake. A very rare thing to happen to a toyota. What had happened , someone had machined the discs when the front pads had been changed. Min thickness is 24 mm and it was machined to 20 mm and most of it off the outside. So thin you could the marks on the outside of the disc from the ribs. So the brake pad when it had got warn, it came out of the caliper mount and jammed between the mount and disc locking the brake and spinning the van. We think the disc was machined to remove gouges from going steel to steel. Its scary when you know that some idiot with a brake lathe had caused that.
+andrewkiwi1 That is a head scratcher. Thanks of your comment.
The van had been a mail van so it had been thrashed and the owner at the time was a builder and knew a lot about houses but sweet f. a. about cars. ha ha He was lucky. They are exactly the same brakes as a 2wd hilux from about 1990. just scary.
+andrewkiwi1 My ex mechanic jammed replacement pad in when there was rust on the caliper mounting points were ( of course didn't tell us because he didn't know any better). trashed the rotor which was already trashed to begin with. replaced with oem, One happy brake. Its important never to skim on quality on brakes, even if you have to cough up dealership prices for it. But watching vids like ETCG, we can at least go in knowing what to expect...
But can you machine a brake lathe on a flywheel??
LOL
You can use vacuum hose joined together with a piece of brake line as vibration /silencer bands.
What puzzles me is that on this side of the Atlantic we just chuck away brake disks (you call them ‘rotors’) they are fairly cheap after all! Yet you have special machines designed to re-surface them!
You should try and use an insert with a tighter radius, Youd get a better surface finish and most take a .030 cut
Nice one! Hopefully thats not unbalanced now. Anyway to check that on tyrewheel balancer? ;)
Well I didn't know that and would have guessed you couldn't if not for seeing it done. Nice one Eric !!
been there done that! i've done that on ammco brake drum lathe !! & if you have heat spots you back cut until there gone !!
Very cool to know! I can remember 23 years ago in shop class i used to love running the brake lathe. lol.
Want to do this at work but the wheel I have in mind has a raised section where the pressure plate attaches. I’m not sure it can be setup to cut close to the raised portion without hitting it🤔
I've a workshop manual from an old truck that says that you should not have less than 0.9mm thickness than the original flywheel thickness.
I have done it before too, problem is if you have hot spots the bit can jump a lot and you have to take a lot out to just get past that