Picked up a really old boring bar at a local swap meet. It has a few problems but I think it'll work. The large pulley is broken and is the wrong one anyway and I only have the small cutter head. I'd like to find an original pulley but if I can't, I can make or modify one to work. The cutter head is another matter. Anyone know where I might find one. Norm
barksequipment.com , cape g. Missouri. Be worth calling . We've bought a lot of equipment from them over the decades. Flux
I have a coupe kwik way bars from the 50s ... The cutter head an the micrometer to set the depth of cut an centering fingers are very expensive to replace....An that is usually what is missing when you find one cheap ...Do you have a pic of the area where the boring head attaches kinda looks like it has some sort of head on it now. There is usually about a 1/2x1/2 square hole that holds the carbide bit an it is usually spring loaded so the pressure is the same against the micrometer face each time.
Kwik Way is the bar I wish I had. This bar is from the '20s. The cutter head has six cutters and and there were two or three different size cutter heads that you would use depending on the size of your bore. the head I have goes up to 2 3/4 ?? inches. In everything I've read there seems to be a lot of confusion about how to adjust the cutters and how to sharpen them. we're talking Flintstone here. I figure if I can find the next larger cutter head I'll make it work. The funny thing is I'd swear I saw a cutter head at a swap meet a year ago, but didn't know what it was. Norm
NORSON Have you enquired on the Garage Journal board. I also see quite a bit of discussion on Practicalmachinist.com
I have never saw a boring bar that wasn't a single point cutter.. How is it centered in the existing bore? Seems if it were sharpened the bore would get smaller unless you could move out the cutting bits? The kwik way has done a very good job for me boring auto blocks, tractor blocks an motorcycle cylinders. An has it's own sharpening disk an fixtures to put the correct angle on the carbide cutters. Only need to hone cylinder for crosshatch when tools are sharpened as they should be...
Saw one once that went back into the 1910's or earlier that also had a grinding attachment that went in place of the cutter head
Ratrod There is a cone in the bottom of the bar that pushes all six cutters out for the increases in cut depth. As far as centering in the bore, there seems to be some confusion about that, but I'm thinking you use the cutter blades to center the bar before you lock it down. Sharpening the cutters may be a bitch. 49ratfink Checked with the wife, may have to wait until she dies. Norm
An you would prob need a special jig to sharpen tool bits to keep them all the same length if they are used for centering..
'really old, boring bar' brought to mind a dead saloon. An easy 'jig' for sharpening bits can be made from a simple length of bar stock, notched to fit shanks. An end of 3/8" plate can be bored and tapped S.A.E. with a flat end adjustment stud and lock nut.
Friend of mine's Father had a similar boring bar under their back porch; why he had it who knows, but there was also a wooden box that had all kinds of "pieces" in it. His Father was retired USAF, same as my Father. I don't know why, but I wanted it, and I was only 12-14 years old. It sat there for a few years getting rusty, and then one day he tossed it out along with a lot of other junk. A few years later, another friend, whose Step-Father was the President of a LARGE aerospace/industrial machine shop, found an old boring bar in a storeroom, and used it to bore his 283 to 301. Thing was, he was only the cleanup guy in the shop, and claimed no one helped him do the boring. This was the same friend who took my brother down the drag strip with my younger brother in the trunk of his car, for "traction"! I've told that story a couple of times her on the HAMB. Years later he had a 70 LT-1 Corvette that he had quit driving, and was't insured; it caught fire and burned completely up. He has't been the same since; I don't know if it's PTSD or some other psychological issue. But, the boring bar you've found is a neat deal, and I like the idea of a lamp in an automotive related saloon if you don't actually put it back into use. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
Good idea Mike. Something like that should work. In about sixty-two I rebuilt my first engine. A guy that worked for Lomac Motors (an engine rebuilder) did some shade tree work out of his home garage. That was the first time seeing it done and it was with a Kwik Way ... and the Kwik Way was at least twenty-thirty years newer than this Storm. The cost was two dollars a hole. His name was Lex Nagus. Can't believe I remember his name. Norm
I have an S8 Storm Boring Bar with 2 cutter heads. The cutter heads are dull and I have been scheming as to how to sharpen the cutter heads. Did you get your S8 going yet? 100 year old patent date on cutter heads My Storm S8 serial number tag:
Finally finished sharpening the small cutter head on the single speed (not as fancy as Norson's) Storm S8 boring bar. This is the jig I built to sharpen the cutter head. LINK: The cutter is powered with a Harbor Freight circular saw blade sharpener. I replaced the large pulley when is shattered into 7 pieces as the cutter was about 1/2" inch into the first bore I cut. LINK: This is where I ordered the new large pulley. The pulley is cast iron and is 8.25 inch instead of 8 inch pot metal. Zoro does stock a 8 inch pot metal pulley but why when for a couple more dollars you can get cast iron. The 8.25" pulley hub does not have as much offset but it works. Since the belt was not available in half sizes I had to replace the drive pulley with a smaller one. I just picked the small pulley up at tractor supply with the drive belt. Between the two manuals listed below, I was able to sharpen the cutter head and bore with it. This is a link to the Maintenance and instruction manual for your fancy 3 speed model This is a link to the Sales brochure for the Storm S8 boring bar
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