Blog
3 Stone Hone vs Flex Hone
I guess we are going to open a can of worms this week. Today we are going to discuss the differences between the BRM flex hone or ball hone and the 2 or 3 stone hone.
The biggest advantage of a stone hone is that it will cut large amounts of material. It also can be used to hone out of round egg shaped cylinders. The stone hone will also true up cylinders that have pits and valleys. In order to do this, the operator must have considerable experience using the stone hone. A steady even stroke up and down the bore is required to not cone shape the cylinder. This might be a better job to have done on a Sunnen machine. I have had more than one machine shop comment that they love the stone hone because they have had to bore more than one block that has been messed up by improper honing.
The BRM Flex hone is very user friendly. The secret to using one is slow steady strokes. It is very easy to achieve a perfect cross hatched cylinder. This reduces blow by and oil consumption by creating the perfect environment for ring seating. The Flex hone is self-centering and will follow deviates in the cylinder allowing for consistent honing. They can also be used for deburring on cross drilled applications. In addition, they can be used in a multistep ram. Boiling it down the flex hone is the easiest way to deglaze a cylinder and put down a perfect crosshatch finish without the worry of damaging the block.
This is the close up of a cylinder wall done with a stone hone.
Crosshatch from flex hone
I guess it comes down to what works best for you. I went out and did a little research in a few discussion boards and found passion ran hot both ways. One poster suggested taking the stones off a three stone hone and throwing the hone away but keeping the stones for your fingernails because a real mechanic would never use a three stone hone. Someone replied that only stupid hammer mechanics use dingleberry brushes because a true machinist knows how to hone. Besides a time out for these two, you will have to decide what is right for your shop
As always, happy wrenching...
-- Fred