Rigid Hone

george

Bob,

3/8 drill is way too fast and does not have anywhere near the torque needed to turn a hone.
You will need a healthy 1/2 " drill and be prepared to hold on to both handles securely . The reason I use air drill , is that it will stop instantly when you let go of the trigger, electric drills take a while to wind down and during that time if you have hung the stones in the webbing one
of 2 things will happen. If you hold on tight , you break the hone , or if you let go the drill motor winds the cord around itself. Had a very big man working for me about 20 years ago that was going to show me that he knew how to hone an engine. Well with an electric drill he hung the stones in the webbing , he let go , the drill kicked him in the crotch , rest assured it will bring tears to a big man's eyes.

Drill should not run more than 450 rpm.

george

Bryan has covered it well , but one comment

use a drill that is slower about 400 to 450

otherwise you cannot stroke fast enough to get

the proper crosshatch pattern.

I use a 1/2 inch air drill to drive the hone,

that way if you catch the webbing the drill will

stall without doing any damage to the hone . I

have an engine rebuild shop and have been using

the air drill for about 20 years , also they

last longer than electric drill for that service.

george