What Kind of Hone Should I use To hone a John Deere B bo

Check the 'Loan a Tool' program at the auto supply, about all of them do it now. What you do is pay for
the tool, then bring it back when done for a refund.

Look for a 3 stone type, and you will probably have to buy a set of stones. Be sure it will go out big
enough for your bore. Be careful, the stones are easy to break, don't let it come out the end still
running. Keep it wet with solvent, diesel, etc. Wash them with soapy water and oil them immediatly when
done.

If you have to buy a hone, look for a dangle ball type. They are more size specific but forgiving of
breakage.
 
Depending how much removal your planning, a ball hone of correct diameter might do what you want. gobble
 
What do you want to do. What has mostly been described here are glaze breakers. Ball type or stone type. Use them if you're putting new rings in. A
hone is a different tool used after reboring cylinders to get the surface finish and size. It removes material and leaves a nearly perfect round and
straight bore if used correctly. I'll post some pictures tomorrow.
 
The 3 stone hone would be ur best bet. As long as it goes
big enough for that bore. Hope u know about or read up
on the cross hatch pattern. U dont just spin the hone in
the cyl. It must be kept moving in and out from top to
bottom the same amount with the same rhythm.u want a
nice 45 degree angle lines when done. This is for the oil
between the rings and cyl. Plus prevents excessive cyl
wear. Plus dont need to be honing excessively to remove
metal. Them hones are not that expensive and u use
them on a drill.
 
This gentleman is a person in his teens. We should be encouraging young people like him that show interest in something most of us old guys care about. More power to him! Tom in Mn
 
(quoted from post at 23:34:04 01/24/23) This gentleman is a person in his teens. We should be encouraging young people like him that show interest in something most of us old guys care about. More power to him! Tom in Mn
I totally agree!
 
I agree with the ball type glaze breaker.
I've been using them for over 30 years. A
rigid hone would help more with cylinder
taper and out of round, but in most
instances you are probably just wanting to
clean up the bore and prepare the cylinder
walls for piston ring replacement. As for
the snide remarks, that happens. I wish
more people would lend a hand instead of
being a jerk. I was on this forum (under a
different handle) about 10 years ago and
kinda drifted away because of some of the
less than tolerant remarks issued by less
than helpful people. I wish I had stayed
on and lent help where I could. I am a new
vehicle dealership technician and my main
job is mentoring and training young people
with an interest in the service industry
to be technicians. Anyone willing to learn
and put in some effort, in this case to
revive an old JD, is deserving of some
help and guidance from those of us who
have been doing this sort of work for
decades.
 
A lot will depend on what you are trying to do. If just need to cut the glaze and get the cross hatching back most any flexable hone will work. IF you have a ring groove at the front/top of the bore that needs dealt with first. If it is very severe and not removed it can break top rings. Once ring groove is done then if you are out of round you should really have the cylinder bored first then honed. If not out of round then just hone with one of your choice. Do set the bore vertical for the best results. Left laying on it's side will not hone true as the hone will remove more on the bottom. A Sunnen hone will Keep you closest to round if you need some out of round cleaned up on a slightly oval bore. It is a rigid hone set to fit slightly tight on the small sides and will be slightly loose on the larger sides. Would need adjusted as the hole rounds up. Not intended to be used in place of having a hole bored if not round but could get a couple thousandths probably with it. My brother used to use one on press repair where they could not take the part off to bore it. Hones need to have a lubricant wash as they work, best clean. then washed out with some diesel fuel,solvent or even mineral spirits.
 
Round ball is what Ive seen most. The block comes out easy really you have the hard part done if you are ready to hone. I dont mean to suggest anything you dont want to do but having the machinist bore it will save you from grief later and will likely last a very long time. A lot of complete gasket kits come with the lower block gasket also. That being said to answer your question it depends on the year. My unstyled ones take a 4.25 max hone usually listed as 4.00 to 4.25.
Early Styled 1939 to 1947 bs are 4.50
After 1947 they are 4.6875
so Id go ask your motor supply store for a round ball that fits the bore for your year. Good luck!
 



Whooooooaa there!!!! back up a little. Are you sure that honing is what it calls for? Who told you that? What did your local automotive machine shop tell you about your block after inspecting it? 2 cyl Deere blocks tend to wear out-of-round. How bad is the taper? What is the piston to bore clearance?
 
It's not critically important which type you get. It's an old JD 2-cylinder, not a race engine. Any hone is better than no hone. If you have a cheap 3-stone hone that fits, use it. If someone you know has a fancy dingle-ball hone that you can borrow, borrow it.

If you have to buy one, normally I would recommend the Harbor Freight hone but it only goes to 4" while the JD B's bore is 4.6875"/4-11/16". Amazon has a good selection of inexpensive hones with up to a 5" capacity if you need to order one.

Now maybe it's just me but I didn't take Bob Harvey's comment as mean-spirited. By the time he responded your question had been answered six times over. So he made a simple smart-azz remark to have a little fun. No reason to get upset.

There are far more means-spirited people on this forum who are celebrated for their "years of experience" and defended ferociously if called out on their shenanigans.
 
I have used the others but never heard of a round ball so what does it look like? And for what he is going to be doing I don't think there can be enough out of roundness to hurt, not like he is going out every day to do hard work so just needs to get it cleaned up enough to not destroy the new rings that the old worked until rust from setting took over. Just clean up to shiny and new rings will last him for years. Now if he was going to be doing hard work every day for the next 20 years then I could see the need for boring but just to getting it running to putter around I don't see a need for all that. 30 or more years ago I did have the blocks bored on both a late B and late A but they were the big tractors on the farm and did all the heavy work. Just rings and cleaning up the bore would have gotten them to play condition.
 
(quoted from post at 08:01:17 01/25/23) I have used the others but never heard of a round ball so what does it look like?

This is a "dingle ball" or "round ball" hone:

mvphoto101758.jpg
 
Ill try attaching a picture its similar to what I used to use to crosshatch hydraulic cylinders and I think is also called a glaze breaker. They are fairly simple to use. The 4.5 inch one I found is 95 dollars however so it is a chunk of change that would go a long ways towards boring. But if all he needs is cleaned up a bit and wants to do it himself here it is.
cvphoto145784.jpg
 

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