Line boring equipment preferances

[Questionable wizard]

What brand do you prefer and why?

Rolling around the idea of purchasing a setup with bore welder. Have several loose scrapers which hiring the work done would buy a setup a couple times over. I have some previous machining experience.

 

[Nige]

What's your Budget..?

 

[Questionable wizard]

We're just getting started looking. Limited scope of work that the boring equipment could be added to later as the need arises. I see only 1-2 bars needed for now. Wild guess $10-12KUSD

 

[Nige]

That's why I asked. To set up our line boring operation from scratch with bore welder, facing capability, etc, cost US$85k. A "basic" setup could've been done for less by only buying a couple of boring bars, but not $70k less............
Maybe you need to look again at your WAG. It's likely gonna cost more than you think.

 

[Junkyard]

Based on dabbling in it and researching various setups that would get you half of a decent setup. Hand welding the bores isn’t the end of the world. If it’s your equipment taking a little extra time to save $10k plus on a bore welding setup wouldn’t be all bad. If you’re patient and creative you can piece together a kit that won’t break the bank. Lots of material out there if you do a little searching.

 

[Zrupp]

I recently purchased a cheap unit without a bore welder. If i had to do it all over again and would have had the time to save longer I would have waited and purchased a better quality used unit. You can catch some pretty good deals on the facebook page Portable Line Boring. The unit i purchased did what i needed it to but i wouldn't want to try to used it every day.

 

[Questionable wizard]

I would prefer to buy used as we're not going into that line of business. Only have 20+ holes to do. Was looking over the Climax website last night. No idea yet on pricing of their products. Their products appear to be fairly well refined.

 

[Zrupp]

If you decide to get a quote on a climax unit you had best be sitting down when you open the email.

 

[Ando]

Hi QW, I can just offer my perspective; may not be relative in the states though.
For the sake of 20 bores, I'd consider a contractor.

Getting set up properly and experiencing the challenges of boring can take quite an effort. I've done 5" bores in a couple of hours and had 2" bores take half a day.
Occasionally a rework will show up where another contractor has misaligned their repair and I have to reweld and rebore. Usually this happens from the use of machined cones for alignment, rather than working off known datum points (other pins/bolts or machined surfaces)
In my part of the world, I see secondhand setups for the $20K mark, though a hydraulic unit did pop up recently for $6600. It had been sitting for a few years/didn't have all the tooling/no welding attachment.
I use a Sir Meccanica borer with the welding attachment and run a Lincoln CV320/LN-7. Sometimes I will stick weld a bore; it may be quicker than setting up the MIG and attachment, or if the base metal isn't a 250 grade mild and could harden with MIG welding.

Be sure to let us know what you end up doing.

 

[kshansen]

One thing I would add is how experienced is who ever is going to be doing this work in regards to basic machining? Just understanding the proper way to sharpen a bit can make the difference between a good repair and a nightmare mess. I do see you have some experience in machining so at least that's a good start!

I have read on this forum where someone has put together a very basic boring tool and powered it by a 3/4 inch drill and fed the bar by hand. But that was for a small pin of maybe 2 inch on a small tractor back-hoe and not some big scrapper.

I guess as other suggest shopping around for used items may be best idea. And if you only plan on doing this one group of scrapers then consider reselling to the next guy who wants a good price.

 

[Tugger2]

I built my bar for a specific project . Im not a machinist ,but im handy with the lathe .It worked ok hand feeding with the mag base . I built up by hand but a bore welder would be awsome if you have any amount of bores ,especially the small bores to do. Grinding the bit is the trick, clearance angles so your bit is cutting not rubbing ,theres lots of good direction on that subject in some of the machinist forums . I started with brazed carbide bits , but went to high speed steel which was a bit more forgiving on crunchy spots .
Climax equipment and York are top of the line ,York being a bit less pricey and very user friendly.

 

[RayF]

If the OP is considering line boring on scrapers and so likely on cushion hitches I would respectfully suggest getting decent gear and an operator who has plenty of experience.

 

[Steve Bowman]

I built my bar for a specific project . Im not a machinist ,but im handy with the lathe .It worked ok hand feeding with the mag base . I built up by hand but a bore welder would be awsome if you have any amount of bores ,especially the small bores to do. Grinding the bit is the trick, clearance angles so your bit is cutting not rubbing ,theres lots of good direction on that subject in some of the machinist forums . I started with brazed carbide bits , but went to high speed steel which was a bit more forgiving on crunchy spots .
Climax equipment and York are top of the line ,York being a bit less pricey and very user friendly. View attachment 195456 View attachment 195457 View attachment 195458 View attachment 195459

This is just the type of setup that we used for decades supporting our coal mining fleet. Did everything from center pins on 992Ds and D11Ns, down to push arm connecting blocks. Everything except the mag drill was made in house.

7018 stick weld the bores by hand.

If you have the time and skill, you can save a huge amt of $$$.

 

[Nige]

This is just the type of setup that we used for decades supporting our coal mining fleet. Did everything from center pins on 992Ds and D11Ns, down to push arm connecting blocks. Everything except the mag drill was made in house.

7018 stick weld the bores by hand.

If you have the time and skill, you can save a huge amt of $$$.

And if you're trying to make money out of it like I assume the OP is going to do, as opposed to doing only in-house jobs, you'll price yourself out of the market - IMHO.

 

[John C.]

There have been plenty of people around the PNW that have home made rigs. Probably the first and best that I've worked with built his out of a Bridgeport mill. I first encountered him around 1979 doing bores and slewing bearing surfaces. Another company here still in business is using a rig made that runs on all hydraulic components. The nice thing about that set is the power and speed that they have with variable speed. Theirs is set up on a field truck that is self contained and can also run on line power if running the welders is too noisy. I don't know if the first gentleman is still in business but do know the second is busy every day. I've also run into a setup done with a bar and a belt drive run from an old washing machine motor that was at the old Weyerhaeuser shop at the Aberdeen Sorting yard. They used that set up to do 560 Hough center hitches and Dart boom bosses a few times a year.

Really, you are only limited by your own ingenuity, time and money.

 

[Tugger2]

The first time we had line boring done in camp a guy came in from town . We expected some kind of exotic setup , but his rig used a small crown and pinion gear he sourced from auto wreckers ,drove it with a 1/2" electric drill and fed it by hand with 1/2" ready rod . We were doing the swinger housing bores on a 500 American which are around 12" dia. He did a first class job but it was the last time we hired anyone to line bore. The first rig we built was hydraulic , a charlin motor with a chain drive and a star wheel feed. When York machine started building them , the price was right and they worked very well so we bought one . But today im back to rigging my own up,but i dont do a lot of boring anymore so it keeps the investment down. The best thing i see out there today is the bore welders , they make doing those small dia hard to get to bores look pretty easy. Has anyone built thier own bore welder?

 

[Questionable wizard]

We are only doing our own work. Got pricing back from York. Not as bad as I thought. Still want to keep our eyes open for a used unit. Have a neighboring excavating company with 2- York Cadets. Need to visit with them.