Honing oilite bearing?

[Laverda]

I will be fitting some new oilite bronze bushings to a casting. I would like to hone the ID after they are installed. The Oilite company says no abrasive maching at all as abrasives will stick to the bronze and honing can close up the pores preventing oil from flowing out of the bearing. I was going to put the part in the ultrasonic cleaner after honing to remove any abrasives that may be left. They say that turning or roller burnishing is OK. I want the ID to be as round and straight as possible and this should be a simple job on my Sunnen hone. Lapping with time saver should be OK but it won't do as good as job as the hone.

What do you think? Is honing a bad idea for oilite? I only need to install two bushings so would rather not have to buy any new tooling to make this work.

 

[atex57]

Reaming with a sharp reamer is best, boring is OK, make sure your tools are sharp.. Do not lap or hone, the porosity of the bearing will hold onto grit even through an ultrasonic bath.

Ed.

 

[john.k]

I pressed some oversize oilite bushes into a bike gear,and then bored them to size............the idea of oversize bushes was to make them stay in place .....as commonly they migrate outward from the gear ...........so far ,no problems.

 

[TGTool]

It seems like you got the advice of the manufacturer who probably know more about oilite bearings than anyone else. If you want to do something else with your part you can just do it. You certainly don't need the approval of others. If you hear from the experience of a few who say "I honed my bearings and it worked out badly" you haven't really learned anything more than Oilite told you already. Good luck whatever way you go.

 

[swarfless]

I would have thought roller burnishing would seal up the pores REALLY well. You don't always get the right info from a manufacturer .. depends whose mouth the advice came from. I'm with the sharp reamer crowd.

 

[john.k]

You can seal up the pores to some extent without any problem.........not generally known ,these bushes can be soldered,or if desired completely loaded with tin or solder..........In some motorbike applications the sintered nature is not actually required as the bearing runs in oil............however ,as is common in motorbikes ,the owner is careless and allows the gearbox to run out of oil,the sinter bearing can live on......and if a seizure should occurr ,sinter doesnt seize hard ,as does a solid bronze bearing.............this can be the difference of locking up the back wheel at 60mph.................another well known fact......in 1962 AMC fitted a different,cheaper 2nd gear sinter bush to the heavyweight Norton gearboxes......the bearings failed at low miles ,and had to be replaced by the previous years spare.

 

[john.k]

The original bushes in the gearbox of my 1938 Inter were all sinter .......when I rebuilt the box,I decided to go with solid bronze ,with zigzag oilways.......but retaining sinter in the main gear bush ,as its not well oiled..............as mentioned earlier ,I used oversize bushes,about 010 OS on the OD ,and pressed them into the gear ,then bored the ID to size..........the bush necks down like a brass tube ,and IMHO densifies and ......hopefully.....gains strength...........anyhoo,its survived many track days ............even when the nephew over revved and bent the valves.

 

[triumph406]

Oilite bearings make great truing sleeves for honing as the material retains the grit in the pores of the oilite.

Hone an oilite bearing, and any shaft running in the bearing will gone in short order.

I use the sharpest single point tool I have to machine oilite