Mikey 97Z M6

iTrader: (37)

I have a small milling machine at home and have thought about buying the equipment to cut my own valve seats using the mill. Getting some quick estimates, it looks like I could get most of the tooling needed for under 700.00. Just not sure what to use for a clamping fixture for the head. This would be for LS stuff but I suppose it could work on most anything once the initial cost was made. I do some cylinder port work now and then and like playing around with flow testing etc.. Was specifically looking at the older Newen stuff, but I'm not locked into any certain brand of cutter tooling.

Note, I'm not a machinist by any means but I've always found the field very fascinating.

Anyone out there using a milling machine to accomplish this? Would love to hear what you're using, setups, likes/dislikes etc..

Blown06

iTrader: (32)

If you wanna do it at home and don't wanna spend the big money on fixturing the proper mill. Get the stuff to do it with stones. In the right hands a stone ground valve job can be very good. Just a thought.

Mikey 97Z M6

iTrader: (37)

I've thought about that, but the seat cutters have the ability to cut multiple angles at one time. Less setup time, better consistency etc...

I've been researching this a bit more and there are some guys doing this same thing. Found some good threads on Speedtalk about it.

On a plus side, a buddy of mine just gave me a bunch of tooling for doing this. Looks like the next big hurdle is getting a fixture to hold the cylinder head.

Blown06

iTrader: (32)

What kind of mill do you have?

Mikey 97Z M6

iTrader: (37)

Wish I could say it's a Bridgeport or some other knee mill, but it's just a 2hp Enco mill/drill.

Sounds a like a VFD will be needed as well to slow up the drive.

usdmholden

I have a Bridgeport with a VFD and have thought of doing this many times, but each time it's easier and cheaper to have someone with high accuracy machinery just do it and be done with it.

Interested in seeing how this works out.

Mikey 97Z M6

iTrader: (37)

Easier, yes of course, much easier to have someone else do the work. But I love to geak out over the details and would love to play around with valve angles with the port work etc...

Right now the biggest hurdle I'm finding is the fixture to mount up the head to the bed of the mill. Needs to be super rigid but have the ability to be adjustable on the Z axis. Most of the fixtures I'm finding for sale are super expensive, so fabbing one up might be the only viable option for someone on a budget.