Teching a camshaft

wildcat23

Member
Which fixture does everyone prefer to tech their camshaft? I see that Sox, NR Racing, Lewis Stout, Jones all sell one. What is a good quality dial indicator that want break the bank? I realize that cheap and good doesn't go together, but of the Chinese indicators, which one have you all had good luck with? What do you all think of the harbor freight digital one inch dial indicator or is the needle kind still preferred over the digital? Thanks
 
Which fixture does everyone prefer to tech their camshaft? I see that Sox, NR Racing, Lewis Stout, Jones all sell one. What is a good quality dial indicator that want break the bank? I realize that cheap and good doesn't go together, but of the Chinese indicators, which one have you all had good luck with? What do you all think of the harbor freight digital one inch dial indicator or is the needle kind still preferred over the digital? Thanks
You hit a sore point with me. Chinese dial indicators are junk they should NEVER be used to DQ anybody and certainly shouldn't ever be used in building engines. For only about 10x China junk go with Mitutoyo, good accuracy and dependability. Model #2776S 1 inch range and .0005 resolution is minimum quality for tech and hobby builders and you can find them for around $150.00. These people are a great resource for current information on precision tools: http://www.longislandindicator.com/p14.html
 
I like Mitutoyo for quality.
Lewis Stout has some affordable .0005" indicators available that look pretty decent.
An alternative to purchasing cheap junk, is to find surplus auctions. The aircraft industry is always rotating out tooling, downsizing, etc, and auction off tons of fantastic quality tools for pennies. There are even brick and mortar businesses who specialize in liquidating surplus tooling from the aircraft industry. There are many online sellers as well.

In response to Chip's comment regarding DQing a competitor using an import gauge....I'd go one step further and say that the typical 8" degree wheels used in the tech barn are just about worthless.
If I'm teching (or teaching tech to other tech men,) I'm very clear about not tossing someone by a degree (the width of the needle indicator wire) using an 8" degree wheel. When we build engines here in the shop, I use a 22" wheel, that hangs off of the side of the work bench, that I can split half and even 1/4 degrees with.
I'd also suggest that you get your gauges certified if you are doing tech and if you are building engines.
It's not hard to find someone who works in a factory with a tool crib that can help you get your gauges certified once a year.


-----
🏁Thanks and God bless,
Brian Carlson
Carlson Racing Engines
Vector Cutz
www.CarlsonMotorsports.com
Carlson Motorsports on Facebook
31 years of service to the karting industry
Linden, IN
765-339-4407
bcarlson@CarlsonMotorsports.com
 
When calibrating tooling many of you will be surprised to learn which consistently barely and do not meet the minimum tolerance, and most imported tooling meets the standards right out of the box. This also applies to torque wrenches, a lot of big name branded wrenches need adjusting to meet the specifications recorded on the reports included.
 
I like Mitutoyo for quality.
Lewis Stout has some affordable .0005" indicators available that look pretty decent.
An alternative to purchasing cheap junk, is to find surplus auctions. The aircraft industry is always rotating out tooling, downsizing, etc, and auction off tons of fantastic quality tools for pennies. There are even brick and mortar businesses who specialize in liquidating surplus tooling from the aircraft industry. There are many online sellers as well.

In response to Chip's comment regarding DQing a competitor using an import gauge....I'd go one step further and say that the typical 8" degree wheels used in the tech barn are just about worthless.
If I'm teching (or teaching tech to other tech men,) I'm very clear about not tossing someone by a degree (the width of the needle indicator wire) using an 8" degree wheel. When we build engines here in the shop, I use a 22" wheel, that hangs off of the side of the work bench, that I can split half and even 1/4 degrees with.
I'd also suggest that you get your gauges certified if you are doing tech and if you are building engines.
It's not hard to find someone who works in a factory with a tool crib that can help you get your gauges certified once a year.


-----
🏁Thanks and God bless,
Brian Carlson
Carlson Racing Engines
Vector Cutz
www.CarlsonMotorsports.com
Carlson Motorsports on Facebook
31 years of service to the karting industry
Linden, IN
765-339-4407
bcarlson@CarlsonMotorsports.com

Degree wheels, my blood pressure just went up. One of my sons once got DQed because a tech guy using a plastic degree wheel and a junk dial indicator thought the easy spin moved .0005 a 1/2 degree to soon. That was the last time I went to a track without taking quality tools with me. Years later we were in tech having finished 2nd, first place was DQed for excessive cam lift (by .0015) and then so were we (by .0025). He was using a .0005 Fowler in fact. I retrieved my digital Starrett and proved my motor legal. Not wanting to win like that I asked him to retest the other guy but he just voided the dq without a retest.

Another thing to remember about dial indicators is that resolution does not necessarily mean accuracy. When making a purchase checking the manufacturers claim of accuracy needs to be looked at. For instance if you look at the specs you can buy indicators that read out .0001 but a manufacturor only claims an accuracy of .001.
 
A good way to check the accuracy of your tools and set up is to degree the same cam in the same engine and then remove your tooling and redo it 3 or 4 times. Compare your readings. Most people will be humbled.
 
The camshaft on the crankshaft gear in itself on this engine can cause false readings or different readings from time to time. So checking one engine three or four times and getting different numbers could very easily be a cam and crank gear not reading the same as it did once before
 
Sadly, tech guys aren't getting paid much if anything... its highly unlikely your saturday night track is going to have a tech man on site with $400 Starret MICs and Indicators. He's going to have Fowlers, possibly some Mitutoyo tools and who knows what other cheapo tools in there. The question is on a DQ, especially if its very close, is to politely ask if they've been calibrated and if he can check with another tool.
 
There is nothing wrong with first using cheap tools in tech as long as the tech guy understands limitations. Doing tech can be be very hurried and using the best equipment and risking dropping or damaging a quality tool is a concern. A good tech man always needs to understand that it is obligation to confirm legality not go out of his way to dq somebody. When using inferior equipment and it seems that some thing may be marginally out of spec it is time to either conclude that it is legal or get out the good stuff and make an accurate determination.
 
You can check you indicators with gauge blocks to make sure they are reading correctly. Never hurts to have a couple different sizes to make sure you indicators are up to par, especially if you dropped or hit hard on accident.
 
If you look on Starret's site you can find a gauge to check your dial indicators. no, don't buy one it's too expensive, see how it's made, have your local machine shop make the frame, buy a $100 to $200 mic head and you can prove your dial indicator is accurate. by the way the cheap, the digital and the expensive are all made with 40 threads per inch. I have checked probably 30 total different indicator and they all checked out right. if you do big shows or big money shows always be prepared to prove your gauges are accurate. By the way have you had your spring weights certified, one of mine was 25 grams heavy and the other one was 40 grams light. let that sink in.
 
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