cam followers

marinatlas · Feb 27, 2013

Hi, why the different cam followers : some got champhered stellite pads , some did not, i had heard not to use the bevelled one ( about the pads) on hot cam as their lobes could hit that champher , but to use the flat one.....any ideas?

ML · Feb 27, 2013

The standard flat cam follower is designed to work with the standard profile Norton cam lobe profiles. If a camshaft has lobes with higher lift or different flanks (ramps where the lift commences) the designer may specify a radius follower to allow lift acceleration. Generally, the higher the lift and the longer the duration, i.e. a race spec cam, the followers will have a radius. If you look at the MegaCycle camshaft listing, you may see some of the high performance cams specify a radius follower.

comnoz · Feb 27, 2013

marinatlas said:
Hi, why the different cam followers : some got champhered stellite pads , some did not, i had heard not to use the bevelled one ( about the pads) on hot cam as their lobes could hit that champher , but to use the flat one.....any ideas?

The earlier year motors had chamfered lifters. They are fine on a stock or very mild cam.

If you install a performance cam with the chamfered lifters- the cam may contact the edge of the chamfer and cause rapid wear.

You can check the contact area by putting a little machinist blue on the bottom of the lifter -then rotate the motor. If the contact area comes all the way to the start of the chamfer then something should be done. You can either install non-chamfered lifters or grind a large circumference radius on the bottom of the lifter [like 4 inches] . That will prevent the edge contact without changing the cam duration very much. Jim

comnoz · Mar 8, 2013

Cam follower grinder

Cam follower radius grinder

grandpaul · Mar 9, 2013

That stuff reminds me of my knifemaker friend's unique equipment that he designs, builds, and sometimes sells to other knifemakers.

Nice.

john robert bould · Mar 11, 2013

Do Norton cam followers get a good oil supply...just bought a set of Ebay that have deep scratch's on the side... they came with a race cam, so just guessing the extra lump on the cam cause's far more "thrust" in the guide bore.
Cylinders sliding in bores have litttle bearing surface, the more clearance..the less contact area. Are the materials used a good bearing surface. or is the norton very "iffy" oil supply to the cams /followers poor?
Back to the oil/lube issue again

Hobot · Mar 11, 2013

LIfter oil drains off at rest and then don't get any oil flow till head oil pressure comes up in a handful of seconds on start up then drains a trickle down the push rod tunnels and hopefully on the lobe lifter contact too. My practice now after reasoning out the start up conditions is to start up on wet sump for some initial splash sling lube. Its farily rare to see sides of lifters worn compared to their faces. Dry friction coating is about only thing I know that might help surface wear, for a time.

kommando · Mar 11, 2013

Do Norton cam followers get a good oil supply...just bought a set of Ebay that have deep scratch's on the side... they came with a race cam, so just guessing the extra lump on the cam cause's far more "thrust" in the guide bore.
Cylinders sliding in bores have litttle bearing surface, the more clearance..the less contact area. Are the materials used a good bearing surface. or is the norton very "iffy" oil supply to the cams /followers poor?

They run in cast iron bores which if gray iron as per car engine block is self lubricating, oil is from the head via pushrod tunnels and should be good, the deep scratches would come from dirty oil or from sand left in the followers from new which is a known fault.

comnoz · Mar 11, 2013

They do get plenty of oil but they are also very sensitive to any debris in the oil. Of course a bigger cam is going to wear them out faster. The design is borderline but the metals are compatible.
Good quality, clean oil is the best insurance. Jim

B.Rad · Mar 11, 2013

hello All

a question to Comnoz,

what wheel do you use to grind the stellite : silicon carbide (green)or aluminium oxide (white or grey) or something else. I cant really tell by the photo.
Is stellite a very sensitive metal regarding overheating when grinding. my mates valve grinder holds the valve on rollers by the stem and driven by a rubber wheel. It has a pink wheel, do you know anything about what type pink wheels are.
just curious.

you certainly have a very good collection of machine tools, but more importantly the knowledge to use them. being relativly new here, i say u da man.

kind regards
Bradley

comnoz · Mar 11, 2013

B.Rad said:
hello All

a question to Comnoz,

what wheel do you use to grind the stellite : silicon carbide (green)or aluminium oxide (white or grey) or something else. I cant really tell by the photo.
Is stellite a very sensitive metal regarding overheating when grinding. my mates valve grinder holds the valve on rollers by the stem and driven by a rubber wheel. It has a pink wheel, do you know anything about what type pink wheels are.
just curious.

you certainly have a very good collection of machine tools, but more importantly the knowledge to use them. being relativly new here, i say u da man.

kind regards
Bradley

You can use silicone carbide [green wheel]. You will need to surface it regularly to keep it cutting. If it looses it's "bite" it will cause hot spots on the lifter.
I prefer the diamond composite wheel. They stay sharp and true and cost many times more initially, but eventually they will pay for themselves.
I would not recommend a garnet [pink] wheel for lifters although they will cut if you resurface them every few minutes. Jim

B.Rad · Mar 11, 2013

hello All

in reply to Comnoz: thank you very much for your reply Jim. it is appreciated.

I guess I wont be trying to adapt my mates valve grinder to do lifters. it is just that he has a swing fixture to do valve ends,and you could adapt this, but he wont be too keen on changing wheels or wearing his pink wheel out either.

Do you have a hobbing M/C or fellows gear shaper perhaps. I would love to see photos of your workshop. I am retired now but the interest is still there. I cant do CNC, not even able to turn them on.
Thanks again
kind regards
Bradley

comnoz · Mar 11, 2013

B.Rad said:
hello All

in reply to Comnoz: thank you very much for your reply Jim. it is appreciated.

I guess I wont be trying to adapt my mates valve grinder to do lifters. it is just that he has a swing fixture to do valve ends,and you could adapt this, but he wont be too keen on changing wheels or wearing his pink wheel out either.

Do you have a hobbing M/C or fellows gear shaper perhaps. I would love to see photos of your workshop. I am retired now but the interest is still there. I cant do CNC, not even able to turn them on.
Thanks again
kind regards
Bradley

I don't have a hear hob. I have made quite a few gears in the CNC machine using profile cutters but it will never replace a real gear machine.
By the way, it took me a couple days to figure out how to turn my first CNC mill on after I bought it. Then it got real expensive for a while. Jim

JimC · Mar 11, 2013

I have a lot of respect for someone who uses his brain, hands and tools to actually create something. Too bad these types aren't better rewarded financially. Today, someone who doesn't even know how to check the oil level in his automobile, but can manipulate numbers representing dollars is rewarded with millions annually. Sad, indeed.

comnoz · Mar 12, 2013

JimC said:
I have a lot of respect for someone who uses his brain, hands and tools to actually create something. Too bad these types aren't better rewarded financially. Today, someone who doesn't even know how to check the oil level in his automobile, but can manipulate numbers representing dollars is rewarded with millions annually. Sad, indeed.

Sometimes a nice compliment is worth more than money. Thanks, Jim

JimC · Mar 12, 2013

Check is in the mail, Jim.

splatt · Mar 12, 2013

What did the red grinder start life as ?

JimC · Mar 12, 2013

I had a good friend who hung out with Nick Deligiannis. One night, many years ago, this friend took me to C.R. Axtell's shop. Ax was a bit of a night owl. Anyway, while we were there Ax invited me to his head prep room where I watched him port a H-D factory race team XR 750 head for Dick O'Brien. It was if I were in the presence of the all mighty himself.

john robert bould · Mar 12, 2013

jim,
Are the faces then lapped?

comnoz said:
Cam follower grinder

Cam follower radius grinder

AntrimMan · Mar 12, 2013

comnoz wrote "By the way, it took me a couple days to figure out how to turn my first CNC mill on after I bought it. Then it got real expensive for a while. Jim "

aint that the truth.
I found that the operator button that gets the most use is the feed hold button. We make a lot of one-off's so we are for ever proofing the programs and set-ups.
Not many share as much as you do Jim. And you are handy with that camera too. I appreciate it.
All the best.

cam followers

Similar threads