flatten areas with the help of layout fluid?

[lambrettasam]

Hi,
I saw this short movie on youtube where the guy uses a blue layout fluid to straighten (flat out) an exhaust flange.

Is this the right way to it or is there another better way of doing this?



Thanks,

S
a
m

[soulsurfer]

Apart from machining it flat, that's the way.

[warts]

Can also use magic marker.
AND a file handle!!!! As a pretis, saw a bloke stab his own wrist, severed tendons and nerves to fingers. Never right after that.

[TED CRUD]

Use the flat side of the file hold it to the light and see the high spots
then file and the shiny bits are what you are filing and the dull bits are what
you need to file down to

[TED CRUD]

i watched the american look at me i am an engineer after i posted .
over the top Yanks .need 1 file End of

[dapper]

You can linish or flatten off the exhaust flange on wet and dry on a piece of glass, same way you'd do a cylinder head or cylinder face. It's worth doing on a brand new exhaust flange as it can distort after welding, and ensure you get a perfect joint seal.

[lambrettasam]

thanks for the useful replies. I want to do this on my ld kickstarter caseing and the engine caseing because despite of the oil sealant, it still looses oil and make the whole engine dirty.

[RManson]

Get a piece of polished marble or granite from the local tile shop, they should be nice and level. I got one for free as a sample. Clamp a piece of sandpaper across it and you can deck anything. Layout fluid isn't necessary. Just mist the surface in any paint, flip it over, and block it out. The paint left behind will mark the low spots. You can change directions to ensure that the next pass gets it nice and flat.

[warts]

Even a piece of 6mm or thicker glass. Paint or blue works fine.
If you put spots of fine grinding paste on the ally, then move it about, up - down, left - right, then figure 8 you will see the highspots, er, highlighted. If its only a little off flat then a bit of patient twirling will flat it down like that.
A scraper will ease higher high spots till they're gone, a bit more control than wet'n'dry on a bit of wood.

[Grumpy225]

Hey, that's me in the video. Hope it helps on some level.

I did get asked a couple of questions about it

Why a file and not the plate glass method?

Three reasons, the file gives better control over doing the work and you can apply more pressure on the flange to cut the metal faster. Second things like grinding paste like to embedd it's self in to the metal (espicially soft ones like alluminium heads) and is actually harder that the metal you are cutting. So in the end you end up with a harder surface than you started with and that sucks when you have to do it again. A thick piece of glass really isn't as flat as one would think and once you add grinding compound it's gets even less flat.

Why Blue dyechem?

It works great, drys fast and it what professionals (grown ups) use when doing machine work. Markers can work but I find it is not as clear as if I use layout fluid.

No handle on the file? Are you mad?
This was just a demo to show how it is done. Yes I should of had a handle on it but I didn't.

Yes that is a Brazilian MS150 Pasco behind me. Had to sell it when I lost my old job. It lives in Texas now.