Cutting Discs and floaters

Discussion in 'PSI Superchargers Tech Questions' started by blwnaway, Sep 21, 2008.

  1. blwnaway

    blwnaway Member

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    How many of you use a wet machine to cut your clutch? If so what do you use, is it a detergent or just water? Are there any pro's or con's to dry or wet?
     
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  2. fuelslut

    fuelslut New Member

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    goodson makes a coolant. cut the floaters, hat, and flywheel wet, and the disks dry. the pro's to cutting it wet: it acts as a coolant, lubercant, and helps keep the stone from loading up. and it acts as a rust inhibator.
     
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  3. eli

    eli Banned

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    When you are cutting your disks, be sure to cut them at the same speed every time, i watched someone cut the disks once and he cut them so fast that he left little tinny groves in the face, that makes the clutch act like it's smaller, ( he was cutting with a diamond cutter, like the one on a valve grinding machine ) My brother cuts his with the stone, it comes out like real smooth, no waves and it's the same every time, once you know the the drill your car will be more consistent. ;)
     
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  4. blwnaway

    blwnaway Member

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    Why cut the discs dry?
     
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  5. KEITH CLARK

    KEITH CLARK Member

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    Becuase The Disc's Will Soak Up To Cutting/cooling Agent And Ruin The Friction Material, Would Be Like Soaking The Disc In Oil
     
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  6. Will Hanna

    Will Hanna We put the 'inside' in Top Alcohol
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    dry

    as mr. clark mentioned, the cindered iron the discs are made out of is very pourous and would soak up the coolant and possibly ruin the disc....just a bad idea...trust me nobody cuts their discs wet.

    no matter whether you cut with a diamond cutter on a franks style grinder or a stone cut, the discs cut so easily, there's not enough heat to need coolant. if you cut a cool disc, it will not even be warm to the touch after surfacing.

    so, it's just not needed, and if you did, it would more than likely ruin the disc in the process. as a rule when you pull your clutch out of the car, the only liquids allowed near it should be a can of brake clean. and try not to get that on the disc, either.

    i think wet cutting floaters is the way to go because it's a much longer process and it helps keep the heat down. too much heat while cutting the floater can warp it while cutting. it will cut flat in the high heat state, only to cool back to a wavy, warped state.

    while we're talking about it, i'm shocked at the number of teams i talk to that don't understand the importance of checking every floater for exact flatness. there's several ways to check this, whether it's a ball mike, flat stone and dial, or a fixture with a dial. your floaters need to be within .0005. any more taper/warp than that will really throw a clutch program out of whack!
     
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  7. TOL

    TOL Active Member

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    I'd like to add a couple of related questions to this thread if I may? We have both a Frank's cutter type machine and a Van Norman........

    For the discs is it best to cut them, or grind them? If grinding, any difference between using a diamond type cup wheel versus a stone wheel?

    Same thing for the steel/bronze parts. Diamond cup or stone (wet in both cases)?

    Looking for good/bad thoughts one way or the other. Wound up acquiring both types of machines and both types of cups/stones quite unexpectedly and we are now scratching our heads as to which way to go.

    Thanks.
     
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  8. eli

    eli Banned

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    It doesn't matter witch one you use,( I like the grinder wet on the steel dry on the disks) the trick is to do it the same way every time, once you get a setup, and you want to be consistent, you have to do it the same way every time, if you change any thing the clutch will act different/inconsistent.
     
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  9. blwnaway

    blwnaway Member

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    OK ITA has been down for a few days for me so I called Roger @ Crower and they suggest that you wet cut the discs.......I see both sides of the arguments here and I mentioned that to him and he then suggested to cut them with water if I was worried about coolant soaking up in the disc. What do you think?
     
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  10. racerb

    racerb New Member

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    We use a Van grinder with water soluble oil in very small amounts mixed with straight water. Just enough oil to keep the water from rusting the machine. We are constantly adding water and when we notice the machine deck starting to rust we add a cap full of oil. We grind every thing wet. It would be as simple as not pushing a button to grind it dry but it will make a dusty mess everywhere around the machine more so than usual. We have ground nothing but pro mod and tafc clutches for years with this method. We also rinse all the clutch componants with hot water and blow them off as soon as the grinding is complete.
     
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  11. turbo69camaro

    turbo69camaro Member

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    I do the clutch on a top fuel car we use a van norman wet grinder on everything we use a water based coolant and blow the disks off real good. Dry grinding is very messy!!!! On my pro mod i use a diamond cutter on my lathe with a big vacuum cleaner. on the floaters always wet grind and check and double check flatness they can look nice and pretty but be warped then you get to chase you tail around lol
     
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    Last edited: Sep 25, 2008
  12. Barry Paton

    Barry Paton Member

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    Clutch Grinding

    BlWNAWAY : Give me a call as I have a used clutch grinder for sale. I used to manufacture and sell these units. Cell 423 967 6817 barrypaton@rogers.com
     
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