Kwik-Way Info Sheets

Valve Grinder Chuck Inspection

Chuck accuracy is critical to producing a quality valve job. Most O.E.M.'s require a valve face run-out to be below .0015. To accomplish this, the chuck in a valve grinder must not only run-out below .0015, but must repeat this every time. High performance engines require even greater accuracy. In some cases run-out must be below .0005. How do you determine the accuracy of the chuck in your machine? There is basically one easy method that can be used which provides an accurate evaluation.

Start by finding a known round and straight part. A valve seat pilot, carbide if you have one will work very well. If you do not have one, use a section of drill rod that is straight and round. This will be your test piece.

1. Insert the test piece into the chuck so that it is gripped correctly and has at least two inches of protrusion past the face of the chuck.
2. Install a dial indicator (.0000 reading if possible) so as to have the plunger contact the test piece one inch from the face of the chuck.
3. Turn the machine on and observe the indicator as the chuck is rotating. The reading at this point should not exceed .0015.

If the reading is inexcess of the .0015, you can first disassemble the chuck and clean it thoroughly. (Follow directions given in the machine manual). Examine the ramps on which the ball bearings ride, if wear is evident (grooves), the chuck will require placement. Kwik-Way provides new chucks that have less than .0005 run out and for the standard SVSIID and a Hi-Performance version with less than .0002 run out.

If you have any quesitons in regards to chuck performance, or if you need a replacement chuck, contact;

Kwik-Way Tech Services at 800-553-5953.

4mm Valve Chuck Disassembly / Assembly Tool

PN: 012-1054-60

[This tool is required to perform the following operations]

Disassembly Instructions

STEP 1: Remove the chuck cover from the Chuck Bearing Assembly, being careful not to pull any wires from the cover.. Rotate the Chuck so that the Grind Mark on the front collar and the Yellow Mark on the Spring are Vertical as show in the photo below.

STEP 2: Remove the (3) three 8 x 32 x 5/16 slot head screws from the Chuck End Cap (Black) shown below.

STEP 3: Use the Disassembly Tool (picture at the top of this document) which is standard equipment with your machine, put the 8 x 32 screws (3) into the chuck shaft in a 1/4 of an inch. Put the 1/4 x 20 Hex Head Bolt finger tight against the End Plate.

STEP 4: Remove the Chuck Yoke.

STEP 5: Loosen the 1/4 x 20 Hex head bolt counter clockwise. As you release the 1/4 x 20 bolt, the spring pressure should begin to release.. NOTE: You may need to soak the chuck in Automatic Transmission Fluid to remove grit and make the collars slide easier.

STEP 6: Remove the Chuck Disassembly Tool.

STEP 7: Begin to remove the outer collar from the chuck shaft. Next, remove the Loading Cup with the Four (4) springs. The large spring and inner collar will be removed along with the Thrust Step Washer. As you take the Inner collar off the steel chuck balls(9/16) may fall out of the chuck shaft.

STEP 8: Remove the Chuck Handwheel and belt from the chuck shaft. Remove the chuck from the chuck bearing assembly. Clean all parts with a parts cleaning solvent.

Assembly Instructions

STEP 9: (1) Put the shaft back in the chuck bearing slide, use transmission fluid only and coat the chuck shaft. Make sure the keys are vertical.

(2) Put the thrust washer, spring, and (3) three rear balls back on the chuck shaft, making sure that the Yellow mark is lined up with the Keys. hold on to the bottom balls so they don't fall out of the shaft.

(3) Slide on the Inner collar, so all three rear balls are inside of the collar.

(4) Put the front set of balls in the shaft. Install the loading cup with four(4) springs facing out.

(5) Install the outer collar, making sure the grind mark is lined up with the keyways.

(6) Reinstall the Disassembly tool. Put the three screws (8 x 32) in one quarter (1/4) of an inch. Begin to tighten the 1/4 x 20 bolt, making sure that the collars are still lined up with the keys. Run 1/4 x 20 bolt in until it is tight.

(7) Reinstall the Chuck Yoke.

(8) Remove the Disassembly Tool and reinstall the chuck End Cap with the three 8 x 32 screws.

(9) Reinstall the chuck Handwheel and Belt, making sure the chuck and chuck handwheel are snug to the chuck bearing slide.

(10) Reinstall the chuck cover. Make sure there are no wires touching the chuck.

By far, the best way to determine which model of Valve Refacer you have is to give your serial number to the Kwik-Way Representative when you call in. The Serial number is located above the 15 degree mark on the angle gauge of all but the very oldest valve refacers. For most of them there will be a letter D or S after the first letters of SVS, but some of the really old units might have a number like "KK 234". Regardless, if you give the entire set of letters and numbers to a Kwik-Way Representative, they will be able to insure that you are getting the correct parts or consumables for your particular model of Valve Refacer.

Here is a photo of a 2009 production serial number.

Here are some other things that will help you identify your SVS valve refacer.

Early SVS	SVSII D (Deluxe)	SVSII S (Standard)
Serial Numbers:202-2681	SNs: 3,003-5173; 10,000(KWP) and up.	SNs: 10,003-10,166
Air Operated Chuck	Air Operated Chuck	Lever Operated Chuck
Variable Speed Chuck	Variable Speed Chuck	One Speed Chuck
Aluminum Chuck Cover	Plastic Chuck Cover	Plastic Chuck Cover
Rubber Mat on Chuck Cover	No Rubber Mat on Chuck Cover	No Rubber Mat on Chuck Cover
Does not have a valve counter	Valve counter present	Does not have a valve counter.

Kwik-Way Industries, Inc., began as the Cedar Rapids Engineering Company in 1920, providing a product sorely needed by the fledg­ling automobile and truck indus­try—a reliable, standardized way to reface engine valves. Until the Kwik-Way valve refacing machine was marketed, that process was per­formed, with difficulty, by hand. Charles C. Hahn, founder of the company, was a former blacksmith's apprentice who appreciated auto­mobiles and wanted to solve some of their engine problems, such as valves warped by heat and wear. He queried machine tool makers around the country who not only lacked a lathe "chuck" to fit his needs but flatly told Hahn that such a tool couldn't be built. 

Hahn persevered, however, and with R.H. Meister, an experienced machinist, founded Cedar Rapids Engineering Company. The partners hired a creative mechanical engineer, A.I. Dunn, and between them, the trio designed the chuck needed to reface engine valves. The device worked and the Kwik-Way valve facing machine was born.

The firm's first modest office and shop was located at 902 Seven­ teenth Street Northeast in Cedar Rapids, and measured only 20 by 20 feet. However, the new product caught on fast throughout the United States and the business grew. The company's first salesman was I.R. Goodwin, an energetic young man who made his money the hard way—covering the dusty roads of Nebraska, North and South Dakota, and northwestern Iowa by automo­bile, peddling his wares primarily to garages.

During World War II, Cedar Rapids Engineering Company put its close-tolerance machining skills to work grinding radio crystals for the Allied defense effort. As the com­pany continued to expand, an eye was cast toward foreign markets. Although some sales had been made overseas almost by accident, it wasn't until 1962 that Kwik-Way machines were marketed abroad directly by Cedar Rapids Engineer­ing Company. That year, overseas sales totaled $68,000; today, that annual figure amounts to several million dollars.

After Charles Hahn's death in the 1940s, control of the enterprise was assumed, first by his partner, R.H. Meister, and then by Hahn's two sons, F. Critz and H. Cedric. In 1968, Cedar Rapids Engineering Company was merged into the newly formed Kwik-Way Industries, Inc., headed by Thomas A. Parks and a new professional management team. The company acquired a Canadian firm in 1969, now called Kwik - Way Manufacturing of Canada, Ltd. In late 1973, Material Products Company, a steel fabricat­ing firm, and Line-O-Tronics, Inc., maker of auto front-end alignment tools and wheel balancers, were ac­quired. Today Kwik-Way manufac­tures the automotive industry's most complete line of repair machinery.

A large industrial facility was built and occupied at 500 Fifty-seventh Street, Marion, in 1976. In 1 9 8 0 , the company employs approximately 300 people through its Marion facility, 140 at Rock Is­land, Illinois, and 50 at its facility at Toronto, Canada.

The following will resolve a valve finish issue and is also a good part of the process of setting up a new Kwik-Way SVS II Deluxe Valve Refacer. 

Chatter or a Poor Finish

on an engine valve after grinding is almost always the result of vibration somewhere.  There are other things that can cause it too, but the most common is vibration. There are little adjustments that can be made to try and clean things up.  Slow the valve spin, dress the stone more aggressively or less aggressively.  Maybe even try a different grinding wheel. Those can all affect the finish of a valve.  But if it's a really bad finish, chances are you have a vibration somewhere.

Fixing the Chatter Causing Vibration

The Kwik-Way Model SVSII Deluxe machine is a High-Performance machine. The cast iron base and special treatments to parts and sections of the machine make it the most accurate and long lasting machine of it's kind. But even so, when it gets out of calibration it will happily produce a bad finish. To prevent this the technician must be diligent with maintenance and cleaning. Afterall you are producing fine particles of metal and stone from two spinning objects.  Even though you are using a liquid to help capture this debris it's still getting around.

Start with the Big Motor

Start by making sure your machine is turned off and unplugged. While standing in front of the Valve Refacer, move the traverse arm to a vertical position. Then place both hands on the two aluminum end caps of the main motor housing. Now attempt to move the housing away from you and towards you. Does it move?  If it does you likely have found the reason for your bad valve finish. 

Adjusting the Gibs

Leave the traverse lever in the verticle position. Go around behind the machine and locate the three Allen head screws just under the black housing cover.  Start with the screw that is near the large grinding stone. Tighten until the traverse lever won't move anymore.  Now slowly back off the screw while trying to move the handle until you are able to move the handle its full range with a noticeable amount of smooth drag.  Put the traverse lever vertical again and repeat the same process on the screw on the other end. 

Now move back to the front of the machine and check to see that the rocking movement you felt earlier is now gone.  If not you'll need to repeat the process above or you may have a warn or damaged gib. But if the movement is gone you can finish by repeating the same steps we did to the outer two screws on the middle screw. While this will likely have solved your bad valve finish problem I would recommend you check all the other possible adjustments I'm going to give you.

Switch Sides

Over on the Chuck side of the machine, there are several different areas that need to be looked at to ensure everything is correct. Let's start with the easy things to check.  The belt that drives the chuck is a ribbed belt for a reason.  This belt needs to be as loose as possible without slipping.  This is to prevent any motor vibration from transferring to the back end of the chuck.  Vibration back here would be amplified at the other end of the chuck where your valve is grinding.

Next, you need to check the chuck for lateral movement.  Grab the valve end and the other end of the chuck and see if you can move it side to side or front to back would be a better way of saying it.  There should be no movement from front to back.  If you have movement then you need to loosen the set screw on the spline pully on the back of the chuck and while pushing the valve end of the chuck toward the back slide the spline pully up until it just touches the side of the rear saddle mount of the chuck.  Then tighten the setscrew back up.

Chuck Gibs 

Similar to how the grinding motor side had gibs to be adjusted the chuck also has a set of gibs that can become out of adjustment.  To check this you first lock your chuck degree adjustment and then try and move the valve feed hand wheel side to side while looking were the cast plate the chuck is mounted to meets the other cast plate that has the degree markings.  IF you see a very small bead of oil moving where those two plates meet then you probably need to adjust your chuck gibs. 

These are adjusted one at a time until they are tight then back them off slightly.  When you think you have it, do the test again to be sure.

Adjusting the Chuck Saddles

The last item to investigate is the chuck saddles. These have the capped oilers on them and should be oiled on a regular basis.  Over time the chuck shaft and these saddles will become worn and need to be adjusted.  Remove the chuck belt to make these adjustments.  Start with the saddle closest to the chuck.  While turning the chuck with one hand tighten the saddle bolt until you feel resistance and back off ever so slightly until no resistance is felt.  Move to the rear of the chuck and do the same.  Finish by repeating the first operation.

After All These Adjustments

If you still have a finish problem it could be a dirty or worn out Chuck.  Do a full disassembly of your Chuck and clean it with denatured alcohol then reassemble using ATF as a lubricant. Which, by the way, is the only thing you should ever use to lubricate your Chuck ball area. Instructions to disassemble your Chuck can be found in the manual and a current manual is available on the Kwik-Way website as a free download.  

After cleaning, check the runout of your Chuck.  Use a known straight shaft like the pilot for seat grinding and place it in the chuck.  Set a dial indicator about 1 inch from the face of the Chuck and check your runout. Excessive runout at this point would indicate the need to replace the Chuck. 

If your runout is good, then it might be your stone and/or the way you are dressing your stone.  The stone should match the type of metal you are grinding and the machine manual will tell you the proper way to dress the stone for the type of cut you are attempting.

Still having a problem even after doing all the steps above?  Then you should call Irontite Tech Services for more help.  But in most cases, the above guide will solve your poor valve finish issues.