Thin piston rings

[Terry Bentley]

Over the years I have made standard cast iron piston rings when not readily available. Even some dykes rings out of chromoloy and stainless. But have wondered how the 0.024 thin rings were made. I may be wrong, but didnt think these would have been machined and parted off from round stock. Does someone know how they are actually manufactured? They use to be very common and available in many sizes before everything was farmed out to China. I used to have catalogs from commercial manufacturers of rings and cast iron liners in all sizes that could be used for just about any application. Now they are rare as hens teeth. Labor rates have become so ridiculous nothing gets repaired anymore, just thrown away and replaced. But with that mindset, makes for some good deals on some equipment. I used to resleeve older cylinders and even machine my own liners for Komets and other foreign motors. I still have a lot of blanks left. What I thought would be great is replacement pistons that used a single 1mm TIN coated ring like has been used on KT100 engines for the last 15 years. But anyone really know how the 0.024 chrome edge rings are made? I am thinking the Slinky comes to mind here.

[Rob Voska]

I saw them make stainless rings.... somewhere.... a long time ago. Wrapped them on a lathe like a huge slinky. Heat treated them & cut them off on a surface grinder with a cutoff wheel. It was a lot simplier than I thought. Might even be in an old book or on teh web somewhere. But I have never seen chrome rings made.

[stan wauthier]

Call or email Dave at Otto Gas Engine Works. He has many stock rings and can make just about anything. I've purchased rings from him and thoroughly enjoyed talking to him, a wealth of knowledge.
http://www.ringspacers.com/