Degree wheel timing pointer

[S&S_Work_Saws]

So I figured I'll post this and maybe it'll help someone down the road. If you've ever ported or timed any saws then you had to go through the process of finding a piece of wire and bending it up just right and then find a bolt to secure it under and just pray you don't bump the wire at some point. I ended up with about 20 little pieces of wire in a box and got tired of the time spent messing with it.

So my saw vice I fabricated out of some kind of massive valve out of a bulldozer or locomotive or something huge. I cut a piece of an old Stihl bar off and it's worked very well for hundreds of saws now. It swivels side to side and rotates all the way around. Without the clutch side cover I always just put a couple big washers there to make up for the missing thickness of the side cover to tighten the saws in the vice.

Not long ago I had this bright idea and it has already saved me a ALOT of time setting up timing. I took another old bar and just cut the mounting area off of it. Brazed a piece of pointer wire into that piece of bar and now when I need to setup for port timing I just bolt this new piece on and I'm ready. No more screwing around with pieces of wire laying all over my work bench or looking for a bolt to hold it down.

 

[Ketchup]

The digital timing wheels are worth the money if you’re doing a lot of saws.

 

[Mastermind]

I keep notes. I know how far each port is from the squish band. What the width is. I only use a degree wheel when new models come along.

 

[S&S_Work_Saws]

I keep notes. I know how far each port is from the squish band. What the width is. I only use a degree wheel when new models come along.

I'm still building a stack of notes on moving a degree here or a degree there seeing if I can get anymore juice somewhere. Also it seems like unless your only doing brand new saws, every cylinder has the potential to be a little bit different.
I looked into the digital angle gauge but just moving the saw a little bit on the stand side to side makes the entire saw change angle a little bit.
For now just going to stick with the O.G. method.

 

[Powerstroke Cowboy]

I'm still building a stack of notes on moving a degree here or a degree there seeing if I can get anymore juice somewhere. Also it seems like unless your only doing brand new saws, every cylinder has the potential to be a little bit different.
I looked into the digital angle gauge but just moving the saw a little bit on the stand side to side makes the entire saw change angle a little bit.
For now just going to stick with the O.G. method.

Old verses new makes no difference if you always cut the base and squish band to achieve the same squish dimension. At that point you can always set your exhaust, transfers and intake at the same dimension off the squish band to set the same timing every time regardless.

Slick setup you have there! I like it.

 

[S&S_Work_Saws]

Old verses new makes no difference if you always cut the base and squish band to achieve the same squish dimension. At that point you can always set your exhaust, transfers and intake at the same dimension off the squish band to set the same timing every time regardless.

Slick setup you have there! I like it.

How does this work with older cylinders with different style or shaped combustion chambers or with aftermarket cylinders or pistons? Still the same across the board per model?

 

[Mastermind]

How does this work with older cylinders with different style or shaped combustion chambers or with aftermarket cylinders or pistons? Still the same across the board per model?

Just keep detailed notes to the thousandths of what you cut from sq, base, etc.

 

[Mastermind]

An example...

Dolmar 9010 Solo 694

Cut .040” from squish band, and .025” from the base without a base gasket.

Exhaust: 98° = 1.095” Width = 1.245”
Transfers: 120° = 1.350”
Intake: 77° Cut piston skirt 1.685” from crown. Width = 1.245”

 

[Stump Shot]

Make your "pointer" fit to the rear bar stud, it will be nearly identical for every saw and if it's off, it won't be by much. Thus, you will only have and need the one pointer.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

How does this work with older cylinders with different style or shaped combustion chambers or with aftermarket cylinders or pistons? Still the same across the board per model?

May need two sets of numbers for say a Stihl d chamber vs hemi or maybe they both run well at the same numbers just not 100% max potential which most users couldn’t tell anyway a second or two is a sharp to dullish chain. Far as aftermarket stuff most guys won’t use it unless it maybe a meteor piston anyway an I’m sure the pin to dome hight has to be pretty close to oem on those.

 

[Powerstroke Cowboy]

How does this work with older cylinders with different style or shaped combustion chambers or with aftermarket cylinders or pistons? Still the same across the board per model?

Everything Randy said.

The cylinder makes no difference if you have the squish set the same every time. If your squish is the same, your ports will always be the same dimension from the squish band for a given saw and cylinder type for that saw.

An AM piston will not make a difference as long as it meets factory specs. Even if the piston has a different compression height the exhaust and transfer timing will still be the same dimension from the squish band as long as the squish is set the same. Obviously the skirt length will affect the intake timing.