Grinding valve stem to increase lash?

[MrTube]

I'm making an assumption here so please don't kill me if I'm a little off.

I need to grind a few thousandths off of a valve stem on a small 8HP engine (Techumseh HMSK80) and I'm assuming it's similar to what gets done to an "A" in stock configuration.


If this is done on the "A" what is the common procedure to shorten a valve stem? I recall someone clamping a valve in a drill press with some modified blocks of wood and carefully grinding some off of the end of the stem. I've heard some guys just hit it with a file but that sounds a little too barbaric for my taste.