Thread: Neat cutting oils

Hi Bryan,
Those threads seem to pretty much cover it from every angle.
I think for the home shop price and mess goes against neat. Having said that I haven't priced neat in the quantity needed, I'd think you need to start with 20l min, you're going to loose plenty in swarf, in fact I've seen swarf spinners for recovering some of it.

I haven't had problems with soluble oil, but I've used it mostly on bandsaws and surface grinders. Of course some people will have problems and I'd say a lathe with throw is around a lot more. I bought an air pump for my bandsaw but haven't used it much(I keep unplugging it lol), I'm yet to have problems.

I've looked at misters a few times but haven't done anything yet.

You use mostly carbide don't you?

One of these days "coolant system" will make it to the top of the to do list. Maybe I'll just watch and see how you get on

Stuart

Originally Posted by Steamwhisperer

It was
Morris Lubricants have been making it since 1869.
The oil I use now isn't like the old Trusol etc. It doesn't go rotten and smell or stain the ways. As a coolant and lubricant it does a pretty good job.

Phil, I can't tell if you're serious about the whale oil. I'm guessing not.
Can you tell us the name of the product you're using now?

Originally Posted by Stustoys

You use mostly carbide don't you?

One of these days "coolant system" will make it to the top of the to do list. Maybe I'll just watch and see how you get on

No, mostly HSS. And I wouldn't be holding my breath if I were you.

Originally Posted by Bryan

No, mostly HSS. And I wouldn't be holding my breath if I were you.

With carbide I wouldn't have worried so much about cooling.
Its said you can get a better finish with coolant on HSS but I've never done something side by side to test that. With expensive/hard to sharpen tooling (reamers, end mills etc) I'm much more worried about using coolant just to hopefully extend tool life. With ground lathe tools I'm not so worried. Sure you'll have to go a little slower sure they wont last as long, but I find the time spent turning V setup and measuring isn't very much anyway(threads are a little different but I don't cut all that many). Production would of course be different. If you find yourself knocking out 50 of something it would be painful having to touch the tip up and reset every 5 units.
Having said that I don't have proper coolant on my mill yet. If I am doing a lot of heavy milling I use the coolant system on the hacksaw, just put the table return lines onto the bed of the hacksaw.

Stuart

I think soluble coolant and cutting oils are basically intended for quite different tasks. The main task of soluble oils (given that they're mainly water) is to remove heat, hence why they're used in operations where heat is going to be the main problem and in CNC operations for example typically flooded in copious quantities. On the other hand cutting oils are mainly lubricants designed not to break down at very high temperatures, oil is a good insulator and I'd suggest wouldn't serve terribly well in removing heat, but may do a good job in preventing it occurring in the first place. So I guess the bottom line is to consider which of the two is most important. Personally I only normally only use cutting oil when parting and threading, clearly lubricating is more important than cooling in this instance, and I understand why it's used in threading machines. On the other hand I tried experimenting with oils on my little surface grinder and they didn't make one iota of difference, heat was my enemy here and coolant was what was needed. It's not that there's no crossover between the two, just a question of which is most important.

My mill is designed to run some form of coolant/cutting oil, as is my new lathe and I will run both on cutting oil. The grinder on the other hand is what most needs coolant, and for that I'll look into the merits of a mist style system. Unfortunately all my machines are small "hobby" size machines and there's little point in trying to polish turds too much, but the value of cutting oil on the lathe when parting/threading is paramount in my mind, hence why I will be getting that system working asap.

Pete

PS Stuart, since the swarf drops into the chip tray I'm expecting the oil on it to drain off. I don't expect to lose much when I clean it up. It's not like a big CNC lathe spewing swarf by the tonne, but will let you know how it turns out.

Originally Posted by Pete F

<snip>
On the other hand I tried experimenting with oils on my little surface grinder and they didn't make one iota of difference, heat was my enemy here and coolant was what was needed. It's not that there's no crossover between the two, just a question of which is most important.
<snip>

Hi Pete,

I'd keep oil well away from your grinding wheel, you run the risk of contaminating the wheel.
I've settled on a clear grinding coolant Fuch's ECO-COOL 610, you only add it at 1.25% to water, and as you've noted already, for grinding what you want is a coolant not a lubricant.

For cutting lubricant, I've been trialling Lanox on the mill and lathe, so far, it looks good, but I'm just using squeeze bottles, not a flood system, for a flood system, the cost of the oil would be a big factor.

Regards
Ray

I notice that they ( Super crap auto ) sell a citrus flavoured hand cleaner in 3 litre containers . It contains lanolin and JOJOBA oil ...wonder it that would be usefull as a cutting lube ? I am tempted to give it a try . SEPTONE is one brand . MIKE

Citrus = acid. I would not have anywhere near machinery.

Originally Posted by Bryan

Phil, I can't tell if you're serious about the whale oil. I'm guessing not.
Can you tell us the name of the product you're using now?

Hi Bryan,
Funnily enough I was serious about the whale oil. Mixed with other stuff it was used on bearings and in steam cylinders as well.
This is what I use

Ray, yes my thoughts exactly regarding contaminating things, so I just tried some on the work itself (pretty much feeling it would do bugger all), just out of curiosity with the thought that I'd just dress the wheel afterwards and get rid of any contamination. It should come as no surprise that it really did nothing of any real value, but I'm not afraid of trying different things ... as long as the consequences are likely to be too catastrophic! I will get some spray bottles and some of the suggested coolants and simply spray them on the jobs as required. Not ideal but better than nothing.

Mike, why not use cutting lube for cutting lube? Were you also just going to try hand cleaner for an experiment similar to what I tried above? If i was going out to buy something specifically for the purpose personally I'd just buy the real deal. Whether you decided to go for cutting oil or a soluble type coolant, I don't think it's THAT expensive for the quantities we're using and should last a long time. Especially with soluble coolants, as by the time they're diluted with water, a container would last a heck of a long time if you were just spraying it on.

Pete

Mike's into weird science. His aim is to discover a cure for cancer using common household items.