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WD40 for cutting aluminum ?
- Thread starter compact8
- Start date
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- Nov 25, 2015
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- 8,319
I'm sure it could be, but I would not want to be breathing it after heated. The process of making it is very combustible, and noxious. They heat it (boil it) to make it.
Alcohol can ignite too. Alcohol lamps etc. You would have to research the flash point.
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2016
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- 3,007
As already mentioned you can buy liquid WD40, not just spray cans. In addition to use as a cutting fluid I've also found WD40 does a good job cleaning up dirty greasy crud, and is safe for most paint and metal surfaces. It also works well for getting rid of light surface rust.
It it along with Simple Green and Dawn dish soap mixed with water are my go to for cleaning up a new (to me) machine.
It it along with Simple Green and Dawn dish soap mixed with water are my go to for cleaning up a new (to me) machine.
That is because, depending on what tool you're using, and which aluminum you're cutting, kerosene might be the ideal cutting fluid. From that you can extend that WD40 is built from several distillates that combined, are very much "kerosene like". And it's got some extras. Typically it works very well. With less sharp tools (many insert tools) it may no longer be ideal. In that case, some of the common "non-WD40" and "non kerosene" recommendations may (at least in theory) be more ideal. All in all though, it's kind of splitting hairs. ANY lubrication on ANY aluminum is going to be better than no lubrication.
What lubricants feel like is 100 percent irrelevant. My first issue with that is that the "slippery" built in to an oil is not how it works. It's a long, drawn out thing, but what you feel in your fingers is not relevant to how a lubricant works under pressure. My second issue with that is that ANYTHING that contains solvents or is a solvent it's self, or even solves some things a little bit even though it's not technically a solvent... You can't tell how much "slippery" you're feeling in your fingers, because 99 percent of what you're feeling is the lipids in your skin being dissolved. Which means that a LOT of things all feel kind of the same.
WD40 in cans is your friend for this. (real WD40, not one the multitude of other products that use WD-40 as a brand name vs a product name). You can drip it on out of an oil can, an oil pump can, a brush, etc. Whatever is appropriate. The spraybomb cans intentionally aerosolize the product, meaning that... Well... For conversational purposes- The lighter stuff stays in the air and gets everywhere much easier than they consolidate on the part. And the heavier parts get on the part easier, fall to the floor, and actually stay on the part. So the product stinks, and you're left with the incessant smell and the leftover direct over spray and atomized remnants that settle everywhere in the room. (Or the house if you're sharing airflow.....) The cans and a dropper bottle work best for me. A pump sprayer (Windex bottle or proper spray bottle of that type) work well as well. They spray without propellant, and don't atomize even a fraction of what an aerosol can will. Or probably a brush, but I use a dropper bottle for WD40. Unless it's winter and I have K1 (1K?) Kerosene around for the space heater. I don't use died or unknown kerosene. for cutting. You can smell a big difference in the fumes if it gets too hot. Is either one "safe" to breathe? Absolutely not. But by it's ratings I can only assume that one is a lot closer than the other....
The truth is, in the end, aluminum is not THAT fussy. almost any light petrolium oil is gonna do just fine for you.
For a time, WD40 was my go to aluminum cutting fluid, but got tired of the smoke and fumes. At HSS cutting speeds, maybe it's not so bad, but I find when using carbide, at the speeds intended for it, it generates enough heat to smoke pretty bad. These days, I simply use a strong air blast to prevent recutting chips, and/or some cool mist. I do want to try isopropyl alcohol some time. May work well, and I think the "fire danger" is a non issue.
From a guy who has managed to set his makeshift chip tray on fire, with a half horse lathe at a relatively moderate speed, that shouldn't have been able to do that..... Well, thank goodness for the makeshift cookie tray chip pan I keep under there. That was sulfurized cutting oil built up in there that lit up. I got lucky. Had that lit up on the bench....... I don't wanna think about it.
Fire danger is never a "non-issue". But while the alcohol is "probably" a lot easier to set on fire.... It won't burn as hot or with the same intensity. I wouldn't be scared of it, and in fact I have a small can of it just to see what it's about, although I've not come across a job that I think is appropriate just yet. I'm not worried about another fire, but I really hesitate to say that fire is a "non-issue". Maybe it'll never happen to a lot of us, even most of us, but I think it's ill advised to have that thought ever completely leave your mind. It can happen. Even just having a plan thought out, and a fire extinguisher someplace nearby. One real bonus to the alcohol- It really won't build up much in the chip tray. Unlike oils, it pretty much goes away in a reasonably short time. Provided you've got a little fresh air coming in the room, that's another bonus.
The fire danger I referred to needs to be kept in context, as it was aimed specifically at using IPA. Obviously fire is nothing to fool with. A certain degree of common sense, and good judgement need to applied in such things. If/when I decide to give IPA a try, it will be for aluminum only, so there will be no sparks. And in general it would be with small parts only, and applied from a squeeze bottle for a finish pass, drilling a hole, etc... Not going to be flooding with it, or via mist/fog. If nothing else, it's too expensive to dispense in bulk. For that, it'll be Kool Mist. After use, just wait for it to evaporate, before chunking up a piece of titanium!
From a cheap and lazy person...
We have some old radio racks that we make stuff from, gummy sticky stuff.
Whatever is handy works.
Atf, motor oil, whatever is in the nearest oil can.
Dawn works very well too.
You get a bonus in that it is very easy to clean up.
Just need to oil things when finished.
Bottom line, aluminum is not picky, anything slippery will assist with preventing the tool from loading up.
Pay attention to feed and speed.
Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk
We have some old radio racks that we make stuff from, gummy sticky stuff.
Whatever is handy works.
Atf, motor oil, whatever is in the nearest oil can.
Dawn works very well too.
You get a bonus in that it is very easy to clean up.
Just need to oil things when finished.
Bottom line, aluminum is not picky, anything slippery will assist with preventing the tool from loading up.
Pay attention to feed and speed.
Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2014
- Messages
- 1,975
Years ago, my son was working on his old car in the garage and it caught fire. He went through all the fire extinguishers on the place to keep it cool enough until the fire department got there. One less extinguisher and the place would have burnt to the ground. The car was a total loss.
Anyway we now have half dozen large commercial quality extinguishers and annual maintenance contract on them. they were just here last week.
Not many agree with me, but this cost is nothing compared to a fire.
Anyway we now have half dozen large commercial quality extinguishers and annual maintenance contract on them. they were just here last week.
Not many agree with me, but this cost is nothing compared to a fire.