# whats a good cutting oil for steel....



## rambin (Jan 31, 2018)

I know ive heard wd40 Is great on aluminum but what is good for steel and readily available?  preferably something that doesn't smoke the shop up as I like a clean shop! I only have a 10" lathe so I don't need a 50 gallon drum.. im hoping theres something I can get from the local hardware store?  whats everyone using?


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## Doubleeboy (Jan 31, 2018)

Threading oil from hardware store, should have sulfur in it.  Home Depot stuff works fine if you have one nearby.  Mobil makes a good sulfur cutting oil also, available in gallon jugs.


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## brino (Jan 31, 2018)

Check the black-pipe isle at your local hardware store.

I use this:
http://homehardware.ca/en/rec/index.../Ne-67n/Ntk-All_EN/R-I1142043?Ntt=cutting+oil

It's used for threading the black pipe.
I get a little smoke on "hot" cuts, but not a lot.

-brino


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## EmilioG (Jan 31, 2018)

Relton and Mobil 1 and AnchorLube.


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## rambin (Jan 31, 2018)

I use anchorlube on my drill press I like it as its a bit thicker then most cutting oils and doesn't fly all over the place...  never thought of it on the lathe.... interesting..


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## ddickey (Jan 31, 2018)

Soluble oil in a spray bottle. Although you probably will not find that locally.


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## Cooter Brown (Jan 31, 2018)

I have been using Mobil 766 for a few years now. You can get from McMaster Carr $15 a gallon. I love AnchorLube for hole saws.


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## Z2V (Jan 31, 2018)

Crisco was mentioned in another thread recently, LOL , the shop smelling like catfish and fries.
I have a jar of Boelube that seems to work well.


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## middle.road (Jan 31, 2018)

Metal working and a clean shop?.... oh-oh.


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## Ulma Doctor (Feb 1, 2018)

Hi rambin,
since i have tried anchorlube, i haven't used anything else on steel or stainless.

i make my on mix of bacon grease and mineral oil, but have not had to in awhile- used for drilling, tapping, turning and milling various ferrous and non ferrous metals.
i have mixed bacon grease and a bit of kerosene with a dash of mineral oil for work in aluminum to good result


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## mikey (Feb 1, 2018)

Anchorlube works for most materials, including steels and especially stainless. Also works well on aluminum, although WD-40 works as well and is cheaper. The good thing about Anchorlube is that it doesn't smoke and there are no carcinogens in the air like you have with most cutting fluids. I have not threaded with Anchorlube yet but I will the next chance I get. I don't think Anchorlube has any high pressure additives so it might not work well for threading but we'll see. Sorry to ramble but since you already have Anchorlube in the shop, I would suggest you try it. Works good for me.


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## ddickey (Feb 1, 2018)

You can also mix anchorlube with water and spray it on your work piece.


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## brino (Feb 1, 2018)

A few thoughts on why I don't use some of the suggested oils.

1) I already get enough pests in my shop (flies in the summer/fall, mice in the winter) that I will *never *use bacon fat or crisco as that seems like an invitation for more problems. I'd think bacon fat especially would attract mice, rats, cats, dogs, skunks, bears, etc. (had a bear in the compost a couple years ago)

2) I have read about problems with soluble oils causing staining when it sits in dovetail slides etc. My machines are all old and used, so that's not such a big deal. But the show-stopper with soluble oil for me was a test I ran........it freezes even at the least diluted recommendation. While I *try *to keep the shop above freezing, we had a prolonged -30 deg. C. (-22 deg. F.) already this winter.....and Feb. is usually the coldest month. Also, if the power goes out for any length of time I'll have enough to worry about in the house (pipes freezing), I don't need the additional problems of machine reservoirs and sumps cracking. (my marvel power hacksaw had a cracked reservoir when I got it)

I have considered diluting the soluble oil with automotive antifreeze, but have not tried it yet. People usually warn about health issues with that stuff.

It sounds like I should find some Anchorlube.

-brino


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## ericc (Feb 1, 2018)

This is kind of off topic, but it is interesting.  We had some mice at work.  An exterminator came in and put out a whole bunch of glue traps.  They caught a couple of mice and then no more.  We got the "clever" idea to bait the traps with peanut butter.  WOW! The mice just came out of the walls.  They would barely wait until we finished baiting the traps, and then they just popped out and went for the peanut butter.  This went on for a couple of days, then no mice.  The exterminator came in somewhat later and called us all together and gave us a stern lecture.  Rancid fats repel mice.  Just leave the traps alone and don't bait them, and you'll catch more mice in the long run.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.  I swapped my cutting oil out for rancid lard.  It smells horrible, and you don't want to get any on your clothes.  Mouse problem in garage went away.  Hmmmmmmmmm.  That pest control guy might be right.


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## MikeInOr (Feb 1, 2018)

ericc said:


> This is kind of off topic, but it is interesting.  We had some mice at work.  An exterminator came in and put out a whole bunch of glue traps.  They caught a couple of mice and then no more.  We got the "clever" idea to bait the traps with peanut butter.  WOW! The mice just came out of the walls.



Mental note: Don't use peanut butter as cutting lube!


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## brino (Feb 1, 2018)

....or at least use smooth not chunky!


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## RandyM (Feb 1, 2018)

I too use thread cutting oil. Seems to work extremely well. Yeah, you can get it hot and smoke.


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## westsailpat (Feb 1, 2018)

Dark sulfur oil gives me a head ache and I do not at all like the smell , but that is me . Here is my favorite .   https://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tn...MI3t7W7JeF2QIVE2t-Ch0gPgDxEAQYASABEgIT-PD_BwE


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## woodchucker (Feb 1, 2018)

Cooter Brown said:


> I have been using Mobil 766 for a few years now. You can get from McMaster Carr $15 a gallon. I love AnchorLube for hole saws.


I started using the Mobil 766 after Ken (4gsr) recommended it. It is thinner than the pipe cutting oil sold under oakley or rigid, but it does smoke less. But it flings a little easier. It still smokes, but not nearly as much.


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## royesses (Feb 1, 2018)

I use Oatey dark thread cutting oil available almost anywhere. I get it at Lowe's. Makes my little 7x16 cut like a little bit bigger boy.

Roy


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## ch2co (Feb 1, 2018)

Seriously folks, just try Canola oil. Yes it is a cooking oil, but it has a VERY high smoke point. No smoke, no smell, just smooth
cutting.I admit I just have a small shop
and don't do a lot of steel, but when I first tried mining steel parts, I tried every oil product that I could find and canola won out
every time. Try it, its very cheap like around $5 per gallon and you can get it in small quantities. I get mine upstairs in the kitchen, 
and the wife is none the wiser.

CHuck the grumpy old guy


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## SSage (Feb 1, 2018)

I use the "dark" thread cutting oil from Home Depot, both of the Lowes stores near me do not carry any cutting oil for some reason. Its $5 a bottle at Home Depot. If you have a plumbing supply near you, Rigid cutting oil is cheaper by the gallon than the Oatey stuff in the smaller bottles.

I use Canola oil for quenching O1, I keep a couple gallons on hand since I heat treat steel often. But, its not a cutting oil at all. It smells like I'm frying french fries when my tempering oven is going though.


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## benmychree (Feb 1, 2018)

I use TapMagic for everything in my shop,  Dark cutting oil will stain your paint work, guaranteed. I am going to use cutting oil in my power hacksaw, as soluble coolants degrade all too easily and cause rusting problems; A 50-50 mixture of cutting oil and kerosene will keep the work much cooler than straight cutting oil; this recommended by Marvel for their hacksaws.


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## coherent (Feb 1, 2018)

Z2V said:


> I have a jar of Boelube that seems to work well.



I have a couple sticks/tubes of Boelube, I like it. Otherwise the water soluable oil works great and is cheap.


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## benmychree (Feb 1, 2018)

coherent said:


> I have a couple sticks/tubes of Boelube, I like it. Otherwise the water soluable oil works great and is cheap.


After the government required the removal of nitrites or other preservatives from soluable coolants they tended to go rancid; I think bugs ate up the rust preventing ingredient; for instance on my hacksaw, the coolant rusts the chips into a solid mass, you need a hammer and chisel to remove it.


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## Bob Korves (Feb 2, 2018)

I have recently discovered using Kool Mist 77 diluted 32:1 on my surface grinder and using a mister to apply it.  I will use about a pint of the mix or less in 4 or more hours of grinding.  The coolant stays in the grinder table wells and is pretty easy to clean up.  No rust, no grit in the air, and the work comes out much better than grinding dry.  It is actually meant for machining on lathes and mills and other cutting tools, but works great on the grinder.  It is clear blue in color, nice smelling, no odor in use, and there are no warnings on the label.  The label says:  No mist fog fumes.  100% synthetic and biodegradable.  Also says:
Safe for your PEOPLE
Safe for your ENVIRONMENT
Safe for your MACHINES
Safe for your MATERIALS
I certainly agree so far.
Using about 1/2 ounce or less per session, the 128 ounce (1 gallon) jug will last a looong time in my home shop.

The mister unit I got off AliExpress for $13.45 delivered to my door is cheap and works very well.


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## SSage (Feb 2, 2018)

Bob Korves said:


> I have recently discovered using Kool Mist 77 diluted 32:1 on my surface grinder and using a mister to apply it. I will use about a pint of the mix or less in 4 or more hours of grinding. The coolant stays in the grinder table wells and is pretty easy to clean up. No rust, no grit in the air, and the work comes out much better than grinding dry. It is actually meant for machining on lathes and mills and other cutting tools, but works great on the grinder. It is clear blue in color, nice smelling, no odor in use, and there are no warnings on the label. The label says: No mist fog fumes. 100% synthetic and biodegradable. Also says:
> Safe for your PEOPLE
> Safe for your ENVIRONMENT
> Safe for your MACHINES
> ...


Me too, I put a cheap mister on my lathe and I really like it. I've only tried the kool mist 77 and I like it okay. I've used kool mist in my band saw as flood coolant for a while, no rust. I bought another mister for my bench mill, can't beat them for the money.

I like this one: 
	

		
			
		

		
	




I just picked this up too:


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## Bob Korves (Feb 2, 2018)

That looks like the same mister I have.  I may buy another or two for use on my other machines.  Cheap enough.  Might add a mag base to one of them.


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## bluechips (Feb 2, 2018)

Sulphur based cutting oils for myself.   If your boss can see smoke he knows the machine is working...


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## pstemari (Feb 2, 2018)

I picked up a gallon of Mobilmet 426 from Zoro for general use neat and I'm pretty happy with it. I also got a gallon of Trim Microsol 685 semi-synthetic soluble oil, but I haven't mixed any up yet.

Heavy jobs get Oatley dark threading oil. Tap Magic, Relton A9, or Castrol MolyDee for tapping, depending on the material. I save the MolyDee for tapping stainless.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk


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## kvt (Feb 2, 2018)

Have some Oatley, smoke gets me, wife purchased me a large qty of Anchorlube,   Have some Tap Magic for tapping etc  Have used the Anchorlube on the lathe a lot,  but for internal threading and boring I use the Oatley but may try some of these others with less smoke,  and see if I can tolerate them with having to open the doors to breath.


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## Grumpy Gator (Feb 2, 2018)

_ File this one under "Poor Folks do it the Poor Way"
1 Quart ATF {The old stuff} to 1 gallon of Kerosene or diesel fuel. Apply with an acid brush as needed.
For Al just use WD-40.
My pre-1930 Sydney Lathe cuts slow, so smoke is not an issue.Low speed on my machine is 13 RPM. She works on torque not speed.I can face off a large flywheel and do something else for 20 minutes and still have time to waste.
My teacher {Uncle} taught me that accurate beats speed every time. So don't be in such a hurry.
Old school is still cool.
**G**_


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## Bob Korves (Feb 2, 2018)

Note that you can dilute Anchorlube to as thin as you want it.  Squirt a little in a small cup or similar, dilute to desired consistency, and then go with it.  It works well.  Of, course, one of the best things about Anchorlube is how thick it is.  Anyway, you have the choice.

Another thing I have found is that Anchorlube is a super lubricant for power driving wood screws in tight holes.


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## MattM (Feb 2, 2018)

Started with WD-40 on aluminum then on the advice of an old retired machinist went to kerosene ( much cheaper) then went to rubbing alcohol on the advice of another old retired machinist.  Best solution of all; no smell and clean and cheapest of all.  Try it you'll like it.

On steel I like Viper's Venom.  Smokes and smells and cuts great.  This is a hobby machine shop but it should  have the smoke and smell of the real thing.


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## kvt (Feb 3, 2018)

Another thing about the Anchorlube is that if it starts to dry out just add a little water to it, and good as new   have a brush and a dish that just add a little water work it around brings the old stuff back up then add a little more as needed.   I just keep a little in the dish at a time,   that way I am not leaving a bunch out to dry.


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