Flood Coolant

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ddickey

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I bought some concentrated synthetic cutting fluid (Benchmark Sawlution II) that I was going to use on the lathe. I then heard that synthetic fluid is the worst for corrosion control.
On the fence now if I'm going to use it. Maybe just stick with a mister.
I wouldn't need it often but thought it would be nice to use instead of the mister.
Opinions?
 
I like flood coolant, but it does have a downside; it seems to be degraded by (bacteria)?, Then it causes rusting, it seems that a film of oil settles on it, allowing the dreaded infection to set in; way back in the day, the scare of nitrosamines (nitrite amine formulated coolants caused the makers of coolants to reformulate them, instability being the result, it's been downhill ever since. I still use these coolants, but it's a pain to deal with. I remember that coolant skimmers and aereators were a partial cure.
 
I gave synthetic coolant a try once. Water was mixed something like 10:1 if memory serves me well.
My chip pan was already wet with way oil and cutting oil. The coolant quickly got contaminated and made a mess. It makes sense to use coolant in a production shop where cutting rates and tool life are important but in a my hobby shop I will stick with cutting oil and avoid the mess.
 
I've had a little experience with the water soluble coolant/cutting fluid use in a non-production environment and found it to be more trouble than it was worth. It would grow some sort of slime in the coolant sump in a relatively short time and it also left a sticky residue on the machinery if not cleaned after each use. For my home shop I use Mobil 766 cutting oil as a flood coolant. I know it doesn't remove heat nearly as well as the coolants do, but it is satisfactory for my use. There are no issues with it going bad and it certainly keeps everything rust free.

Ted
 
talvare said:
I've had a little experience with the water soluble coolant/cutting fluid use in a non-production environment and found it to be more trouble than it was worth. It would grow some sort of slime in the coolant sump in a relatively short time and it also left a sticky residue on the machinery if not cleaned after each use. For my home shop I use Mobil 766 cutting oil as a flood coolant. I know it doesn't remove heat nearly as well as the coolants do, but it is satisfactory for my use. There are no issues with it going bad and it certainly keeps everything rust free.

Ted
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Is there any fume/smoke issues with the Mobil 766?
 
ddickey said:
Is there any fume/smoke issues with the Mobil 766?
Click to expand...

Nothing significant. If I'm trying to remove metal quickly enough to generate a lot of smoking blue chips it will smoke a little but I've not had it be a problem and I'm generally not in a real hurry to get something done. I'm retired and this is a hobby for me :)

Ted
 
Blue chip formation happens at 280-300C, and the flash point of Mobil 766 is 205C, so you'll get some smoke. Straw colored chips would not generate much smoke with this oil, though.
 
Was reading another forum and they were suggesting Mobil 404 I think it was. Have to do some reading.
 
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Boswell said:
here is a link to the MSDS for Mobil 766 https://www.msds.exxonmobil.com/SearchResults.aspx or if that does not work try www.msds.exxonmobil.com
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Yep, low risk. It's got BHT (the food preservative that saw a lot of use in the 1990's) in it as the antioxidant, and the oil itself is heavy straight chain, which our bodies tolerate. What isn't on the SDS is the sulfur compound, so that must be less than 1%, but it's also undeclared so I can't speak on the exposure risk. I am assuming Mobil wants to sell this cutting oil, so they probably left the nasty stuff out. I'm going to buy a 5-gallon bucket for my mill.
 
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