Hydraulic Oil For Lubricating And/or Cutting?

[great white]

I work in the aerospace industry and have access to large quantities of h515/5606 hydraulic oil like so:

http://www.exxonmobil.com/USA-English/Aviation/PDS/GLXXENAVIEMMobil_Aero_HF.aspx.

We rotate it out of stock for disposal based on shelf life, even though its still good. Getting a couple liters for my own use is not a problem, just means we don't have to pay for disposal.

I was wondering if this would make a good headstock and apron lubricant? Its an atlas th42 with roller bearing headstock.

Or, perhaps it would make good cutting lubricant?

I can literally get so much of it I can use it as a flood coolant.....we often dispose of a couple hundred liters at a time.

 

[f350ca]

It might be good for the headstock and apron. My Summit and a lot of others call for hydraulic oil, Shell Telus 32 is what mine calls for. I get confused with viscosities, is an API viscosity the same as an ISO. A call to a mobil dealer would clear it up. Or it would make great winter hydraulic fluid, we would switch over to Aero Shell in the winter, was easier to get the systems up and going at -40.

Greg

 

[Mark in Indiana]

I have several quarts of hydraulic jack oil that I will never need for its intended use. It gets used for cutting oil on my mill with no problem. All that's needed is something to reduce friction in the cutter and to remove heat.
As far as the apron, it should be OK. I would be concerned about using it in the headstock because of the vesosity and the oil shear resistance that your lathe would call for. Also, I maybe over thinking this.

 

[RJSakowski]

It would most likely be a good quench for hardening steel.

 

[savarin]

I tried using hydraulic oil as a cutting fluid a while ago. It did a good job of stripping the paint off my splash guard.
It even softened the paint on the cross slide.

 

[Hawkeye]

I use hydraulic oil to lubricate all of my machines. No detergent to hold onto water. Works fine for me. I haven't tried it for cutting oil. I've never had any trouble with the paint.

 

[hman]

@savarin - To quote a French saying (with which you might be familiar, being a chef), "c'est la sauce, qui fait la chose." It can be applied to cutting fluids/lubricants as well as to culinary liquids.

PS - I use way oil on the moving parts of my machine tools, kerosene/lard mix or WD-40 as cutting oil for aluminum, and Ridgid clear threading oil for steels.

PPS - Taig recommends using ATF to lubricate the ways and leadscrews of their mini-mils.

 

[ericc]

I'm in a similar situation. I use it for spindle lube, general chain lube, and of course hydraulic uses. I don't like to cut with it since it smells funny when it burns. It is safer, however, to splash around when cutting since there is not so much of the oily rag hazard as happens with natural non-petroleum oils like old fryer oil or bacon grease.

 

[Dabbler]

I was wondering if this would make a good headstock and apron lubricant?

It is a perfect nondetergent lubricant for everything except your veeways. it is even fine on your flatways.

Or, perhaps it would make good cutting lubricant?

Not so much by itself. It would work, and for free, well you could do it. even in my shop I use perhaps 2 gal of cutting lube a year at most, so it is cheap to get sulfated oil and mix it with varsol and hydraulic oil to make very good cutting that smells less bad, but cuts great. my usual mix down is even thirds, so I can use it in a trigger sprayer. If you brush it on, you can go half/half hydraulic and cutting oil.

 

[aliva]

Were I used to work we had an oxygen plant on site to produce pure O2 for the furnaces. The O2 plant superintendent found a case of LPS cutting fluid in a locker, 16oz squeeze bottles. He told me to get it off the property ( O2 and oil don't play well together). I asked what I should do with it, he said take it home if you want, so he gave me a pass out to go thru security. That was 7 years ago I still have 8 out 12 bottles.