Whats a good cutting oil?

Newmetalmark

Newmetalmark

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Being a noob to machining and metal working in general, I'd like to ask what a good general purpose cutting oil would be. I was given a gallon of oil in an unmarked bottle when I bought my Atlas lathe(I think the p.o. "liberated" it from bulk from his work). It was a little dark and smelled like the oil I've used to thread pipe. There are a lot of choices out there- tapping, cutting, grinding, water soluble, lite, dark, has sulpher& chlorine, doesn't have it, rancidity safe...... And then theres those who say to use bacon grease, lard, kerosene and wax or other home brews.
I want to keep it simple, I use mostly mild steel, aluminum and brass for my projects so I'd like to get something that works for all, doesn't stain and cleans off easy, works right out of the can. Is there such a beast? I've heard that the Mobil products are good, anybody here use them?
 
My favorite is a mix of kerosene and lard, but if you want something out of the bottle dark sulfur cutting oil will do the job. You ought to be able to get it at the hardware store or a plumbing supply place.

Randy
 
Since you already have a good supply of what may be the plumbing version, why not try it and see what kind of finish you get. If it ain't bust, don't fix it.
 
For steel I use Rigid Dark Cutting Oil from Home depot in the plumbing section. Comes in quart size bottles and is pretty cheap. I use WD40 for AL.
 
Hawkeye said:
Since you already have a good supply of what may be the plumbing version, why not try it and see what kind of finish you get. If it ain't bust, don't fix it.
Click to expand...

Uh,well, I sort of knocked it over and spilled most of what was left on the floor, made quite the spot on the floor 'cause I didn't find it for a few days.
 
I use Cool tool on my mill and lathe. Its a water mix used with compressed air. Does a great job cooling and a gal of the concentrate last for a year or more. I mix it up in 1 gal batches and add a bit of bleach to it to keep mold from growing during storage. If you get the air/fluid mix right it keeps everything nice and chilled and evaporates at the point of cutting so there is very little of the fluid left on the machine after. Also since I am in my basement it has almost no smell (just a slight bleach about what you get from laundry) or smoke just a little water vapor steam. I always do a quick wipe down with way oil after to make sure no rust. For taping I use tap magic. For cut off and threading on the lathe I use a heavy sulfur based oil.

Jeff
 
I use either motor oil, 3 in 1 oil or WD40 for most of my work-which is usually not heavy cutting or at high speeds. The WD40 is easier to clean up - the motor oil sticks better. Clearly there are better fluids but these serve my hobby needs sufficiently.
 
Ed
What is dark sulphurized oil recommended for? And who is making this recommendation?

Randy
 
Curious as to what particular oil you have that recommends against ferrous use, Ed. What I generally use as the dark sulfur oil says good for ferrous. I can't remember the brand I have, but it seems like the name starts with an R.

It will stain copper and brass alloys though. I mix a little Tap Magic in when I am cutting a very fine thread, unless I use straight Tap Magic.

Coolant is another story, but I keep a anti-spill Dykem container with an acid brush in it full of oil on the lathes.
 
Relton it is. My mind kept going to Rigid, since they build threaders, but I know that wasn't what I'd bought.
 
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