[freeidaho]

Howdy,
I have been searching the rest of the CNCZone and other forums, for coolant suggestions and ran on to many posts recommending ATF as a cutting fluid for aluminum and steel.

Now I like that idea, since I still have an allergic reaction to using water as a cutting fluid. I have thought about kerosene but am not crazy about using a substance designed to burn, as a coolant. I'm sure an insurance agent would have a field day with that one, even if it had nothing to do with a claim.

I have also thought about just loading up water based coolant with anti-corrosion additives too. I expect there is a bit in the water based coolants, but hearing stories of rust under vises, etc, makes me think there isn't enough.

I live in a rural area, so farming fluids are available relatively cheap by the 5 gallon bucket. Lots of ATF is available. It shouldn't evaporate, and has a low enough viscosity it should pump well with the normal 1/2hp sump pump I'm thinking about.

What say yee, would automatic transmission fluid be a good alternative?

Thank you for sharing your experience.

kr

[WOTDesigns]

I'm one of the sick-of-rust guys. I've only used Kool Mist and Tormach fluid as flood and got so sick of both I spent $600 on the big dual head fog buster. Just ran 4200 parts with it cutting over an inch deep slots with 0.250 em. Anyone says it's not good for slotting or drilling needs to work on their programming. Those parts had 8,600 holes drilled 1" deep with letter F parabolic machine drill and almost 13,000 holes drilled with #9 parabolic machine drill same depths. No problems.

Now I'm slotting 2100 parts 0.5 deep with 3 Flute 0.125" 15,000rpm at 28ipm, at 0.050 - 0.075 doc and did have to switch back to coolant. I'm currently using up the Tormach stuff then going to try another coolant.

I strongly recommend the fogbuster unless you do a lot of super small cutter work with HS Spindle.

Brian
WOT Designs

[mike sr1]

I would think it would be OK, not as viscous as some of the other oils, and would not rust or stain the table or vise, the sump would stay clean, I may try that as well or a mixture.

I used Ridgid cutting oil on my lather for years cut with stoddard solvent (kerosene), worked vey well on 304 ss.

Water based coolants work fine, its the sump and bottom of the vise after its been mounted for awhile that turns me off on it.

A friend of mine called some of the larger shops, Missouri Tool was one that grinds cutters and makes special tools and they use "parts washer solvent" in their grinding operations.

edit: A thread on cutting aluminum

Best cutting fluid for bandsaw, Aluminum?

[mike sr1]

I'm one of the sick-of-rust guys. I've only used Kool Mist and Tormach fluid as flood and got so sick of both I spent $600 on the big dual head fog buster. Just ran 4200 parts with it cutting over an inch deep slots with 0.250 em. Anyone says it's not good for slotting or drilling needs to work on their programming. Those parts had 8,600 holes drilled 1" deep with letter F parabolic machine drill and almost 13,000 holes drilled with #9 parabolic machine drill same depths. No problems.

Now I'm slotting 2100 parts 0.5 deep with 3 Flute 0.125" 15,000rpm at 28ipm, at 0.050 - 0.075 doc and did have to switch back to coolant. I'm currently using up the Tormach stuff then going to try another coolant.

I strongly recommend the fogbuster unless you do a lot of super small cutter work with HS Spindle.

Brian
WOT Designs

This may be worth a try as well, I wonder if tranny fluid comes in thinner weights as in motor oils??

[underthetire]

The detergent in ATF might be a little tough on paint, but I'm sure it would make a good cutting fluid. Might also look at using DTE 24 if your in a rural area, pretty standard hydraulic/lubricating oil without the red dye.

Sent from my G-Tab Quantum using Tapatalk

[RussMachine]

I'm kinda puzzled as to why people look for alternatives to the old reliable water-soluble oil mix.
Sure, it gets stinky in the summer, but it's easy to change out stagnant for fresh.
Today's coolant has rust-inhibitors in it.
The proper 10-20% mix works great on any metal.
It's not flammable, and is easy on pumps.
I think using Tranny Fluid for coolant would be a huge mess.
You would need to wipe down all parts, and your machine, and tooling.
Chips would be full of oil.
I think clean-up would be a nightmare.
Looking for a 'new' type of coolant is like trying to re-invent the wheel in my opinion.
Stick with what works.
Coolant

[LSM]

some small lathes use straight cutting oil, but the idea is it's for lubrication not so much cooling.
The down side is it can make quite a cloud of oil vapor.
proper concentrations is important with water based coolants.
as is using something like lps3 or a liberal application of way oil to the under side of your vise and the table top.

Chips will hold a fair amount of coolant or oil, coolant concentrate runs about the same price for a 5gal bucket as oil.
Frequency of use is an other consideration flood is a bit of a pain for infrequent use, cutting dry with air to blow the chips out is also an option,
the best choice on some materials.
non detergent motor oil or hydraulic oil would be better then atf don't need or want all the extra additives.

[popspipes]

I have been using #2 diesel for coolant the last few months and like it in the fact that I dont get rust or staining even under the vise etc.
Deep drilling and tapping work really well with it also, and the machined finishes are better as well.
It does dry up over a few days and doesnt leave things looking oily.
It doesnt lose much to evaporation either.
I use the ulsd type, as it doesnt stink as bad.

For intermittent use it works well for me, I just have a thing about water of any kind on a machined surface.........

[MichaelHenry]

I'm kinda puzzled as to why people look for alternatives to the old reliable water-soluble oil mix.

Me too, but in this case the OP seems to have an allergy to water-based coolants. I use Hangsterfer S-500 for both flood and the Fog Buster with no major probems. I do get some dermatitis at times but haven't pinned that down to the coolant yet.

[keen]

Howdy,
I have been searching the rest of the CNCZone and other forums, for coolant suggestions and ran on to many posts recommending ATF as a cutting fluid for aluminum and steel.

Now I like that idea, since I still have an allergic reaction to using water as a cutting fluid. I have thought about kerosene but am not crazy about using a substance designed to burn, as a coolant. I'm sure an insurance agent would have a field day with that one, even if it had nothing to do with a claim.

I have also thought about just loading up water based coolant with anti-corrosion additives too. I expect there is a bit in the water based coolants, but hearing stories of rust under vises, etc, makes me think there isn't enough.

I live in a rural area, so farming fluids are available relatively cheap by the 5 gallon bucket. Lots of ATF is available. It shouldn't evaporate, and has a low enough viscosity it should pump well with the normal 1/2hp sump pump I'm thinking about.

What say yee, would automatic transmission fluid be a good alternative?

Thank you for sharing your experience.

kr

Hi - you can buy different forms of deodorised kero that is not flammable - it has the high aromatics removed. It is used as dilectric fluid in EDM machines and is kind on the skin. it is a sort of thin transformer oil - I use Fuchs and you can drop a match in it and it wont catch. - high flash point. I have only used it as a EDM fluid, but I imagine it would be good for machining Aluminium. I machine a lot of steel on my Tormach, so use cheap soluble oil.

keen

[R.DesJardin]

I've used 3 different water based coolants in the last 6 yrs in my PCNC1100 and have never had an issue with rust in or on anything. I think some owners confuse fretting with rust under the vises. I surely don't worry about my table being "stained" by my coolant. It's kind of like the Ford, Dodge, Chevy battle everyone has an opinion and choice they prefer.

[cordvision]

I grease up the bottom of the vice with high viscosity automotive grease before mounting it and never had a problem with rust under the vice, even if it sits on the table for months.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[aarggh]

I grease up the bottom of the vice with high viscosity automotive grease before mounting it and never had a problem with rust under the vice, even if it sits on the table for months.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You've just made me think I better check my vise!

cheers, Ian

[LeeWay]

Petroleum jelly works great under vises and fixtures as well.

[JohnToner]

I got fed up with the rust on table and under vice, so I switched to Mobil 766. Been using it for over a year and no regrets. I did have to replace the Tormach coolant pump b/c it couldn't handle the oil's viscosity. A cheap sump pump from H.D. and 1" I.D. tubing delivers the oil to a block with four outlets of which I'm using three coupled to LocLines. Works great! No rust or corrosion and evaporation isn't a significant issue. I am using flooding which really clears away any chips.

[LeeWay]

Guys, I beg you for your own good, not to use any flammable products for coolant.

[JohnToner]

Dang! What were you using?

[LeeWay]

My shop would not have been in the picture if the coolant was flammable. It was highly watered down koolmist in the tank and did not catch fire.
The entire control panel in the machine melted.

[JohnToner]

Lee, that's got me worried. Even though I worked for many years in a shop that used oil without any problems, it could be we just got lucky.

[Steve Seebold]

Petroleum based coolants work OK if you don't mind some smoke. The more coolant you put on it and the faster you go, the more smoke you're gonna get.