"Kero-tran" as cutting oil

I don't have exough

worse, than any other

ATF is apparently kerosine with a few additives.

jw

Seems very unlikely. How did you arrive at that conclusion from the MSDS?

I have the same question.

Harold

OK, light oil. There's no sharp dividing line.

jw

don't have exough

than any other

I would suggest that for light alloy and possibly yellow metals, it might work similarly to the commercial stuff. For hard work on carbon and alloy steels, I would suspect that the lack of chlorine or sulphur in the oil would cause it to perform poorly, compared with a conventional neat oil.

It'll wash the chips away as well as anything else though.

YMMV Mark Rand RTFM

ATF seems to be an all-purpose elixer with this group, and it always makes me uncomfortable for a couple of reasons. One is that there is no common characteristic among today's ATFs -- they're very different formulations. The other is that, while the base oil is a fairly innocuous, purified mineral oil (except for the synthetic ATFs), it has more crap in it for specialized purposes than you could shake a dipstick at.

I doubt if anyone using it for cutting oil knows what he's doing, especially because cutting temperatures are 'way above the intended operating temperatures of the stuff. I also suspect that drugstore mineral oil would work as well -- which is to say, not particularly well at all, compared to the formulations made for the purpose.

-- Ed Huntress

That's kind of thin viscosity for cuttting, it won't provide much film thickness. Light oil will vaporize at the cutting point, making for not much lubrication.

Kero has a low flashpoint, so if you generate enough hot blue curly chips, or a spark, you might set your lathe on fire.

It's a 5 weight oil with a heavy detergent and anti-foaming package.

Right - but when something vaporizes it absorbs heat.

So maybe the cutting edge isn't in trouble, just the lathe when the hot chips hit a puddle.

Martin

Mart> That's kind of thin viscosity for cuttting, it won't provide much film

1,1,1-trichloroethane makes ATF look like honey, and there's precious little that has ever equaled it for machining steels.

Harold

Dual Action Plus 1 with trichloroethylene is still available. One small drop on each flute makes a 3/4-10 tap cut steel easily.

jw

Is that what was in the older formulation of "tap magic"? The stuff I get now a days smells different and sure doesn't work as good.

Wes

Jim Wilkins wrote: ...

That would be 1,1,2-trichloroethylene, I imagine. 1,1,1- has been banned since '95 (?). How does 1,1,2- compare to 1,1,1- as a cutting fluid?

Bob

Yes, that's the "magic" component.

I was trained in the shop in the late 50's. They used to dump

1,1,1-trichloroethane in the sumps of the turret lathes by the gallon, along with oil. Imagine that today!

Jim Wilkins mentioned the use of trichloroethylene------which may be in error. That stuff was used in vapor degreasers as I recall-----but then I'm no chemist so I may have it wrong. Jim?

Harold

Yes, that's the "magic" component.

I was trained in the shop in the late 50's. They used to dump

1,1,1-trichloroethane in the sumps of the turret lathes by the gallon, along with oil. Imagine that today!

Jim Wilkins mentioned the use of trichloroethylene------which may be in error. That stuff was used in vapor degreasers as I recall-----but then I'm no chemist so I may have it wrong. Jim?

Harold

Oops - brain fart! He said "trichloroethylene" I read "trichloroethane". Never mind.

Bob

Harold sez:

I was trained in the shop in the late 50's. They used to dump

1,1,1-trichloroethane in the sumps of the turret lathes by the gallon, along with oil. Imagine that today!

Yeah, imagine that - on 1 hand the 1,1,1-trichloroethane will kill me and one the other, kero-tran will set my lathe, and me, on fire. What's mother to do ??

Bob Swinney >G<