General Cutting Oil for 1018 Steel

[Mike1974]

Wow! I surprised with the number of responses with varying brands of cutting oil recommended! I hate that stuff!!! I figure if I can machine steel, brass, aluminum, cast iron/steel in a VMC using water soluble coolants* (synthetic or otherwise) why the fu*k would I use oil?

I know swiss style lathes typically use oil, but if it was me I would avoid oil at all costs.

*I do understand oil is a bit easier to apply (especially with tapping/threading) as it doesn't run off as fast (and possibly leave a dry tool).

 

[GWaterman]

A good all-round low odor cutting oil

My machine shop is in my basement so the odor of a cutting oil is important. I think that would also be the case in a school where the students will go to other classes etc. The cutting fluid I use successfully for steel, aluminum, brass, stainless, etc is Re-Li-On available in 16 oz bottles, gallons, etc at suppliers such as MSC. I apply with a squirt bottle for internal bores or for most purposes with a 2 Ounce Fluid Soldering Dispenser with a Stainless Steel fine tube, also available at MSC.

 

[dsh1001]

Somehow I am in charge of a machine shop at a technical high school- I'm a trained machinist, but only have a year of industry experience because some chronic issue developed in my hands, so "how to get a machine shop up and running" is something I'm learning to do as I go. The previous guy left the machine shop a mess. I've gotten the students through measurement, benchwork, tramming mill heads, and using edgefinders, and am about to get them working on actual material, but the previous instructor's exclusive cutting fluid was WD40. The only cleaning agent, the only coolant, the only rust preventative; WD40. Ok, there's some tap magic, but unless I'm mistaken I think that's, ya know, for tapping. Having only used the cutting fluid or coolant that an instructor or manager handed to me saying "this one", the process of researching this and also developing a curriculum and fixing machine tools is tough.

I could really use some advice on a general cutting fluid for use by these high-schoolers (and me) on 1018 steel specifically, but something that works decently on steel, aluminum (mostly 6061), and maybe brass too would be great.

It's just manual bridgeport style mills and a couple of barely-functional manual lathes, we're not gonna be making huge or deep cuts, we don't need a pristine mirror surface finish, a cutting oil that will help with the tool life of HSS tools (a few carbide inserts too) would be great, and that can be applied as-needed by the students with an oil can. I can order and store stuff that comes in 5 or 10 gallon containers, but if it only comes in 55-gallon barrels, well, that'll be tough to get without having actually seeing if it works in the classroom environment. Plus, as a school, there are "Certified Vendors" for the district, so a product that's made and distributed by a single company in Austria or whatever probably didn't put in a bid for a contract with the school district....


I know that's quite a wish list, so I'll sum up with- when money or quantity isn't too much of a concern, what type of cutting fluid do you use on a steel alloy like 1018?

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I went through this several years ago while working at a technical school here in KC. DO NOT use way oil, kerosene, or any mixture that isn't made specifically for cutting oil. You will probably get half a dozen tried and true recipes that "has been used forever" but this is not the right stuff for use in a school. You could be putting the school in a liability situation. For example, way oil and the like will create sulfur dioxide gas when it gets too hot and smokes. (It will happen with students, trust me)

I settled on Blaser coolant. You have spend a little up front to buy an emulsifier device and a refractometer to get it mixed correctly. You can't get away with pouring it in a bottle with the watter and shaking it. There are several reasons the emulsifier is essential, but the immediate problems with improperly emulsified coolant is that it will never cool/lube properly that way and is much more likely to turn rancid.

The good news is that Blaser will send you the coolant free of charge for a school. Just look up the info on the web, call the local rep and they will hook you up.