What's new
What's new

I tried an old time LARD OIL recipe for cutting steels....

trichloroethane, trichloroethene, trichloroethylene?

anyway, i worder what there is to it, as they are good solvents/degreasers. i assume they were the carrier for another substance that facilitates the cutting. so maybe no mourning over it neccessary?
Trichloroethane. No, not just a solvent. The chlorine apparently acts as a contaminant that prevents sticking of the steel to the tool and makes it much more slippery. I read about some demonstration video Castrol did showing the difference, according to the guy that mentioned seeing the video it was quite eye-opening.

All I know is it works, and WAY better than anything else modern that I've used. I've got one can of 1,1,1 trike-containing cutting oil left, and it's night and day when using it side by side with any other modern stuff, including Moly-D etc. Beautiful thread finish, super easy to turn the tap. The caveat is that it's only useful for steel or tougher alloys etc. It will discolor and possibly damage aluminum. But of course that's mainly where one would want to use it anyway, on tougher stuff.
 
Last edited:
Trichloroethane. No, not just a solvent. The chlorine apparently acts as a contaminant that prevents sticking of the steel to the tool and makes it much more slippery. I read about some demonstration video Castrol did showing the difference, according to the guy that mentioned seeing the video it was quite eye-opening.

All I know is it works, and WAY better than anything else modern that I've used. I've got one can of 1,1,1 trike-containing cutting oil left, and it's night and day when using it side by side with any other modern stuff, including Moly-D etc. Beautiful thread finish, super easy to turn the tap. The caveat is that it's only useful for steel or tougher alloys etc. It will discolor and possibly damage aluminum. But of course that's mainly where one would want to use it anyway, on tougher stuff.
You can still buy trichlor. Has anyone tried to mix into a cutting oil? I use Moly-d myself but remember the old stuff.

Ed.
 
I remember seeing a paper on using coconut oil with a few percent of nano boric acid - (I think for stainless) ..
 
Last edited:
I guess the chlorocarbons work like sulphur in sulphurized cutting oils, and like the EP additives in gear oils: Under the localized heat and pressure at the point of cutting, they minutely corrode the metal surfaces, preventing micro-welding (galling)

Back before petroleum oils were "the thing". animal oils were all we had for machinery lube. Whale oil was about the best, still not bettered AFAIK....there is a product called "Boelube" which I think is a synthesized analogue of whale oil.

But I also read a recipe for processing lard oil for use as gun oil, in which you mixed the oil with lead chips, and let it soak for a long time. I think the idea was mostly to get the lead to remove any corrosives in the oil...but then dissolved lead salts would be in the oil, to donate their corrosive species back as an EP agent, too.

I am old enough that I grew up when animal oils were demonized as unhealthful, and we were told that vegetable oils, including the hydrogenated ones were good for you. So once I thought that I would lubricate and protect my meat-grinder with Crisco for storage.

Part of it polymerized into hard-to-remove gunk, and the rest corroded the plate and knife badly. I do not know waht packing steel parts in lard would do, but I bet if you treated it with lead first it would work well....'though not for a food-handling device.

Maybe Mr Naegele would share the name of his old recipe-book
 
I guess the chlorocarbons work like sulphur in sulphurized cutting oils, and like the EP additives in gear oils: Under the localized heat and pressure at the point of cutting, they minutely corrode the metal surfaces, preventing micro-welding (galling)

Back before petroleum oils were "the thing". animal oils were all we had for machinery lube. Whale oil was about the best, still not bettered AFAIK....there is a product called "Boelube" which I think is a synthesized analogue of whale oil.

But I also read a recipe for processing lard oil for use as gun oil, in which you mixed the oil with lead chips, and let it soak for a long time. I think the idea was mostly to get the lead to remove any corrosives in the oil...but then dissolved lead salts would be in the oil, to donate their corrosive species back as an EP agent, too.

I am old enough that I grew up when animal oils were demonized as unhealthful, and we were told that vegetable oils, including the hydrogenated ones were good for you. So once I thought that I would lubricate and protect my meat-grinder with Crisco for storage.

Part of it polymerized into hard-to-remove gunk, and the rest corroded the plate and knife badly. I do not know waht packing steel parts in lard would do, but I bet if you treated it with lead first it would work well....'though not for a food-handling device.

Maybe Mr Naegele would share the name of his old recipe-book
There is a recipe in Major Ned Roberts book "The Muzzleloading Caplock Rifle" for gun oil made from bear fat. This was considered the best substitute at the time for whale oil.
 
Trichloroethane. No, not just a solvent. The chlorine apparently acts as a contaminant that prevents sticking of the steel to the tool and makes it much more slippery. I read about some demonstration video Castrol did showing the difference, according to the guy that mentioned seeing the video it was quite eye-opening.

All I know is it works, and WAY better than anything else modern that I've used. I've got one can of 1,1,1 trike-containing cutting oil left, and it's night and day when using it side by side with any other modern stuff, including Moly-D etc. Beautiful thread finish, super easy to turn the tap. The caveat is that it's only useful for steel or tougher alloys etc. It will discolor and possibly damage aluminum. But of course that's mainly where one would want to use it anyway, on tougher stuff.
thats interesting. i have triochlorethylene. its used as plasticizer and for dry cleaning as is trichlorethane, so i believe they are similar. chlorinated parafins were used as ep additives for gears and motors, but have been replaced by less damaging stuff half a century ago. in cutting oils they seem to have survived, even mcmaster carries a "chlorinated" cutting fluid.

i didnt realize trichlorethylene could be used also. im tempted to try a mixture, but will check first how corrosive it is when uninhibited (→hcl). i have perchlorethylene too.
 
Last edited:








 
Back
Top