Mobil Vactra 20 Way Oil .. stinks :(

Bar and chain oil and straight 30 weight oil until you get the consistency you think is best.
Add your favorite cologne and away you go!
One of the machines had a different smell about it....it was in a room full of six k&t 180 horizontal machining centers run by six women I thought it was a womans fragrance applied a little heavy that morning but knew better than to notice.
I started checking coolant tanks but found nothing amiss.
Found out the one woman had been spiking her way lube tank! Some cologne I guess. She didn't like the "gear lube" smell of the way oil.
 
I don't notice a smell on the Vactra #2... and I have a big honker.. I do notice the sulphur smell from my tap magic..
 
woodchucker said:
I don't notice a smell on the Vactra #2... and I have a big honker.. I do notice the sulphur smell from my tap magic..
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I think you may have it right!
No doubt sulphur has an undeniable positive property in extreme pressure oils, but any oil with sulphur content is, I think, likely to come with a characteristic smell.

Here we can separately address whether the "machine shop aromatic ambiance" is down to direct smell of way oil, or whether it contends with additional contribution from coolant tanks. Aside from the excellent effect of having women making modifications as mentioned by @sdelivery, soluble coolants of all kinds seem to be prone to supporting bacterial soups that can have the shop approximating an LA sewer!

Surely by now, we will have found a substance that is harmless to humans, yet totally toxic to bacteria. I nominate ozone. Once it encounters water, and kills the bugs, all it releases is oxygen. Add some lady perfume, and we are there.
It occurs to be that it is the dead microbes that might be what stinks :(

[Yes - I do expect @pontiac428 will let us know what a bad idea this might be! :) ]
 
I really enjoy the subject of odor thresholds and chemical warning properties, but it is considered soft science in my field. Our olfactory senses are similar to a mass spectrometer in some ways, and reads to chemical functional groups like IR spec. They are also highly subjective...

The more heteroatom substitution the chemical has (where carbon is replaced with nitrogen, sulfur, or oxygen in the structure) the more sensitive we are to it. Heteroatom substitution is the hallmark of biological processes, so it makes sense from an organismal perspective.

To us, the strongest smelling things have nitrogen or sulfur. One thing that releases heavily nitrogen substituted compounds in a gas or vapor form is the process of death and decomposition. Then there's the smell that made the fan as important as the toilet. It's a survival thing, our instincts tell us the rest of what we need to know when we react to those smells.

Because of how we learn, how we sense, and how we are wired, I'm not certain if the smell of way oil (I don't mind) to me is any different than a sewer line rupture to someone else.
 
I personally enjoy the smell of way oil. I especially like the smell of cutting oil. As my father is a retired machinist, he always came home smelling of cutting oil. So that smell triggers very fond memories of my dad and youth.

Liver and onions on the other hand fills me with dread and fear. Having to sit at the table until I ate every last piece of liver. Loved the onions. That meal could take an hour or two.


Cutting oil is my blood.
 
pontiac428 said:
I really enjoy the subject of odor thresholds and chemical warning properties, but it is considered soft science in my field. Our olfactory senses are similar to a mass spectrometer in some ways, and reads to chemical functional groups like IR spec. They are also highly subjective...

The more heteroatom substitution the chemical has (where carbon is replaced with nitrogen, sulfur, or oxygen in the structure) the more sensitive we are to it. Heteroatom substitution is the hallmark of biological processes, so it makes sense from an organismal perspective.

To us, the strongest smelling things have nitrogen or sulfur. One thing that releases heavily nitrogen substituted compounds in a gas or vapor form is the process of death and decomposition. Then there's the smell that made the fan as important as the toilet. It's a survival thing, our instincts tell us the rest of what we need to know when we react to those smells.

Because of how we learn, how we sense, and how we are wired, I'm not certain if the smell of way oil (I don't mind) to me is any different than a sewer line rupture to someone else.
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What?
lol sorry couldn't resist
 
twhite said:
You win best post of the day. That made me cry laughing. I will be giggling all day on that.


Cutting oil is my blood.
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However funny to some, I completely understand the point by @pontiac428 . Smell and taste are completely connected. Taste alone can just about distinguish salty or acidic astringency from sweet. There is some range in "metallic" taste, and nitrites also can be tasted, even if only arrived by sniffing. To be able to taste in full range, it requires the addition of olfactory sense.

Moreover, this is closely linked to survival. I don't know how it works, and I know dogs have a whole world of it, but concentrations down to a few tens of molecules is enough to alert you. Our whole evolution has made it that when we put something in the mouth, and it tastes bitter, or bad, it is also toxic to us!

Rotten eggs? That is hydrogen sulphide, and it is deadly! So are drains. So also is Castrol Hypoid EP90, and Vactra #2. Consider tomatoes. That plant evolved so it's berries could be eaten as the way of distributing the seeds. Not so the rest of the plant. Rub the leaf and take a sniff. You will know immediately that it is nightshade poison!

Pretty much all the fluids and metals we use in the shop are extremely toxic. Exceptions might be gold and platinum.
 
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