Cutting Oil

I use water soluble stuff at home in a spray bottle for machining. Tapping fluid for drilling and tapping, usually. Little Machine Shop has their cutting oil on sale in an 8 oz bottle for about $5. I run my saw dry mostly. At work it is coolant in everything.
 
I accidently acquired a gallon of ReLiOn I forgot to remove from my basket at Grizzly.
Have to say I'm happy with it, and use it for steel. I'm sure there is better stuff, but it works. Seems to work better the more difficult the material is as well.
I got a gallon of WD-40 and a spray bottle and use it on aluminum. This seems to be what most people use.
I also got a bottle of Tap Magic a while ago. I really love this stuff.

Do not confuse coolant and oil. They do very different things. Things will be cooler with coolant, so you can cut deeper and spend less time letting things cool down. Coolant lets you push limits farther than normal, and helps with cutting really hard materials. Lots of hobbyists do run coolant, if you have it might as well benefit from it. On the other hand, lots of pros don't use it. Oil is what give you the better finish, it aids chip removal. If the chips can't get away from the tool/work efficiently, they will ruin the finish.
 
+1 on Mobilmet 766. Been using it for years with good results. And the price is right. I don't use cutting fluids or coolant in my band saws. Makes a mess I don't want to clean up. When I'm cutting large dimension material I will touch the blade with a stick of parafin wax I've had around the shop for years.

Tom S.
 
I like Viper's Venom cutting oil. LMS or Grizzly carry it, I expect many others do also. I keep it in a spillmaster container with an acid brush to apply. On a chamber reamer I am more generous.
 
I just use the dark cutting oil found at the Home Depot. Usually found in the plumbing area. Comes in a white plastic bottle. Think its also on Amazon (I'm sure other places carry it as well).
 
Wd40 for me with aluminum
Rigid Nu Clear or Dark cutting oil in my bandsaw and on steel in the lathe
 
After switching to Moblimelt 766 a couple years ago, I won't go back to using the dark stuff, Oakley, from Home Depot. Not even for cutting pipe threads with a Ridged pipe threader. You can't beat Mobilmelt 766! Great stuff! I also like Tap free for tapping holes. The new Tap Magic is not as good as the old stuff, BTW- still have a couple of cans of the old stuff hid out, if the contents has not vaporized out!, Tap Free has Tap Magic beat, hands down!
 
abrace said:
Thanks everyone.

Seems that no one is using any oil with their bandsaw and they cut dry. As I said in the OP, I currently use 3:1 oil (couple of drops). Is there a reason others don't do this? My saw seems to cut good dry, I just figured a little oil might help keep the heat down and help it cut a little better, extending the life of the blade.

Thoughts?

Thanks everyone, you think I have questions now, wait until I actually get the lathe fired up....
Click to expand...
3 in 1 oil is lubricating oil, not cutting oil.
 
Bob Korves said:
3 in 1 oil is lubricating oil, not cutting oil.
Click to expand...

Hence my question on cutting oil to begin with. I know it isn't the right stuff, but it actually hasn't worked terribly.

Started brushing mobilmet onto my bandsaw materials yesterday. Seems to be working so far. Got one of those nice spill proof containers. Never seen one of those before, pretty slick.
 
I have been using Mobilmet 766 for cutting steel on my bandsaw. It cuts better with the oil. Quite a few other people say the oil makes a mess of the saw. I have not seen that yet, but I am not a heavy saw user. We'll see...

Some people like to use stick lubricant on their band saws, and some people also add brushes on the lower end to wipe the chips off the blade. Some prefer cutting dry. Those are probably good ideas as well. There is a Yahoo group https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/4x6bandsaw/info that is very active and has loads of information on using, caring for, and modifying those saws.
 
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