Fluting Lube/Coolant

Earl

Active User
Registered
Joined
Dec 13, 2011
Messages
329
For those of you that flute barrels, what kind of Lube or Coolant do you use? I run my 3 inch 3/16 HSS cutter around 300 rpm at about 1.5 inches per minute. I start by plunging to full depth - about .095, turn on the power feed and walk away. This is what works for me and I am not interested in changing it. I have been using Rustlick PB-10 and there is only about a cup full left in the 5 gallon bucket that a friend gave me about 15 years ago. I dilute it about 5 to 1 with distilled water. That PB-10 is so old that I can't even find any info on it. It must have been banned by the EPA. It works well but it is about gone. What do you use?
thanks
 
Hey Earl,
Mike Bryant has a post on br central about his setup for milling flutes. You might check it out.

Joe
 
Hey Earl,
Mike Bryant has a post on br central about his setup for milling flutes. You might check it out.

Joe
I know Mike and have seen his article sometime in the past. I am happy with my setup. I am out of soluble oil (coolant) and I am wondering about coolant vs cutting oil. Chuck Miller uses Cutting Oil cut with ATF. What I like about coolant is that when it gets slopped on the floor, you just hit it with a hose and it is gone. When you get it all over the mill, you just wipe it up with a paper towel, the water evaporates and leaves a nice film of oil. I am not opposed to the mess of cutting oil if it works better than what I am using.
Earl
 
I used to use the Rustlick products, but then the formulation was changed to eliminate nitrosamines, the new formulation had major problems with degradation and consequent rusting. I think that when a film of oil covers the coolant in the sump, some kind of bug eats all the rust preventing ingredient. In my power hacksaw, I went to a mixture of cutting oil and kerosene, 50/50, that works well in that application.
 
Back
Top