Maching Aluminum

[Heckle and Jeckle]

WD 40 did that........ never seen that before, think there is more to that story. I use WD to protect and clean many different things.

 

[mikey]

Well, I asked the guy what he used on the lathe - just about every machined surface looked like this - and he proudly stated that he used only WD-40. The guy was honest and above board in our dealings so I have no reason to doubt him. WD-40 has its uses but this is not one of them.

 

[ELHEAD]

WD 40 did that........ never seen that before, think there is more to that story. I use WD to protect and clean many different things.

I too have used WD-40 on lots of steel / iron surfaces left in unheated areas and never experienced gumming. Looks a lot like what I have seen from vegetable based oils. Sprayed Pam on some CI cookware left in an unheated shed, similar gum formed on them. Since then only use lard or tallow. Just my $0.02 for what it's worth.

 

[Subwayrocket]

WD-40 will indeed leave a hard, molasses-like layer on parts if left to dry and accumulate.
the ways are pristine underneath that layer of guck.
I found that Acetone gets it right off.

OMG ! You used Acetone ! That is such Nasty stuff , you're never supposed to use that around machines ! It's vapors will melt paint , vaporize metal , kill you instantly ! Oh , and it will explode even with ventilation fans on. You should only ever use kerosene .
....well , at least that is what I was schooled on here ...lol

 

[tq60]

We used some simple green in a spray bottle as it was handy...

Was doing light facing cuts and it helped quite a bit and helped clean the machine a bit...that is why it was handy...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337Z using Tapatalk

 

[john grinder]

John,

I moved your thread under the other Questions & Answers Forum. Ken

thank you. john. i thank every one for there comments .

 

[ddickey]

OMG ! You used Acetone ! That is such Nasty stuff , you're never supposed to use that around machines ! It's vapors will melt paint , vaporize metal , kill you instantly ! Oh , and it will explode even with ventilation fans on. You should only ever use kerosene .
....well , at least that is what I was schooled on here ...lol

When I was in high school I worked in the paint room of a furniture factory. Acetone and Naptha were the big ones. Bare hands dipped in a bucket of acetone with a rag will dissolve laquer no prob. LOL. No ventilation in the pump room when we changed out 55 gallon drums.

 

[TomS]

I use Rustlick 5050 flood coolant in my cnc mill mixed at 30:1 and Mobilmet 766 for drilling, tapping and finish cuts on the lathe.

Tom S.

 

[rallycat]

I've used straight isopropyl alcohol, not rubbing alcohol. The company I worked for did a lot of composite work and we bought it by the gallon. I mostly used it for cleaning, but occasionally I had to do something like cut an array of .063" slots .020"deep. I would flood it with isopropyl and cut away. Tool load was minimal and there is no lubrication from the alcohol, it does keep the tool cool, and flooding washed the chips away.
Generally on aluminum I used generic cutting oil or kerosene, sometimes wd40 since it is mostly kerosene.

 

[Jmanb13]

WD-40 will indeed leave a hard, molasses-like layer on parts if left to dry and accumulate. Here is a shot of my Emco lathe when I got it. Hard to believe this lathe had only 100 hours on it and the ways are pristine underneath that layer of guck. The PO just shot it down with WD-40 after using it and left it to accumulate - I have to wonder if he had a brain in his head. After a lot of trial and error, I found that Acetone gets it right off.

View attachment 141749

WD-40 is fine for cutting but do clean your lathe after you're done. A-9 works the best for me when a fine finish is needed or when tapping or thread cutting.

I've been working for weeks on cleaning up my old lathe I acquired. The entire thing looks like that from top to bottom on every surface, except you can't even see the metal underneath it, just the gunk.