Homemade cutting oil???

[doc1955]

Tin I have seen many machinist using carbide in the past wonder why their tool didn't hold up only to see then get the tool hot then squirt coolant on it and poof now it's not cutting clean anymore. I personally use air jet on carbide unless I can keep it flooded. As far as a mess with flood yes if you don't use multiple shields it can be a mess. I put an external coolant tank on my N/C machine to keep the way lube contamination to a minimum. I would not be without flood coolant on my N/C but the conventional machines I use squirt bottles on the HS tools and air on my carbide tools.

 

[wackyvorlon]

To my recollection, carbide is happiest when the chips come off blue.

 

[Holt]

Spit is the best tapping fluid you can get when you are tapping steel, especially if you don't have to tap hundreds of holes, for many years I worked as a machine builder at the LEGO factory, and every time I should make some treads in the "field" I used spit because it was ready available, and I didn't have to bring different bottles with me. try it - it's free


Holt

 

[gerritv]

A good alternative is a peristaltic pump. Search eBay, they are generally below $12 with free shipping. A variable power supply controls the flow rate.

gerrit

I've used stick wax designed for band saws when tapping, and it works especially well to get chips out of a blind hole, as the chips pack into the tap flutes. But it can be a bit of a pain to clean the tap afterwards! Waxes do work well, though.

A lot of guys have lusted after the Trico "Micro-drop" system as an alternative to flood. For those who don't know the unit, the Trico system pretty much drips lube, kind of a sputter. Uses shop air. I bit the bullet and bought one, and honestly, it wasn't worth the money, because it can be replaced easily with a homemade device.

Here's what you do - get on eBay and find an old mechanical "syringe pump." These are precision devices used to meter drugs to IV patients, and can be set up with variable flow rates. They use stepper motors to sloooowly drive the syringe piston. Load a 35cc syringe with cutting oil, route the output to the work, and turn on the syringe pump. Works great, does everything the Trico does except no cooling air flow.

Syringe pumps. I have the first one...