What should a guy use to thin it out a little. Have been using it in my coolant system but it's so thick I can't have the light on the lathe when the pump is running or it trips the breaker on the lathe panel. I have only threaded and chambered a couple barrels on the lathe and this oil seems to work good. Thought about a little kerosene but just figured I'd check before I waste $70 worth of oil.
Rigid Dark Cutting oil
- Thread starter SkytopBrewster
- Start date
For a "flood" style continuous flow coolant I would suggest that you are simply using the wrong stuff. Instead you want to go with a water soluble oil. The stuff that looks like skim milk when correctly mixed. Or there are now alternative water mixable cutting fluids that are totally clear. Either works well as a coolant and cutting lubricant.
Where the dark Rigid or similar style oil comes in handy is from a hand pump oil can for doing high pressure cuts such as the die threading operations on pipe and rigid conduit. I just can't see shooting it out of a pump system in a flood style manner other than perhaps in a specialty machine that performs broad high friction cuts such as a gear shaper or similar. And if you were into that you'd set the pump and deliver tubes up for the proper speed and size to move the oil without too much back pressure.
Since kerosene IS a combustable fuel oil I'd also be reluctant to use it for thinning the cutting oil. Although it seems unlikely there would be the risk that something in the metal could possibly cause a spark. Or if the cut is heavy enough or the cutter edge crumbles and creates a lot of friction and heat it might just possibly get hot enough to ignite the kerosene used to thin the oil.
Then there is the smell. That dark oil is nasty enough with the sulphides in it that gives the high pressure lubricity. We don't need to compound it with kerosene odors! ! ! !
Now it MIGHT just be possible that the Rigid oil is water mixable. It's been way too many years since I used the Rigid brand oil at work. Take a spoonful and put it into something and add about 8 times as much water. Shake or stir well. If it comes out milky and doesn't separate overnight then you can drain the oil and mix up 8:1 mixture cutting fluid and extend your $70 out to darn near the rest of your life. When it gets a little "rich" just add a little water to replace the water lost due to evaporation.
If it turns out that it's not water soluble then sigh, drain the thick stuff out and put it back in the bottle. Clean your system out in prep for the right stuff. Then and go buy some proper water soluble stuff and mix as directed on the container.
OK, for barrel bore cutting I can see where you want the rich and good stuff. If you find that you don't get as nice a cut with the thinner water soluble fluid then consider putting together a secondary outboard oil system to run with the Rigid stuff. Set up the pump and delivery lines so that the pump doesn't load down as much. If you're using a gun drill that has an oil delivery hole up the shank to the tip then the hole is VERY small and you need to use a proper low volume with high pressure pump and lines rather than the usual flood style system that is set up for high volume and low pressure and to work with thin products.
I suspect that you might just find that the gun drill does work well with a water based cutting fluid. After all the idea for a nice cut is not only to lubricate the cutting edge to avoid chip buildup. It's also to flush away the swarf and cool the drill and the metal. And a higher volume of thin water based fluid might just do that better than a thick and slow flow.
Where the dark Rigid or similar style oil comes in handy is from a hand pump oil can for doing high pressure cuts such as the die threading operations on pipe and rigid conduit. I just can't see shooting it out of a pump system in a flood style manner other than perhaps in a specialty machine that performs broad high friction cuts such as a gear shaper or similar. And if you were into that you'd set the pump and deliver tubes up for the proper speed and size to move the oil without too much back pressure.
Since kerosene IS a combustable fuel oil I'd also be reluctant to use it for thinning the cutting oil. Although it seems unlikely there would be the risk that something in the metal could possibly cause a spark. Or if the cut is heavy enough or the cutter edge crumbles and creates a lot of friction and heat it might just possibly get hot enough to ignite the kerosene used to thin the oil.
Then there is the smell. That dark oil is nasty enough with the sulphides in it that gives the high pressure lubricity. We don't need to compound it with kerosene odors! ! ! !
Now it MIGHT just be possible that the Rigid oil is water mixable. It's been way too many years since I used the Rigid brand oil at work. Take a spoonful and put it into something and add about 8 times as much water. Shake or stir well. If it comes out milky and doesn't separate overnight then you can drain the oil and mix up 8:1 mixture cutting fluid and extend your $70 out to darn near the rest of your life. When it gets a little "rich" just add a little water to replace the water lost due to evaporation.
If it turns out that it's not water soluble then sigh, drain the thick stuff out and put it back in the bottle. Clean your system out in prep for the right stuff. Then and go buy some proper water soluble stuff and mix as directed on the container.
OK, for barrel bore cutting I can see where you want the rich and good stuff. If you find that you don't get as nice a cut with the thinner water soluble fluid then consider putting together a secondary outboard oil system to run with the Rigid stuff. Set up the pump and delivery lines so that the pump doesn't load down as much. If you're using a gun drill that has an oil delivery hole up the shank to the tip then the hole is VERY small and you need to use a proper low volume with high pressure pump and lines rather than the usual flood style system that is set up for high volume and low pressure and to work with thin products.
I suspect that you might just find that the gun drill does work well with a water based cutting fluid. After all the idea for a nice cut is not only to lubricate the cutting edge to avoid chip buildup. It's also to flush away the swarf and cool the drill and the metal. And a higher volume of thin water based fluid might just do that better than a thick and slow flow.
Yup, have 220, thx. You mean the label for the oil? It is thread cutting oil. Maybe the pump is just too small,I have seen guys pumping moly dee through their coolant system. There is a very respected 35 year gunsmith in Edmonton that swears by the Rigid stuff, this is why I tried it.
Thread cutting oil is just that. not meant for coolant flood system. Water soluble stuff does the trick on the lathe or mill. Using the thick oil with a brush for an applicator will also do a good job, just have to apply as neccessary. It doesn't spray all over either so has a positive side for sure.
