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Machining Paste ???

CalgaryPT

CalgaryPT

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You smart machinist guys here will know the answer to this...

I do more fabrication than machining. I have traditionally used water base coolant for my lathe and Rapid Tap for thread cutting. But recently in a lot of YouTube vids I see more experienced guys using a paste on the cutting stock or tool. It looks a lot like grease, and is typically applied by the machinist using a small brush. Looks a lot less messy than my old school coolants and Rapid Tap.

What is it? What are they using and where can I get some? Of course now that I need to I can't find a video to illustrate it, but I'll keep looking.
 
I've used it for about a decade, but I have a love/hate relationship with it. It is called Anchor Lube. It works well for tapping in steel, which is where I still use it on occasion.

http://anchorlube.com/
 
I'm thinking you're referring to "Anchor Lube" -- kind of a pasty green colour and typically daubed on. It's readily soluble in water so can be thinned, and is supposedly the cat's you know what for stainless.

I've not used it as I prefer oil based stuff, but lots of guys rave about it. Supposedly few or no fumes otherwise associated with cutting and tapping fluids.

I think if you email them they will send a free sample bottle.

-frank

Edit- simultaneous post with Dabbler, sorry for the duplication
 
francist said:
I'm thinking you're referring to "Anchor Lube" -- kind of a pasty green colour and typically daubed on. It's readily soluble in water so can be thinned, and is supposedly the cat's you know what for stainless.

I've not used it as I prefer oil based stuff, but lots of guys rave about it. Supposedly few or no fumes otherwise associated with cutting and tapping fluids.

I think if you email them they will send a free sample bottle.

-frank

Edit- simultaneous post with Dabbler, sorry for the duplication
Click to expand...
Sadly, they only ship within the US
 
There's 2 products available at KBC of potential interest
https://www.kbctools.ca/CatSearch/881/cutting-fluids

Wax stick: more to ease blade sticking but guys use if for other things

Cutting creme: I just started trying this, particularly on aluminum. The viscosity is like grease, so it stays put rather than drip run away. Not a lot of time on it yet but it seems comparable to general purpose cutting fluids. I only did a bit on steel (tapping) seemed OK. Specific to aluminum though, there is something about the way aluminum specific cutting fluids really repel swarf from sticking to the tool. One thing I think I noticed (don't hold me to it) it seems like the creme likes to linger on the part/threads/whatever. That could be an issue if you need squeaky clean for Loktite or something. Sometimes its just a matter of finding the right solvent. I typically use a low odour paint thinner for most things & methanol for other things. It just seemed to me there was residual cream but I'll try again. Unfortunately I think this is the smallest size.
 

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Anchor lube: I got several samples at some trade show in Calgary once, and they lasted me a couple of years. I think the Canadian distributor will send free samples., I had their contact stuff once, but that was a while back. @CalgaryPT - I'll give you some next time we are together.
 
Dabbler said:
Anchor lube: I got several samples at some trade show in Calgary once, and they lasted me a couple of years. I think the Canadian distributor will send free samples., I had their contact stuff once, but that was a while back. @CalgaryPT - I'll give you some next time we are together.
Click to expand...
:) Thanks John. I appreciate that. I'm in no rush. I just wanted to try it.
 
I heard some guys use butter—seriously. That's crazy. And no doubt irritating to the Butter Lobby.
 
I make up my own tapping fluids. made from sulfated oil, WD40 and varsol, in Various combinations. It doesn't seem to matter much, but my fave is equal parts of each.
 
Ha ha. J
Dabbler said:
I make up my own tapping fluids. made from sulfated oil, WD40 and varsol, in Various combinations. It doesn't seem to matter much, but my fave is equal parts of each.
Click to expand...
Ha ha. John, I'd be disappointed if you didn't! Good for you sir.
 
I've heard of all kinds of Gramma's recipies - lard, olive oil, tallow, 1-part lantern oil + 1-part whale rendering..... Maybe they work, it kind of makes sense that they could. But personally I do not keep any food smelling stuff in the shop. I already have an annual $ relationship with a mouse exterminator in our home that sets out poison bait traps. Once the buggers get in they make a filthy mess & can do real damage chewing & nesting. They are biologically wired to a) reproduce b) impart the GPS coordinates onto their young. Its very difficult to buy the good poison anymore (the stuff that dehydrates them from the inside and doesn't leave odor).

I occasionally mix small quantities of cutting oils just out of curiosity. I keep them within the Tapmatic line of which I have two: an aluminum specific & general purpose for steel, both oil based, not water based. I think WD-40 works just as well on aluminum personally. I don't mind WD-40 for tapping aluminum, it works well. But when it gets hot & vaporizes under machining I can eventually feel my face flush up a bit standing over it for a while. I might be approaching my cumulative tissue limits from years of hobby stuff: paints, epoxy, glues, thinners... you name it. I'm sure none of it is great for our health, but old machinists tend to die of 'other' things first, generally unrelated.
 
For aluminum I've experimented with 'just varsol' and 'water'... I have it from a 50 year grinder hand the best coolant/lube for grinding aluminum is plain water - but the clean up has to be immediate or the machine rusts - fast!

so my aluminum tapping fluid is wd-40 cut with about 1/3 varsol, and it seems to work better than the tapping fluids in a can (for me anyway).

-- I like anchor lube for soft steel and bronze. For brass and copper, I find that no lube is good lube. Again your mileage may vary.

@PeterT -- I'm getting old, stupid and more careful. When I machine with these things I make sure there is enough ventilation that I can't smell it, which keeps my exposure pretty low. I spent way too much time in front of an open vat of acetone in a small room to want any more chem exposure...
 
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