Which cutting oil to use?

[DougsfastZ]

I plan on doing some porting on aluminum and iron with the proper carbide burs and was told to use cutting oil or grease. What do some of you guys here use? I'll be doing this in my garage with a standard die grinder.

Thanks

 

[turbodave231]

You only need the grease with aluminum. Any grease will work to keep the carbide from clogging up...........but you want something that cleans up easy and won't stain everything.

I'd use a small tub of vasoline. Its cheap, easy to find and cleans up nice. When it comes time to do the final polish, I use sandpaper rolls on a 1/4" mandrel with a couple drops of AFT. You end up with a nice clean finish.

 

[DougsfastZ]

I never thought to use vasoline. Vader on here mentioned that cutting grease will have sulfates in it to improve cutting performance.

I wonder if this stuff is any good?

Eastwood Co. - Grinders Grease

 

[turbofabricator]

I use a big cheap-o table candle (wax). (I recently came across some Castrol cutting wax that I use now.) While porting, I periodically dip the cutter onto the candle and hold it there for a second or two and the clogged particles fly right off. Use variable speed to help control clogging, too. When porting iron heads, use the chipped fast-cut (aluminum) burrs to relly remove alot of material. This will cut your porting time in half for the initial rough cut. Using double cut burrs (carbide) will take for ever to get the initial port work done. The deep single cut aluminum burrs really remove material FAST! After you try this, you'll never go back. The burrs are expensive, but well worth it. I keep the chipped/dull aluminum burs just for hogging cast iron.