Cutting Oil Fumes

I have no idea where the insert come from (other than it was in with the lathe stuff) and the bright steel is an off cut from a local fabricator. (I only do free stuff)

I will get the speed, cut depth etc (inc some pics of the carbide bit, angle of attack) later today. then may be you could advise on how to do it better. I'm utterly cluelss in what I'm doing, guess work. (but all the same, what I made will work well, so I'm well chuffed)

Examine the cutting edge of your insert very closely with a magnifying glass ! It may well be chipped or just blunt. Some sharpening can be done with a diamond lap. Try a different edge, and check tool height. If your tool height was high then it was rubbing and generating heat, instead of cutting.

It's a nice feeling to have something useful, as for making it from odds and sods, if it works so what ?

Good luck. Noel.

You're on a hiding to nothing then.

Inserts come in a bewildering range of styles, some of which are suitable for smaller lathes and some of which are definitely not. If the steel came from a fabricator it may well be EN3 or similar. These types of low carbon steel are "gummy" and it can be difficult to get a good finish. They have a tendency to tear rather than shear cleanly. High cutting speeds and decent depths of cut (ideally 1mm or so) are normally needed with carbide.

Andrew

I use carbide insert tooling and also PCD on aluminium so mainly cut dry. However I have acquired some cutting oil used in a friends CNC machine shop and occasionally use that but the fumes have an unpleasant smell. This isn't appreciated if it leaks into the house through the internal door to the garage. I have notice that the oil appears to be a vegetable oil judging by the way it oxidises and goes sticky where it gets on the lathe and mill. So if it is could something like cooking oil be used and would it have a better smell. Castor oil was the best for bike racing back in the barely remembered past but the smell is still well remembered from race days at Brands Hatch.

I found that cooker hoods make fine extractors and used one I got from the dump for a small spray booth. I often see these offered on Freecycle when kitchens get refurbished so can be sourced at no cost.

CS

I wouldn't mess with home-made alternatives because they usually have disadvantages. For example:

• Milk is a first class cutting fluid. Just the job because its an emulsion of fat in water. The booby trap is is it soon goes off creating an appalling stench. Also, don't get decomposing milk in a cut - amputations and fatalities before antibiotics.
• Castor Oil is a powerful laxative. Early aviators were seriously inconvenienced by breathing the fumes!
• Aromatic oils are more likely to cause cancer.

Ventilation is the best answer. The worst thing to do is breath fumes through a lit cigarette.

Dave

I used to smoke heavily when working with asbestos, (the monkey dung variety), I guess the asbestos would not have become more dangerous after passing through the red glow of the fag end - LOL

Edited By Justin Thyme on 17/06/2023 20:08:00

Probably true, but is smoking makes you more likely to suffer the effects of asbestos exposure

https://www.asbestos.com/asbestos/smoking/#:~:text=Smoking%20damages%20cilia%2C%20making%20it,scar%20tissue%20in%20your%20lungs