Ok, I searched on groups.google.com for some tips on this and found
there's no single good answer for a home-use cutting oil. There were
a few things that stood out:
Don't use an oil with sulfur. Apparently a lot of tapping fluids
have high sulfur content. can cause long term problems, etc.
When cutting steel, using oil is almost always better than not.
If you have add water, add distilled water instead of tap. less
mystery components get in there.
Here's some names that got mentioned for usable cutting oils.
Tapmatic "Natural" and "Do Drill" @ brownell's both got a thumbs up
for home use, albiet in relation to milling.
Lenox Band-Ade was mentioned by someone who'd built a coolant setup
into the stand he made for his bandsaw. (see:
8&threadm=76g9g0%241kf%241%40brokaw.wa.com&rnum=1&prev=/groups%3Fhl%
3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26q%3Dbandsaw%2Bhome%2Bcutting%
2Boil%2Bgroup%253Arec.crafts.metalworking Post #14 by Ken Mayer)
hope that URL works...
A number of home-brew solutions were also listed, including a half
anti-freeze, half water mix. #1 machine oil also made the list, as
well as cheap hydraulic oil cut 1:1 with mineral oil.
Lastly, someone mentioned candle, carnuba, or other paste wax as a
decent lube (albiet not oil). Apply to blade every few passes. I've
done this with aluminum, and it works ok. Heat of the blade makes the
wax just soft enough to rub on easily. Never timed the cut, though,
or done this with steel.
In short, as with many things in my hobbies, there are about 648 ways
to do something, two of which are wrong, and the rest could all be
right, depending. If anyone out there wants to add to this,
please...I'll welcome any advice you can send.
