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Old timer told me to stop using coolant on aluminum
Guy with 30 years at a shop I temped at said just use WD-40. Tried it on a batch of 6061 parts last Thursday. No chatter, no gumming. He was right.
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skyler_white1mo ago
My dad ran a small engine shop for 40 years and he would say the same thing about WD-40 on aluminum. I see your point about finish quality but I have to wonder why so many guys stick with coolant if WD-40 actually works better on 6061. Every machine I ever ran would gum up with coolant on aluminum after a few passes. Maybe your old timer was onto something else too, like how WD-40 lets you see the cut way clearer than flood coolant does.
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butler.brian1mo ago
Remember spraying WD-40 on my buddy's rusty lawnmower once and it caught fire, @skyler_white.
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