Is it Time for an Oil Change?

Dear friends,

Over the many years of being involved in the metalworking fluid industry, I’ve come across various companies, Swiss Screw and job shops alike, that when asked how long they were using their current cutting oil respond, “Forever… besides oil never goes bad”. How I wish this was true. Neat oils (cutting oils) do eventually go bad, as nothing lasts forever. The main influences that kill cutting oils and lead to their eventual disposal are as follows.

·         Contamination: Over time way lubes, bar feed/hydraulic oils, water and sub-micron metal fines contaminate the straight oil. The metal fines through proper filtration can be removed, but the cross contamination from the way lube and bar feed oil cannot. With proper filtration you can greatly prolong the life expectancy of the cutting oil.

·         Oxidation: Oxidation is a form of chemical degradation. Oxidation of the additives and also the oil occurs when heat is generated by the cutting forces produced at the spindle. Oil pumps produce additional heat which is put back into the oil. This in turn creates hydrocarbon molecules in the oil which then react with oxygen to form, you guessed it - water (H2O). Antioxidant additive packages eventually deplete out, which in turn leads to your once nice clean cutting oil turning the nasty turbid brown and in some cases black color.

As you can see all neat oils eventually go bad. The higher the quality of the oil the longer this process takes. Also this process can be extended by keeping direct water contamination out of the oil as much as possible. Implementing good filtration methods down to at least 1 micron in size is very beneficial.

This process can take a year or more to come to fruition, but it will eventually happen. When you compare tool life studies of new oil against old contaminated oil, the difference in cutter life can be up to 15-20%.

So ask yourself, is it time for an oil change?

Stay tuned for more useful coolant tips, from The Coolant Guy!

Best regards,

Brett Reynolds, CMFS

Brett Reynolds, “The Coolant Guy” works for Blaser Swisslube Inc.

If you would like more useful information regarding metalworking fluids, or would like to find out more information about Blaser metalworking fluid products,

Please contact Brett at 801-722-4095 or via

E-mail at b.reynolds@blaser.com

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The Oil Baron Bulletin is not affiliated with Blaser Swisslube Inc. or its subsidiaries