Mineral Oil Versus Vegetable Oil

[Crashmaster]

Hi Everybody. We are getting our first Swiss Machine next month and are about to purchase cutting oil. Is there a giant difference between Mineral Oil and vegetable oil. Tool life, surface finish, mist, smoke, material limitations.... Any thoughts from the zone would be appreciated.

[cogsman1]

I have used both and they work very well. The biggest issue I had was when using 2000PSI hi-pressure coolant pump. The mineral oil does not recover as fast as the Veg. does. This is only a problem when the cycle is so fast that the oil gets worse as every part is cut. Also $$$$

[Crashmaster]

Thanks for the reply. Luckily we aren't using a hi-pressure pump. I am mostly concerned with tool life. I have called several cutting oil manufacturers and can't seem to get a straight answer which leads me to believe that any difference in tool life is negligible.

[danrudolph]

Not to hijack this thread but...

Is anyone using water-soluble coolant on a swiss?

Looking at an aluminium job that would be easier to degrease and clean if the coolant we were using would be water soluble.

[houstonsamuel]

I agree with cogsman1. As for water soulabe coolant in a swiss. Water based coolant will kill your bearing. Please don't do it. Not worth the maintenace cost down the road.

[beege]

I was using vascomill 22 in a Hardinge CNC, and it worked well, mostly. The thing I worried about was the contamination of that oil by the waylube, which was vactra2. eventually, I knew there was too much waylube and had to drain/clean, reload. The vascomill lasted about a year before I felt it was no good anymore)

[Crashmaster]

I am by no means an expert but houstonsamuel is right. Water based coolant is a no-no on a swiss, at least according to our local Star distributor.