On Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:12:19 -0500, F. George McDuffee
wrote:

I hesitate to post this, as there is some danger involved, not so
much to the machinist as to the people around him, but
trichloroethelene and carbon tetrachloride work well for
machining aluminum. These are nonflammable but toxic, (carbon
tetrachloride more so than trichloroethelene). These fumes are
heavy and may build up to dangerous concentrations at floor level
thus presenting a danger to small children or pets [birds very
succiptible]. These can also get sucked into a living space from
a workshop.

These will defat your skin and cause problems if you are not
careful.

Never the less, both liquids work very well as coolants on
aluminum, and are available in many areas in pint containers at
the hardware store. A small quantity of a good quality vegetable
oil added to the carbon tet or trichloro such as olive oil will
produce even better results. The old tap magic seems to have
been a mixture of trichloro and a light oil.

http://www.sciencelab.com/xMSDS-Tric...hylene-9927416

http://physchem.ox.ac.uk/msds/CA/car...achloride.html

Good luck and let the group know how you make out.

==============
Just received an email from someone what been there and done
that, a regular reader that can no longer post. Thanks for the
straight skinny.

--------- email follows ----------
George,

I am unable to post to RCM due to a problem with my ISP. I can
read, just not post.

You have it wrong. Trichloroethylene is not the solvent used
for machining. What you're thinking of is 1,1,1,
trichloroethane-----which was the active ingredient in Tap Magic
and other tapping solutions at one time. They were NOT
recommended for aluminum, nor should they be used on aluminum. It
requires a different formulation to avoid corrosion.

I am very familiar with the use of the chloroethane I mentioned.
It used to be used in the sumps of our turret lathes along with
cutting oil when I worked at Sperry.

Thought you might like to know.

Harold Vordos