Lub for ways and prevent rust

[Wongster]

Hahahaha.... i will have to throw out my 2 girls to use that bedroom.

[PixMan]

For way lube I use the genuine Mobil Vactra 2, and I get it from Enco/MSC. I think I pay about $14 a gallon when it's on sale, and that's fairly frequent. For cutting oil, I use as little as possible and less if I can. I do have one quart remaining of some Hangsterfer Lab "Hardcut Light" 5258, which has since been upgraded to Hardcut NG 5418. Those are chlorinated cutting oils and work like nothing you've used. In years past, the only thing that came close which you can still find is a product called "Buttercut". Believe me, that stuff does indeed smell like you're using organic biofluids but it works great. Pricey though.

For the flood coolant on my lathe and surface grinder it's Trico "Tri-Cool TC-1", a fully synthetic coolant/cutting fluid. A one gallon jug lasts me a couple years as it's used at such a low concentration. Because I use the flood coolant on each so infrequently I find the level will drop though evaporation. Never do I top it up with plain water! With coolants, always have at least a tiny bit of concentrate in the water you're adding to assure it mixes with the sump supply. Plain water added to the sump may not mix readily and you'll get RUST.

I will not use a soluable oil, ever. It's so much more expensive and though higher lubricity, it's very susceptible to bacteria growth. I never have that problem with full synthetics. In the sump of my lathe I get a fair amount of tramp way oil build up on top of the coolant. Once or twice a year I open the access panel and use a hydrophyllic pad to absorb that tramp oil. It works great and I lose no coolant because the pad won't absorb a water based synthetic.