Graver Lube
- Thread starter Jerry
- Start date
Just about anything works. Household oil, cutting oil, Tap Magic, kerosene, etc. I think Tap Magic might give you a slight edge to bright cutting. I knew an old New Orleans engraver who used saliva and touched his graver to his tongue!
Whether you need it or not is up to you. I don't use oil for everything. Seems like I go to it when I'm doing heavy cutting or relief engraving.
Whether you need it or not is up to you. I don't use oil for everything. Seems like I go to it when I'm doing heavy cutting or relief engraving.
mtgraver
Elite Cafe Member
I use baby oil, which is scented mineral oil, I put some onto an old metal backed coaster type thing with a piece of carpet crimped in place. I put enough on the carpet to be soaked but won't run or spill. It's sits next to the graver ball and I only need to touch the tool bit to for a smidge of oil. When I demo H&C in public I use a small glass jar with a wad of cotton soaked the same way. It helps with sticky yellow brass or silver. I use only enough to wet the tool it isn't enough to form a drop.
Mark
Mark
I found it helped when I was cutting aluminum alloy.
Similar to the process MTGRAVER uses, I cut a piece of an old sponge to fit inside one of those plastic 35mm film containers (they may be getting harder to find in the digital age we are now in?) Then drip a few drops of Rapid Tap onto the sponge. When needed, just touch the graver tip to the darkened spot on the sponge.
When finished using it, just put the cover on, and it lasts quite a while before more lubricant needs to be added.
Similar to the process MTGRAVER uses, I cut a piece of an old sponge to fit inside one of those plastic 35mm film containers (they may be getting harder to find in the digital age we are now in?) Then drip a few drops of Rapid Tap onto the sponge. When needed, just touch the graver tip to the darkened spot on the sponge.
When finished using it, just put the cover on, and it lasts quite a while before more lubricant needs to be added.
Haraga.com
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Oil of wintergreen.
Mike Bissell
Elite Cafe Member
When I do use a graver lube, I use a product called "cool tool II". It works about the same as the other products, but mostly I like the name.
Christian DeCamillis
Elite Cafe Member
Oil of wintergreen has been used as a lube in the jewelery trade forever. The problem is it's toxic. For me the smell is pleasant for a while but then it becomes annoying. Breathing the vapors for prolonged times is not good for you.
I agree with Sam any kind of oil will help. I like tap magic but the normal one not the one for aluminum. It works for everything but it's more for aluminum. It has an odor that's not pleasant as well. The regular tap magic doesn't.
I must say that saliva is quite a good lube for cutting. I normally don't use lube except for stainless and yes saliva does work well for stainless as well.
This is my experience with cutting lubes. There is no doubt that when you machine they can make a big difference, so why not engraving. Not a bad habit to get into. I just haven't developed the habit.
I agree with Sam any kind of oil will help. I like tap magic but the normal one not the one for aluminum. It works for everything but it's more for aluminum. It has an odor that's not pleasant as well. The regular tap magic doesn't.
I must say that saliva is quite a good lube for cutting. I normally don't use lube except for stainless and yes saliva does work well for stainless as well.
This is my experience with cutting lubes. There is no doubt that when you machine they can make a big difference, so why not engraving. Not a bad habit to get into. I just haven't developed the habit.
Brian Marshall
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
"I must say that saliva is quite a good lube for cutting. I normally don't use lube except for stainless and yes saliva does work well for stainless as well.
This is my experience with cutting lubes. There is no doubt that when you machine they can make a big difference, so why not engraving."
I got this picture in my head of a guy drooling and licking a spinning part in a lathe - or with his tongue wrapped around a milling cutter... and it just won't go away...
B.
This is my experience with cutting lubes. There is no doubt that when you machine they can make a big difference, so why not engraving."
I got this picture in my head of a guy drooling and licking a spinning part in a lathe - or with his tongue wrapped around a milling cutter... and it just won't go away...
B.
I spilled a bit of oil of wintergreen once and thought I would have to rip out my bench and burn it to get rid of the smell. Horrible stuff! Like Chris says, it's sort of nice at first but after awhile it becomes annoying.
I used to use cutting oil when I was engraving with hammer and chisel and would occasionally see a wisp of smoke during heavy cuts in steel under the microscope.
I used to use cutting oil when I was engraving with hammer and chisel and would occasionally see a wisp of smoke during heavy cuts in steel under the microscope.
Andrew Biggs
Moderator
Great way to get a new tongue piercing.......now that really would make your eyes water
Cheers
Andrew
Only if ingested. One ounce of wintergreen is equal to 171 aspirins, as the active ingredient in it is methly salicylate. So, it's only as toxic as aspirin. In "rare" cases, it can be absorbed due to overuse as a topical analgesic, and many people are allergic to it. Used as a lube, it has insignificant danger.
It's used in many common products which are ingested.
Brian Marshall
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
And if a tiny bit of methyl salicylate finds it's way into your eye...? Go look it up.
I keep a bottle in the HazMat cabinet to show people what NOT to use!
Plenty of safer products that are actually lubricants. This one is not.
B.
I keep a bottle in the HazMat cabinet to show people what NOT to use!
Plenty of safer products that are actually lubricants. This one is not.
B.
tim halloran
Elite Cafe Member
Jerry: Try WD-40 Its Good For Non Ferros Metals. I Use Liquid Burr Life ,Sold By Rio Grande A Jewelers Supply Company. It Is An Animal Fat Based Lube And Is Made For Use With Rotary Burrs. I Used It Recently To Cut A Large Frame Lock Folder Made From 6AL4V Titainum. If I Applied It With A Cue TipAnd Kept The Area Lightly Flooded With Lube, It Cut Like 416 Stainless, So Give It A Try.
eastslope
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
I have found for cutting silver that all lubes other than spit leave the work cloudy and not truly as bright as if I had used nothing at all. For silver, I think spit or nothing is best, but I have not tried the oil of wintergreen. I might try it as a pain killer now that I know.
Haraga.com
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
I suppose if you are using the assistance of a machine that you may not need a lube.
Warrimoo
Member
Tap Magic has pride of place in my workshop. Use it for everthing, even tapping holes!
A couple of drops in a crown seal bottle top with a circle of cloth in the bottom I find is the most convenient. I have found in the past that WD40 is not good.
Ray
A couple of drops in a crown seal bottle top with a circle of cloth in the bottom I find is the most convenient. I have found in the past that WD40 is not good.
Ray
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eastslope
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Yeah, I am not man enough to hand push and need the assistance of the machine. Hand pushing would put a whole new perspective on graver lubricants.
Haraga.com
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Seth, there are only two things holding you back. Fear and patience. Get going!
Brian Marshall
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Dunno how many hundreds of times WD40 comes up...
The WD stands for Water Displacement. Formula 40.
Somewhere over the years it got a reputation as a "lubricant'. They flog it that way to millions of unsuspecting customers... Even call it a "lubricant" now right on the label.
And so it is... kinda, when it is first applied.
Leave it on anything for a year (less in the right conditions), and you get a sticky gummy mess. Longer yet and it turns into a stiff brownish yellow layer of what looks like varnish.
Can't count how many apprentices over the years that have ruined bearings in my shop by spraying that crap into the races.
Works great for what the formula was originally designed to do. But then you wipe it back off after Katrina has passed and replace it with a proper lubricant - unless you want the above results for some reason.
Never, ever spray the stuff into precision bearings and leave it there!
I have seen lots of diamond laps that were clotted and useless after sitting around for a year with a supposedly "protective" coating of WD40...
B.
The WD stands for Water Displacement. Formula 40.
Somewhere over the years it got a reputation as a "lubricant'. They flog it that way to millions of unsuspecting customers... Even call it a "lubricant" now right on the label.
And so it is... kinda, when it is first applied.
Leave it on anything for a year (less in the right conditions), and you get a sticky gummy mess. Longer yet and it turns into a stiff brownish yellow layer of what looks like varnish.
Can't count how many apprentices over the years that have ruined bearings in my shop by spraying that crap into the races.
Works great for what the formula was originally designed to do. But then you wipe it back off after Katrina has passed and replace it with a proper lubricant - unless you want the above results for some reason.
Never, ever spray the stuff into precision bearings and leave it there!
I have seen lots of diamond laps that were clotted and useless after sitting around for a year with a supposedly "protective" coating of WD40...
B.
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