Found a cool trick for aluminum finishing last Tuesday

I was fighting with some 6061 parts at my shop in Cleveland and remembered an old timer told me to use WD-40 as cutting fluid. Smoothed out my finish in one pass and saved me from a scrapped batch. Anyone else use weird stuff for non-ferrous jobs?

3 comments

3 Comments

dylan_bell1mo ago

Yeah WD-40's for stuff that ain't hot, not real cutting fluid.

sarah5311mo ago

WD-40 is actually not bad for aluminum if you're just doing light drilling or tapping, I've used it a bunch of times on thinner stuff and it worked fine. The real issue is when you get into heavy cutting where the heat builds up and it just burns off, then you're screwed. Plus the whole flammable thing is a concern if you're making real hot chips on a lathe or mill. Different tools need different fluid, but for a quick home shop job WD-40 gets the job done more often than people give it credit for.

the_joseph1mo ago

Good for you, nothing beats a hack that saves a whole batch from the scrap bin. @dylan_bell nailed it, WD-40's perfect for light work but don't push it hard.