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READ FYI. Penetrating lubricants. Scientific test.

rdn2blazer

rdn2blazer

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One of my bosses forwarded this to me. Worth a try for sure. Thought I would share it here.


Interesting forward…


Machinist's Workshop magazine recently published some information on various penetrating oils that I found very interesting. Some of you might appreciate this. The magazine reports they tested penetrates for break out torque on rusted nuts. They are below, as forwarded by an ex-student and professional machinist.
They arranged a subjective test of all the popular penetrates with the control being the torque required to remove the nut from a "scientifically rusted" environment.

*Penetrating oils ........... Average torque load to loosen*

No Oil used ................... 516 pounds
WD-40 ..................... ... 238 pounds
PB Blaster .................... 214 pounds
Liquid Wrench ...............127 pounds
Kano Kroil .................... 106 pounds
ATF*-Acetone mix............53 pounds

The ATF-Acetone mix is a "home brew" mix of 50 - 50 automatic transmission fluid and acetone. Note this "home brew" released bolts better than any commercial product in this one particular test.

Our local machinist group mixed up a batch and we all now use it with equally good results. Note also that "Liquid Wrench" is almost as good as "Kroil" for about 20% of the price.

Steve from Godwin-Singer says that ATF-Acetone mix is best, but you can also use ATF and lacquer thinner in a 50-50 mix.

*ATF=Automatic Transmission Fluid
 
Very interesting!!! My buddy gets kroil through work so it's free. Stuff works great and I've never had a bolt I couldn't get free using it.

The ATF mix sounds very interesting. May have to mix some up in a squirt bottle and try it.

I just hate the smell of ATF, and kroil smells so damn good :whistle:
 
I've been thinking about starting a thread about this. I've beeen wondering if anyone uses home made penetrant. I've heard of atf/diesel mixed 50/50 being excellent. I'm gonna have to mix up some atf/acetone and give it a shot!
 
+1 on the good smell :) The can of Aero-Kroil I've had for years is finally buying the farm. Still a tiny bit of fluid left but no pressure so it just drips out.. Looks like time to try an ATF cocktail!
 
Not sure about the rest of them but PB Blaster works WAAAAAY better than Wd-40 in my experience.
 
Wd 40 is great for lots of things, like washing your hands, or removing spray paint from a vehicle, etc etc. just not for loosening rusty things. The main ingredient is fish oil.
 
Any of you guys used this stuff? Best penetrating oil I've used to date.
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I have been using ATF + gasoline or other solvents like diesel fuel or paint thinner ever since I read that report on a garden tractor website....I can get all I want at my friends shop,when he drains a tranny during a fluid/filter change...hydraulic oil also works well too....................................................My friend swears by Wd-40,I have watched him twist off bolts he used P-B blaster on,and then try Wd-40 on the bolt when extracting it and they almost always come right out....personally I think a lot of penetrants are way overrated,P-B being the worst as far as claims it cant back up...more hype than actual results IMO--I have tried a lot of them,including one my dad used to get at the gas company that was pure castor oil,that worked pretty good,and I liked Cyclo's "Break-Away" ,but have not seen it in stores for years....I used Liquid Wrench and the #2 formula with teflon in the blue can with good results,and I also use Marvel Mystery Oil with solvent and it usually works when all else doesn't...Mopar's "Graphite Heat Riser Lube" spray works good too,but it very pricey...never seen the stuff that "freezes" stuck bolts work,and its ridiculously expensive................................................................................................I rely on my torches more than anything,when it comes to getting things unbolted ,most of the time if I use only penetrant,the bolts snap off anyway,and I rarely see any evidence of the penetrant ever getting into the threads at all....I have used melted candle wax sucessfully more than once though,it really does wick into those tight threads...nothing beats heat though,and often you need both heat and penetrant to get any results.....ever since I tried ATF and solvent,I dont waste money on spray cans of penetrant...and most of them are just diesel fuel or kerosene in a 5 dollar can anyway...you can buy a gallon at the pump for that...a squirt bottle is just as good as aresol and much cheaper...
 
Have been using kroil for years with gunsmithing and bench rest shooting. Suppose to run it as last patch in a clean barrel, it make cleaning copper and gunpowder fowling easier and first shot on target without a fowling round.

Don't know about first shot (I always fowl a barrel) but cleaning is a lot easier. Then again I clean after every 10 on most of my rifles, but have after a hundred on some rifles and it does make it easier. Keeps barrels from any rust during storage also with out being oily.
 
I keep a spray bottle of ATF+acetone in the garage because it's cheap and easy to make more (as opposed to the aerosol can being empty and having to drive to the store).

I don't know if it's better than the expensive products because every fastener is different. I think the best can to buy is probably MAPP. I've also wondered how a shot of R-134 would work.
 
Well, at least I know what I can do with the several bottles of brand new tanny oil I've been hording for decades now. Just never used them but have had them for years and years. I can tell you at my work we can not use ANY kind of oils on flight hardware. If we have a fastener strip or break and have to try and get it out, the ONLY thing we are allowed to use is Acetone or Isopropel Alcohol period. The risk of damaging flight hardware is WAY WAY to risky and I wouldn't want to lose my job over it.

But of course at home I can use whatever the hell I want, so I will be trying this mix to see how it works. Some may know this trick with tranny oil. Right before you change your motor oil add about 1/2 qt. tranny fluid to your motor oil. Run it for about 30 mins and change the oil. It had detergents in it that will clean the crap out of the internals in the motor. I've never tried it but a buddy has and says it works well. Even oil thats still fairly clean and transparent will come out black as night cause it cleans the crud in the motor and will turn the oil really black.
 
Oh and I just bought PB blaster for the very first time a month or so ago. DAAAAAMN that crap is expensive! won't be buying that again. I like stuff from DoALL, the bans saw company. We used it at my last machine shop. I need to find it so I can buy it myself. It too smells soooo freaking good. Like candy.
 
I would really like to know the specifics of the test. First of all let me state that I am not claiming the test is necessarily incorrect, but do have some questions.

How many tests did they perform on each of these? I don't know how many they did perform but they would need to repeat the tests many times to ensure the repeatability of the results. Performing the test just one time means absolutely nothing.
 
6.2Blazer said:
I would really like to know the specifics of the test. First of all let me state that I am not claiming the test is necessarily incorrect, but do have some questions.

How many tests did they perform on each of these? I don't know how many they did perform but they would need to repeat the tests many times to ensure the repeatability of the results. Performing the test just one time means absolutely nothing.
Click to expand...



You are correct. I have no idea, but, I bet it could be looked up on Google if you REALLY REALLY want to know........and get back to us on it :D.
 
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