Penetrating oils

[Tom-ADC]

Got this in the mail today:

For all of you mechanic's and self doer�s out there. Recently �Machinist Workshop Magazine� did a test on penetrating oils. Using nuts and bolts that they �scientifically rusted� to a uniform degree by soaking in salt water, they then tested the break-out torque required to loosen the nuts. They treated the nuts with a variety of penetrants and measured the torque required to loosen them. This is what they came up with:

Nothing: 516 lbs
WD-40: 238 lbs;
PB Blaster: 214 lbs;
Liquid Wrench: 127 lbs,
Kano Kroil: 106 lbs
Shop brew (50/50): 50 lbs.

This last �Shop brew� of 50% automatic transmission fluid and 50% acetone appears to beat out the commercially prepared products costing far more.

[bigjason6]

Very interesting! I'll have to give that shop brew a shot

[rhbrink]

Yep I have read that somewhere before and tried it works very well.

RB

[azrednek]

I would like to see more on the study, any chance you could post a link? Years ago as an outside salesman for an automotive warehouse we sold numerous brands and types. Most auto mechanics had their favorite brand or home made brew including Coca Cola. I would like to see details of the study to see soaking time, if heat was used or a blast of high pressure air before the torque was applied.q

[felix]

Yep, it's hard to beat ATF for any kind of gun lubrication. It's interesting, though, that acetone is the thinner of choice. It's prolly the most people (and metal) friendly of them all! Good show, Tom! ... felix

[Goatwhiskers]

Been using the 50/50 mix for several years now, outperforms anything I've tried to date. Latest episode was three shotguns in the shop with frozen choke tubes. Applied 2 or 3 times a day, total soaking was 4 days. Made me a tool from a socket (good steel) with 4 tits to match the slots in the tubes. Used my hand held 3/8" drive impact too and a plastic mallet, clamped each vertically in the vise and went to work with no heat applied, unscrewed the little buggers with no problem at all. Goat

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

really would have liked to have seen the brew i use of 45%atf /45% K1 / 10% marvel on the list

but i am going to guess that ATF is the worker and the acetone evaporates not long after it helps the delivery

[Tom-ADC]

I would like to see more on the study, any chance you could post a link? Years ago as an outside salesman for an automotive warehouse we sold numerous brands and types. Most auto mechanics had their favorite brand or home made brew including Coca Cola. I would like to see details of the study to see soaking time, if heat was used or a blast of high pressure air before the torque was applied.q

Sorry what you see is what I got. But for whats its worth all the test were done the same way.

BTW my go to favorite is still Oil of wintergreen.

[felix]

Besides that, it smells good! ... felix

[Wally]

Has anyone tried mineral spirits with ATF @ 50/50%....Acetone is a nasty hydrocarbon that is best to be avoided. I use ATF cut with bulk WD-40 in my barrels and cut works very nicely.

Sorry I confused acetone with benzine..my error...

[KCSO]

Soon as I run out of Kroil, say in 2030 or so I will have to give it a try. I pretty much have to agree with the testing as I have used all but the last and I know Kroil beats PB Blaster all hollow.

[Bullet Caster]

Thanks for the tip. Next time I have nuts to loosen, I'll definitely give that a try. Besides, most of my nuts are loose at present time.
BC

[MT Gianni]

I wonder how Ed's Red would work, most of us have it already made up.

[firefly1957]

MT Gianni you beat me to it!

[starmac]

For those of you that mix the tranny fluid and acetone, how long will it last without using it?
Does the acetone evaporate fairly quick?

I am thinking there is a reason someone doesn't have a similar mixture on the market if it works so well.

[felix]

You are absolutely correct. I don't make long-term Ed'sRed with acetone because of the evaporation. Mix just enough ATF and acetone for the job on-hand. I am sure there are ways to stop acetone from evaporating by paying extreme attention to the containers, but I am just too sloppy to take that extra care. ... felix

[felix]

Correct.....Benzene(s) and chlorine(s) are dangerous, most especially for casual use. ... felix

[fecmech]

Metal cans solve the evaporation problem.

[rhbrink]

I've used it several times and it works very well but the two really don't appear to mix well and of they don't store well just mix up a dab and shake a lot. It'll store for a few days in a air tight container but you really have to shake it up everytime that you use it.

RB

[ErikO]

I'll stick with aerosol Kroil.

[MtGun44]

I've been recommending this for some time here.

Bill

[softpoint]

An old shop hand once told me about some penetrating oil that was so good that if you stepped in some of it on the floor, you could taste it.:mrgreen:

[castinplumber]

Kroil just seems to get more and more expensive. I buy at a hvac supply house $16 for 16oz ouch. am i missing something. The price I pay is for the smell mmm. Mixed atf kero marvel and mineral in my parts washer . Soak everything scrub barrels blast with compressor. bada bing

[hiram1]

sillkroil is sooooooooooo good

[GabbyM]

I maintain a bit of old farm equipment.

Lots of chains to lube up. Planters and combines.
Always have used transmission oils. John deer uses a light weight oil in there transmissions that also serves as the hydraulic oil. Also have plenty of three or four year old diesel fuel that I’d be afraid to run through an engine. Mix this 50/50. Poor it into a paint spray gun cup and spray down chains, sickle bars and such. I can almost empty a one quart cup in a single application on a combine. That would be at least a dozen of those $7 a can aerosols.

Working on a five gallon pail of recovered oil now that wasn’t in the transmission for a day as I had a bad leak then had to drain to repair.

For gun oil I use new ATF mixed 50/50 with low odor K1. Little glass jar form pimento or olives works great to store. So far Acetone and MEK have stored well in the glass food jars I’ve used. Not had an issue so far with solvents destroying the gummy lid seals.

[beagle]

I've used Ed's Red on some rake tine bolts and it works pretty darn good./beagle

[alamogunr]

For gun oil I use new ATF mixed 50/50 with low odor K1. Little glass jar form pimento or olives works great to store. So far Acetone and MEK have stored well in the glass food jars I’ve used. Not had an issue so far with solvents destroying the gummy lid seals.

I store all my solvents in either plastic bottles or small glass jars. In both cases I line the cap with two layers of aluminum foil to keep the seals from deteriorating. Has worked for a long time.

The plastic bottles I use are empty grape juice bottles. We use a lot of them at church. They don't retain acetone though. Don't know about MEK.

[TCLouis]

So one could add more acetone to "Ed's Red" and be on heir way

[alamogunr]

I have seen one explanation for using acetone in Ed's Red being to remove plastic fouling in shotgun barrels. I think some of the posts in this thread make a case for additional benefits. I haven't done it but decanting a small amount of Ed's Red to a smaller bottle and adding acetone for immediate use might be a good thing.

[MBTcustom]

I use 50/50 every time I need a thread broken loose. You mix the two together and they form this swirling foamy pink mixture that seems to "boil" when it touches steel. I don't know if I'm supposed to let it sit until it stops quivering before using it, but I figured that was part of what makes it work so well.
Irregardless, once I was making a very expensive bearing assembly. I had made the threads a very close fit for the lock nut 2 1/2-16 thread pitch. Well, the threads were so closely fit that they would screw together if there was a sniff of oil on them, but once the parts where clean, they would gall on eachother. With a galled thread, the more you work it, the worse it gets and this is a 2 1/2" diameter thread on a precision ground bearing shaft! I whipped up the 50/50 and applied it to the threads.....several times. Grabbed that nut with my hand, gave 'er a twist and off she came!