fitzo
Gold Member
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2001
- Messages
- 6,648
Just so people know:
"Mineral Oil" is a generic term. Just like with "Motor Oil" there are a large variety of formulations for different purposes. For one example, it can be thicker or thinner depending on what cuts from the petroleum refining process are mixed together. It will have a wide range of variation depending on what type of crude oil it came from. Depending on what you have, it will make a big difference in how your blades end up quenching.
"Veterinary Grade" and "Food Grade" is a broad classification of different mineral oil cuts that has a lot to do with low toxicity and cleanliness. Vet and food industry suppliers offer a whole variety of mineral oils, too, if you look. It has uses from making cupcakes come out of pans easily at the bakery to baby oil to laxative for animals and people. Those are all different grades. All mineral oil is not created equal, on purpose.
Some people claim that "most quench oils are nothing but 'mineral oil'". This is true. However, what separates the quench oils from baby oil or the stuff to make a horse crap is that the cooling oils have been made by mixing very specific petroleum cuts in strictly controlled proportions to get desired properties for cooling. They are very carefully controlled to meet certain desired conditions. One may cool fast to a certain point and then slow down. Another may cool a little slower initially but continue to cool faster a little longer. It is very much a science and the formulations are very scientifically determined and controlled. There is a lot of research goes into this.
Thus, when you read that "Parks 50" does so-and-so, no matter where you get Parks 50 it will do the same. However, when a guy tells you "Vet Grade Mineral Oil", you have no idea whether yours will do the same as his, because it has not been formulated for cooling properties and will have much different characteristics from manufacturer-to-manufacturer and maybe even batch to batch. If it has been selected for making horse $hit, then that is what it's for, and what you may end up with if you use it to quench.
I have also read, "Quench oil is 99.5% mineral oil and hardly anything else but a little flame retardant and surfactants". Well, those surfactants are what keeps bubbles from sticking to your blade and forming a vapor jacket that retards cooling. I might point out that there are a whole lot of things that comprise less than 0.5% of the human body that, when removed, spell death.
Now, I am quite to the point where I don't give a crap who uses what. I offer this info for those who don't have deaf ears, so they may stop and think. Sometimes "Vet Grade Mineral Oil" you get at the feed store is going to work great. By accident, not by design. Go over to the farm supply and theirs just says "Vet Grade Mineral Oil" too, but it's altogether different.
An analogy: Guy1 tells Guy 2, "Oh, I washed those tar spots off my car with 'solvent'! Worked great." Guy 1 has used mineral spirits but just says "solvent". Guy 2 goes home to clean the tar off his car and the only 'solvent' he has is methyl ethyl ketone. Boy is he pissed when the paint comes off with the tar. Still, both are "solvents".
Food for thought. Rant off.
.
"Mineral Oil" is a generic term. Just like with "Motor Oil" there are a large variety of formulations for different purposes. For one example, it can be thicker or thinner depending on what cuts from the petroleum refining process are mixed together. It will have a wide range of variation depending on what type of crude oil it came from. Depending on what you have, it will make a big difference in how your blades end up quenching.
"Veterinary Grade" and "Food Grade" is a broad classification of different mineral oil cuts that has a lot to do with low toxicity and cleanliness. Vet and food industry suppliers offer a whole variety of mineral oils, too, if you look. It has uses from making cupcakes come out of pans easily at the bakery to baby oil to laxative for animals and people. Those are all different grades. All mineral oil is not created equal, on purpose.
Some people claim that "most quench oils are nothing but 'mineral oil'". This is true. However, what separates the quench oils from baby oil or the stuff to make a horse crap is that the cooling oils have been made by mixing very specific petroleum cuts in strictly controlled proportions to get desired properties for cooling. They are very carefully controlled to meet certain desired conditions. One may cool fast to a certain point and then slow down. Another may cool a little slower initially but continue to cool faster a little longer. It is very much a science and the formulations are very scientifically determined and controlled. There is a lot of research goes into this.
Thus, when you read that "Parks 50" does so-and-so, no matter where you get Parks 50 it will do the same. However, when a guy tells you "Vet Grade Mineral Oil", you have no idea whether yours will do the same as his, because it has not been formulated for cooling properties and will have much different characteristics from manufacturer-to-manufacturer and maybe even batch to batch. If it has been selected for making horse $hit, then that is what it's for, and what you may end up with if you use it to quench.
I have also read, "Quench oil is 99.5% mineral oil and hardly anything else but a little flame retardant and surfactants". Well, those surfactants are what keeps bubbles from sticking to your blade and forming a vapor jacket that retards cooling. I might point out that there are a whole lot of things that comprise less than 0.5% of the human body that, when removed, spell death.
Now, I am quite to the point where I don't give a crap who uses what. I offer this info for those who don't have deaf ears, so they may stop and think. Sometimes "Vet Grade Mineral Oil" you get at the feed store is going to work great. By accident, not by design. Go over to the farm supply and theirs just says "Vet Grade Mineral Oil" too, but it's altogether different.
An analogy: Guy1 tells Guy 2, "Oh, I washed those tar spots off my car with 'solvent'! Worked great." Guy 1 has used mineral spirits but just says "solvent". Guy 2 goes home to clean the tar off his car and the only 'solvent' he has is methyl ethyl ketone. Boy is he pissed when the paint comes off with the tar. Still, both are "solvents".
Food for thought. Rant off.
.
