Sharpening lubricant that looks like antifreeze?

M

Mr.Wizard

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Feb 28, 2015
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What is the green liquid used as lubricant for the horizontal wheels in this video? (6:00) Maybe the shop gets that cold and it is antifreeze, but I wonder if it is something else or there is another reason.

Seesteel said:
Interesting Thread. Thanks for the info.
Here is a video about Kohetsu HAP40 knives being made.
Click to expand...
 
Could be Stoddard ? solvent. It was widely used in the US as a coolant for machining work. Not used so much today as they now have much less toxic and bio-degradable coolants.
 
Looking around the web, there are a lot of 'green' machining/cutting fluids out there. Both in actual color and also 'green' in the biodegradable sense. That would seem to make sense for this application. Searching Google on the string 'machining lubricant green color' will deliver lots of examples, many of which seem to be packaged in large buckets (5-gal.) as apparently seen in the video.
 
SOLEIL said:
Could be Stoddard ? solvent. It was widely used in the US as a coolant for machining work. Not used so much today as they now have much less toxic and bio-degradable coolants.
Click to expand...
Stoddard solvent is a sweet naphtha that was used as a dry cleaning agent. It’s use has diminished because it is flammable. It is quite similar to lighter fluid. I would think it is too volatile to be used as a coolant because it would evaporate too readily not to mention its susceptibility to the odd spark.
 
NOT biodegradable. Biocides are added to coolants to kill anything that wants to live in it. Bacterial and fungal growth in your coolant smells awful, degrades the quality of finish, and creates infection for those coming into contact with it.
 
Its and additive to the water to prevent rusting...

IIRC, sold in small packets on some japanese sharpening sites.
 
Stoddard solvent was used for decades for machining work by Westinghouse, GE, and other large companies. I have worked environmental cleanup for it. It may be a different mixture than they used for dry cleaning but it was used. Also cleaned up many sites contaminated by dry cleaners. All cutting fluids used by GE at the facility I worked at was a non-toxic milky fluid that was said to be bio-degradable by the maker. We used a lot of and changed it out often.
 
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