I finally picked between reaming dry or with cutting oil on a 3 inch tube sheet, and the boss noticed | Boilermakers - Freelance Forum - The Community for Independent Professionals
I finally picked between reaming dry or with cutting oil on a 3 inch tube sheet, and the boss noticed
Had 40 holes to roll on a boiler retube in Wichita last month and went with a squirt of cutting oil on every third hole instead of running the reamer dry like I always did. Tubes rolled clean and the roller marks came out even, zero chatter, and the QC guy asked what changed. Any of you run oil on the reamer or is dry the standard where you're at?
Man, the oil thing makes total sense but nobody ever talks about what it does to your reamer over time. Cutting oil keeps the chips from welding to the flutes, so you're not dragging little bits of steel back through the hole and chewing up the edge. I ran dry for years and my reamers always looked beat to hell after a couple jobs, like the corners were rounded off. Started using a dab of oil and the same reamer lasted way longer before I had to swap it. On a 3 inch sheet with 40 holes that adds up quick, less chatter and less money spent on new tooling. Boss noticing is one thing but your tool crib guy noticing is where it really pays off.