A quick tip from a guy at the tool crib that saved my Friday

I was at the tool crib in our shop last Friday, trying to get a stubborn face mill to seat right. This older guy, Mike, who runs the crib, saw me fussing with it. He just said, 'Try a drop of oil on the taper, not the tool.' I did, and it slid in like butter. I've been doing this for five years and always put the oil on the tool holder. He explained that the oil on the taper helps it center and pull in true, which makes sense now. Has anyone else picked up a small trick like that from an unexpected place?

2 comments

2 Comments

michaelrodriguez2mo agoTop Commenter

Actually, that's interesting because my shop does the exact opposite. We were taught to put a tiny bit of oil on the tool holder's pull stud area, not the spindle taper itself. The idea was to keep the taper clean and avoid any chance of hydraulic lock. Might depend on the machine tolerances.

johnson.adam2mo ago

Honestly, that's wild. We had a guy who swore by that method until his spindle started making this awful squealing noise.