First off....let me apologize to Himy for taking this off topic.
My goodness, you'd think I had just shot somebody's favorite dog! Clemens, I do believe you are far to easy to take offense in the slightest thing you don't agree with. That's a shame, as this is a public forum and all (productive) comments should be welcome. In no form, or fashion, was my reply aimed negatively toward you, or any other person. Maybe I should have reworded it, such as...."I'm also interested in hearing some educated experiences with kero,
in addition to BClemmens professional experience." I suppose I can see where you might have taken that I insinuated that you were not a professional, however, I do think you are the only person that took it that way, and I'm definitely not going to worry about every single phrase I make, in fear of the chance I might be offending somebody. None of us are here to offend, only to help and expand our knowledge. Nobody here knows everything, and no single answer to any discussion should be the "be all-end all, case closed".
There you go Sam, a professional, and 'educated' opinion.
Do I take offense to your reply? Of course I do. You definitely went out of your way to post that last part, to make it known to me that it is meant to be offensive. I won't loose any sleep over it though, I've got thick skin.
Yeah using straight kero as a flood coolant on a milling machine would definitely not be a good idea, and I don't really see how anyone could interpret from the responses here, that it would be, but that don't mean there is no place at all for the chemical in metal working. As I clearly stated, it is indeed used extensively in punches and dies. Actually, a nearby steel foundry uses kero with their aluminum dies. These dies stroke so fast they are a blur. This foundry uses kero, has never burned down, and they deal with molten metal daily.
Sam, are you referring to punching, pressing and sanding so fast that a coolant is required ?
As far as the punching and pressing goes, I don't know the "why" part of the kero usage. My first guess was that it acts like a light cutting oil, and a good solvent, both of which aids against the formation of gum, which would be disastrous (and expensive) in a very short time. It seems as though there would be a more suitable chemical. I was hoping to maybe get some people that have indeed used it in industry to further the discussion. Doubtful anybody will chime in now, though.
As far as sanding goes, it keeps the paper clean (unclogged), and aids in cutting. When wet sanding aluminum, you can really go through sandpaper quick. You can use detergent added into water, but it don't work nearly as good as a solvent.