I keep seeing ads and social media posts about the Spyder Tools Mach Blue Goo at Lowe’s Basically, it’s a thick cutting tool lubricant.
The cutting compound has a thick paste-like consistency, almost like mayo, and holds its form a lot better than thinner cutting fluids.
I asked Spyder how it’s any different from Anchorlube, and they never responded.
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After looking into it, the only difference I can tell is that Anchorlube is green, and Spyder Mach Blue Goo is blue.
The latest MSDS (material safety data sheet) forms for both look to be identical except for color and manufacturer details. They’re both dated the same.
Thus, it seems that Anchorlube is green, and Spyder Mach Blue Goo is blue.
I prefer Anchorlube over Spyder – I’m more familiar with the brand and it’s more convenient to source it from industrial suppliers than to deal with Lowe’s. But it seems to me that they’re the same product.
Both brands say their respective cutting lubricant goos are water-based and non-hazardous or non-toxic, with the wording depending on the label.
It seems to flow better than dry compounds, and can be easier to apply than gels and pastes that you need to dip tooling into.
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Lowe’s pricing is actually very fair – $10 for a 6oz bottle, which is about as low as I could find the Anchorlube product for at industrial suppliers. Anchorlube has a wider range of sizes, with better pricing on larger containers.
The world of cutting fluids and lubricants can get very messy and confusing. Which is your favorite general-purpose brand?
If you try either Anchorlube or Spyder products, let us know what you think.
JR Ramos
I looked at this in store a couple weeks ago…smells like Anchorlube to me and that was my first ponder. The pricing is terrible but it’s good to know that something can be had locally if there’s a sudden cutting fluid emergency.
I’m not that fond of Anchorlube but it works well enough for many things. Easy cleanup is nice. I prefer heavy cutting oil when that’s best, and I use the CTD/Norseman fluid the majority of the time – it’s thick and clingy but flows enough to get where it should go, and it’s pretty cheap – just harder to find. I’ve used it extensively for hand and press drilling, hand tapping, and with piloted counterbores – does great and I think improves surface finish a tad better than TapMagic and similar. Does very well in aluminum, too. Biggest disadvantage is that the stickiness is a little harder to clean up. Sometimes a thin liquid like TapMagic is just the ticket.
I don’t know why Lowe’s would stock this cutting fluid really. Surely people don’t use it with diamond grit on tile or something, do they? Door locks in metal doors are usually drilled dry and any decent saw will handle it fine. But it’s nice to have available if need be.
That said, I would never ever go by marketing or an SDS sheet (especially these days with less helpful information on them) or the comments of someone who has not actually used the product…when it comes to cutting fluids, the proof is in the pudding (and assuming a user knows what they’re doing….).
fred
I’ve been happy using Rapid Tap – both liquid and paste. But when I looked just now on Amazon – I only see “New Rapid Tap” and suspect that the formula has changes. My stock is quite old – so I’m guessing that the “new” formula may have removed some of the environmentally unfriendly ingredient’s (chlorinated hydrocarbons).
Nathan
Great marketing though
Who doesn’t want to spew blue goo?
MM
All of my machine tools have flood coolant so it’s rare that I use a product like this.
I keep Boelube, heavy sulfur cutting oil, and a wax stick on hand when that isn’t appropriate.
A related tip I learned from an old-timer: denatured alcohol works as a cutting fluid for aluminum, and it has the advantage of being extremely easy to clean up.
There was a brand of cutting oil I used to use that came in a mostly black aerosol can. It had a foaming action. I don’t recall the brand, but that stuff was good too. What I liked about it was a little went a very long way. You could spray a little higher up on a drill bit or a tap and the foam would stick quite well, slowly running down into the cut as you worked.
JR Ramos
I can’t recall his name now but there’s an excellent machinist on YouTube from Germany who likes to use alcohol. I thought it was isopropyl maybe denatured or whatever they have there. I used to keep a bottle of kero just for aluminum, really works great, but a bit too smokey compared to other stuff. Plain old lard was popular back in the day and apparently it actually has some real benefit, not just something “slippery.”
Before I knew what real cutting fluids actually did, I thought any lube would do (or something is better than nothing, right…haha). Managed to case harden some tool steel I was drilling when I spritzed it with aerosol WD40. The bit wasn’t great anyway but I think it had begun to dull, so more pressure on the quill, and of course things got hot. That WD40 was enough to cool it off with a sizzle and smoke, and from then on there was zero progress and a tortured bit tip. Good learning lesson as a youth but the two ex-Navy guys in the shop were scowling at me sideways…..
MFC
Huh, funny. Shows what I know. I have used WD-40 as my cutting fluid for hundreds of holes. I’m only drilling up to 1/2″ holes in mild steel, but it’s worked 100x better than nothing. Water works too, but then theres rust. I never let the bit get hot though, that’s kind of the whole point of the fluid I thought.
eddiesky
Was that Stefan Gotteswinter channel?
JR Ramos
Yes, that’s the guy.
Joe H
I like to use cutting/tapping pastes when I have to drill from the bottom of things like for when installing a trailer hitch to the frame of a vehicle. I use regular cutting fluid when gravity isn’t as against me.
Tim B.
I’ve always kept Boelube around (hangover from my time at Boeing) in both paste and liquid form, though I’ve also used Anchorlube a few times.. they’re more or less comparable in my experience, though Anchorlube is a bit more of a skin irritant IIRC.
The one that I always seem to have trouble finding is the solid stick version… and have never found an alternative that seemed to work quite as well. It’s so much less of a hassle to use (in my opinion) when you’re using hand tools (not a mill or CNC)… not to derail the conversation, but if anyone knows of a good spot to get it or a reasonable facsimile, I’d love to know!
DRT42
Aircraft Spruce sells Boelube solid stick (as well as the other versions).
JR Ramos
Aircraft Spruce & Specialty is top notch, great outfit. YardStore has it too, as do MSC, McMaster-Carr, Travers, Penn Tool, lots of others. I’ve never used this or any of their lubes except Boeshield T9 which I didn’t care for much for my uses but it was a great product.
Neat site to browse around if you haven’t seen them before: https://www.yardstore.com/drilling-and-cutting/lubricants-and-cut-fluid/boelube/boelube-solid-lubricant-3-1-2-oz-70200-40
S
I tend to prefer the cutting wax if I can, I find it less messy than oil or paste versions.
My work temporarily tried anchor lube. The cleanup was slightly easier than their current preferred cutting oil, but I didn’t notice any performance difference.
eddiesky
Abom79 was the first channel I saw the use/promo of Anchorlube. But I’m not a machinist nor own/access to a mill or lathe for metalwork. I can see it for tapping and die work though.
Not a fan of Spider products. Tried a sawblade once and first time I threw a carbide tooth (on wood) and that was that.
CMF
I remember reading on Practical Machinist and a few other metal head websites, there was pretty high percentage of users that recommended Boelube products. So I bought a couple of the white tubes, and also a blue colored paste, not as thick as the white one, but still a paste.
I use them, along with a couple of cutting oils, Buttercut and one I got from Norseman with a drill bit set purchase. I find they all work and I don’t do enough metal drilling to say or recommend that one is best.
Where I used to live, my then neighbor would do a lot of metal cutting for his race car and he used either WD-40 or simple oil in oiling can. He always told me that all that is important is to keep the drill bit or holesaw cool enough to not get dull from the heat.
Go figure
DRT42
I have an assortment of the Boelube products, but mostly use the blue paste one. Somebody on this site recommended using the white stick on a hot tool to melt the stuff, and that also works quite well. Bottom line, I suspect your ex-neighbor has the right idea. Just keep it cool.