When I was building my house, I used the hand threader and pipe threading dies that had belonged to my grandfather to thread the black pipe for my gas lines. I had some trouble getting clean threads on the 1 1/4" pipe I started with, so I replaced the die inserts, which didn't help much. I was using a brand new quart of dark thread cutting oil I had bought from the plumbing wholesale shop where I bought the pipe and fittings.
In the wooden box that contained my grandfather's threading set was an old stained partial gallon can of Ridgid Sulfur Lard Cutting Oil that had been purchased I'd guess sometimes in the 1960's or earlier. Running out of ideas, I decided to try it. Simply changing to this older formula of sulfur lard cutting oil was like night and day. It took much less effort to cut nice clean threads, and there wasn't a hint of galling or roughness.
Here in the south it is used as an additive to engine oils, when I lived in IL it was a pricey cutting/polishing oil. In our business I purchased it by the truck load, where do you get a pint????
bill
Since then, I've learned to look for the old stuff at farm auctions, auto parts swap meets, or flea markets. I found some a couple years ago at a flea market where a guy was selling a bunch of stuff that had belonged to his grandfather. The crate it was in also had a bottle of Chlordane, DDT powder, and a DDT treatment for window screens. Old stock.
