Im curious, instead of a cutting paste, could you use regular heatsink thermal compound for drilling in say, stainless? //Quizz
Unlikely and would be more expensive than proper cutting fluid. I all ways use titanium coated drill bits for stainless steel
after using all most everything best thing we found for stainless steel depending on speed and how you drill will also depend on the sort of method best for cooling bits
For drilling stainless - El-cheapo ann summers type lube... and decent drill bits... And no... you may not ask how I know that
Absolutely not. Heatsink compound is designed for thermal conductivity (this is the easy bit, actually) and to maintain the right viscosity (not so low as to drip out over time, not so high as to not properly fill the irregularities between the two mating surfaces) over a long period of time, over all sorts of temperature fluctuations. Otherwise tooth paste would do just as well (I'm not joking; it makes a reasonable thermal compound if it weren't for the fact that it dries out and crumbles after a while). Heatsink compound has no lubricating qualities whatsoever, which is what you need for drilling. It also helps if it is good at carrying away the swarf up the spiral channels of the drill. Again: too high a viscosity, and it just bungs up the hole with metal paste. Thermal conductivity is only any good for a cutting fluid that is applied in a constant stream by pump. In a pinch you can use WD40 --it works surprisingly well as an all-purpose cutting fluid. Otherwise I'd go with the stuff that is specifically made for it. It is cheap and lasts a long time.