On Mon, 09 Jan 2017 08:34:44 +0700, John B.
wrote:

There is a recipe for "home made penetrating fluid" I found on the web
- equal measures of kerosene, ATF, mineral spirits, and acetone - that
worked really well the time or two I tried it. The problem with it is
I cold never find a bottle to store it in that the acetone didn't
evaporate :-(

I'm surprised that this concoction works. There are quite a few
claims that ATF+acetone works best, but I don't see how. None of the
comments I read talked about using it with aluminum, or an aluminum
and steel combination. If the idea is to attack the oxides, which
requires an acid, none of the mentioned ingredients will do anything
useful, except lubricating the parts of the threads that are already
broken loose.

I'm not sure what the kerosene and mineral spirits actually add to the
concoction as neither have much lubricity and are both of a higher
viscosity than acetone so I suspect that the 50% ATF and 50% acetone
mix that I've also seen recommended probably works as well.

Seems like a popular concoction:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Home-made-penetrating-oil/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CESDxCloCoQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5X0EMlIVx4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0kIPEzeTQ8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WuVBFTzoKc
The last video claims that acetone breaks down rust (at 1:32), which
it doesn't.

What the ATF brings to the table is a detergent, a rust inhibitor,
anti-foaming agent, an anti-oxidant, and some kind of lubricant, none
of which seem useful for breaking loose rust or aluminum oxide.

I wanted to read the original Machinists Workshop Magazine article,
but couldn't find any back issues or copies online. This was the
earliest reference I could find:
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=20131.0


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558