Soluble Coolant Oil

[FLtenwheeler]

Hi all

I would like to get the flood coolant system working on my lathe. I need recommendations on soluble coolant oil.

Thank

Tim

[Magicniner]

There's a massive range, your best bet is to identify a local supplier who isn't tied to just one brand, give them details of your usage and seek their recommendation.
I use Blaser Swisslube Synergy 735 for milling and turning and it's excellent, oil free, Ph neutral and low odour but it's not suitable for Cast Iron and isn't cheap and thus is not for everyone.

[BadDog]

Unless you use your lathe more regularly than most of us, soluble may not be your best answer. Soluble tends to go rancid, grow bacterials that will cause skin issues, and presents issues with "tramp oil". It also makes a mess, and gets into crevices where you can't get it out, and thus can cause rust. It's also very hard on finish, if such things mean much to you. All these things vary by type of coolant systems (tramp oil management?), brand, purpose, how frequently used, mixture maintenance, etc.

As suggested, choice will depend on your usage. With aluminum, it's unlikely you'll need flood, though it can help with chip welding, particularly in certain alloys. I run carbon steel about 80% of the time, aluminum 15%, and stainless 5% (seat of the pants estimate). I've got a complete shop grade coolant system built into my lathe (it came from a CNC shop's tool room, very little use, paint largely destroyed), and If I were to setup for coolant, I think I might likely go with neat oil.

But what I actually use is "wash down" bottles. If you don't cut the tip back, it can supply a very steady tiny stream with a gentle squeeze (depending on viscosity). I've got one with WD 40 for aluminum, and another with sulfurized cutting fluid for steel. When I want coolant, that works for me, and I don't have to maintain 10 gallons, which is what my lathe holds. I've plugged the return, so if I get a quart or so of buildup in a basin that can hold close to 10 gallons itself, I just clean it out. But usually, it accumulates for quite a long time before I do anything about it. Sometimes I just wet the work piece and tool before a cut. You just have to be careful when in the cut to either use it or not since you don't want to let the tool (particularly carbide inserts) get hot and then shock with coolant.

And I can also walk it over to my mill, drill press, or as yesterday when I was cutting a bunch of rivets out of a ladder frame to graft in a larger fuel tank, out to my lift for use with a hand drill.

[Bill Shields]

is this lathe fully enclosed so that when you 'close the door' the coolant will stay inside?

[FLtenwheeler]

No Bill

It is a 14" Rockwell.

Tim

[FLtenwheeler]

Would a mist system be better for me?

Tim

[Bill Shields]

Just consider all the consequences of coolant on a spinning part / chuck...

Mists bring their own level of problems because you now have an airborne mist...

[Magicniner]

Fogbuster!

[pete]

Unfortunately Russ and the others are all too accurate with the problems associated with larger amounts of flood coolant just sitting there. Unless it's used just about daily bacteria growth and the stink is going to be a problem. The bacteria creates H2S, hydrogen sulfide gas that smells like rotten eggs. There's tablets that can be added to reduce the issue, some brands of water soluble are a bit better than others. But either an aquarium bubbler or oil skimmer is going to be needed. Water type or hardness and it's cleanliness can increase the problem. Distilled water is supposed to help. But maintaining coolant is a high maintenance item unless it's being used all the time. Even keeping the water to coolant mix within spec due to evaporation adds to the cost and work. Like Russ already mentioned rusting can happen between the machine parts although every manufacturer "says" there's won't do that. Some coolants will eat the paint off the machines and placards. Some have mentioned serious skin and lung problems on the PM forums because of coolant etc, etc, etc.

Water soluble coolant does what it says, it cools the part and the tool point allowing higher speeds to be used. It has some but still reduced effects on helping tool life. Oil really helps the tool life but has far less cooling effect on the part and tool. I bought a two gallon flood coolant system to add to my lathe and then started doing some research on the best brand of coolant to use. I should have done that first since it turned up the above problems. That system is still unused. Flooding with straight cutting oil does make a huge difference in wear the cutting tool and machines slides have. The trade off is it can make a lot of smoke if the cutting speeds are high and a large oily mess. And any finished parts have to be cleaned first. It's also fairly expensive since a lot of oil doesn't drain off the chips and gets tossed out. So I've resigned myself to doing the same as Russ does.

[Bill Shields]

is this machine in your home, garage or a separate building?

as Pete describes...

[FLtenwheeler]

Hi

It is in an out building.

Tim

[Russ Hanscom]

Agreed, flood can be messy. I am using Rustlik 5050 on the mill and have been using the same batch for almost a year on an intermittent basis. So far lucky as I do not have a smell or other problem with it.