Flood Coolant Amount?

KoolMist 78 at 24:1 rather than the suggested 30:1. Air it off after you finish and/or a bit of WD40 keeps the machine clean. Also oil the area before you clamp your vise down.
Dave
 
I use a 5 gal. bucket and it works fine feeding two 1/4" lines. I've never had a problem with starvation or overflows. If you need more, you can always add another 5 gal bucket. Set the second bucket 4" higher than the main, and run the drain into that. Put an overflow from the drain bucket into the pump bucket, that way any solids will settle in the drain bucket.
 
I use a 5 gal bucket and a pond pump. 3/8" line to two 1/4" nozzles. In the summer when it is hot I may have to add a gallon a day if running parts all day. 1-1/2" drain with a strainer basket at the top of the bucket to catch chips.

For coolant I use Rustlick 5050 at about 1:8 ratio. I mix 1:10 but with evaporation the average is 1:8. For me anything more diluted will cause rust spots or rust between the vise and table. The downside to R5050 is its ability to remove paint. I use it because it does not cause me skin or respiratory issues like a few others I have tried but I am very sensitive to many things.

Jay
 
I am in the process of converting my g0704 mill to a cnc and going to add flood coolant and wondering what the amount of coolant I will need. I see 3 gallon,5 gallon and even 10 gallon systems . Not sure what size I should be planning for. Got the chip tray built and all the nema motors and are currently waiting on the ballscrews and mounts from Arizona Dave . Any advice on this subject would help. I am a complete noobie on this whole cnc thing . Going to hopefully teach my self how to run this machine. We will see. Thanks

Try a farm supply company for sprayer tanks. Compare price and size. I can't remember the size the CNC machine center the last shop used but more capacity is better than running hot or dry.
 
Water evaporates from the mix during use or while sitting idle. I check mine periodically for concentration. For proper coolant management, a Brix refractometer works well. They come available with different scales. The 0-10% scale works well for me as the typical reading is around 2.4% ( The percent reading refers to the percentage of sugar in a water solution and has no bearing on the percentage of coolant concentrate.) I made up some calibration samples of various concentrations that I compare against. I bought mine fairly cheaply on ebay.

Bob
 
I should also mention I have a small aquarium air pump on a timer that aerates the coolant for 15 minutes once a day. Not sure if this is necessary but I have never had a problem with bacterial growth.

Jay
 
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