Looking for Coolant Suggestions.

R

RonRock

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I did see the recent thread on synthetic coolants, but that didn't give me much guidance. So here goes.

In my shop I have a few machines, typical I think for most here. Bridgeport, Logan 11" Lathe, J-S surface grinder, and a POS horizontal bandsaw.

So I've always used basically whatever was close at hand for cutting oil, WD, Oil Can, PB Blaster, whatever. Always seemed to work, but messy.

Now I'm thinking that I would be better off with a "real" coolant solution. I'd like something that would work for all or at least most of my machines. Defiantly not a production environment so not sure what to consider. I plan to have pumps on each machine probably in buckets below the chip pans. But that is about all I know so far. And that could change based on what I learn here.

Thoughts?
 
Have you considered Kool Mist and compressed air? The system uses less than a fluid ounce per hour. Cutting lube and heat control delivered through an inexpensive system can be moved from machine to machine.
 
I used Kool Mist but doesn't hold up in the tank which is a significant problem with coolants. The start to stink and get moldy. I switched to Kool Rite 2290 and the tank time lasts 3-4X longer, and that was in the Arizona heat. Good for a wide range of machines, but I mostly use it in my horizontal band saw and can recommend it. They also have 2295max which is a heavy duty multi-machine coolant. I bought a gallon of the 2290 from an Ebay vendor, several years ago and still have some left. I use an 8-10% dilution. David Best who does a lot of stainless also has a coolant that he recommends, although all his systems are setup with FogBuster types systems.

KOOLRite 2295 Semi-Synthetic Fluid

www.koolrite.com
 
What do you think of the health issues when using a mist type system? The mist goes into the air then you.
 
@Larry42, kool mist is water, glycols, a surfactant, and an antioxidant. There are worse chemicals in your hot tub water.

@mksj, have you considered adding polyquat (a.k.a. benzalkonium chloride) as a biocide to your coolant tank at a strength of 0.5-1%? It will kill bacteria, if that's the issue. If it's chemical breakdown, a pinch of EDTA should help. Both over-the-counter chems with low risk factors.
 
Benchmark Fluids Sawlution II.
 
I only use Kool Mist on my manual machines with the bang good misters. You can get the two valve misters from China really cheap, I paid around $14 last time and some were $12 each. Haven't used flood coolant in years now on the 12x36. I used jb weld to epoxy some magnets on the misters and move them around on the machines when needed. On my surface grinder I keep a spray bottle with kool mist for the small or quick jobs like sharpening things. The misters are good enough to handle my drilling jobs too, misting coolant works great and is so much cleaner than flood.
 
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Thanks for the input guys.

Forgive my lack of knowledge on this. I'm in the learning process.

Do the water based solutions have to be cleaned and dried up from the machinery after use?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 
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