What Type Of Coolant System Are You Using?

I put a Fogbuster on the mill and it works very well - easy to set up and no airborne mist that I can detect. Mine is programmable and turns on and off under cnc control which is very handy and saves coolant and cleanup. Needs occasional cleaning of the spray head or else the spray volume 'self-adjusts' in unpredictable ways.

For the lathe I have a spritzer bottle and use it judiciously since I could not fit the splash pan onto the machine in the space available. It also makes nice size droplets and no perceptible misting in the air. Maybe I'll get another Fogbuster if I get into larger / longer duration lathe projects.

Stu
 
I have a single head FogBuster (fogbuster.com) on the mill and wish I had gotten the dual head version. So I'm thinking the single would work very well on the lathe, and I'll just get a dual head version to put on the mill.
 
I was just discussing this topic this morning with my buddy Lee. He and I are both very interested in fabbing up some Fog Buster type coolant systems. I believer for both of our applications, this would be a much more ideal setup than flood coolant. One thing to note, our 727 milling machines do come with a tapped hole fitted with a hose barbed end fitting to channel the flood coolant back down should we decide to go that route in the future.
 
I watched James Kilroy's 4 part video series today on his fog less system build. In the end he didn't seem all that pleased with the results. May try contacting him on Facebook & see if he's still using it. I don't recall seeing it in any of his newer videos.

But I definitely am considering doing some type of mist coolant.


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lpeedin said:
But I definitely am considering doing some type of mist coolant.
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There's a big difference between a MQL system (Minimum Quantity Lubrication) like Fogbuster (or knock-off) and a "Mist" system. The latter creates more of a health hazard by completely atomizing the coolant and thus polluting the air you breathe with the product.

Making a mixing block based on the Fogbuster system is really easy if you have a mill and a selection of drill bits and taps. I corresponded with James Kilroy about his knock-off and he wasn't very scientific about the mixing block design, so I went back to the Fogbuster patent and examined one from a real Fogbuster to get to the design I posted about earlier.

For me, the more complicated part was all the plumbing fittings to make a system with 2-channels of coolant application independently controllable - as you can see in the diagram at the link I posted above. Were I to do it again, I'd make it single channel.

I use Safflower oil in my Fogbuster knock-off and it works great, is each to clean up, non-toxic, doesn't dry to a gooey mess, and is cheap. If I needed a better coolant, I'd go immediately to Qualichem. You might find this video helpful if you haven't seen it already:

 
I use the Kool Mist system with both my PM 1340GT and my PM 932 Mill. I have both mist systems set up to central shop air with a small inline air valve by each machine. I can easily control flow of air by using the valve while the machine is in operation. I use a very fine mist which just collects droplets on the work. This system seems to work well.
 
My Grizzly G0709 lathe has a flood coolant system built in. I use it when I remember it's there . . . I use a blue-shaded Trimsol coolant (don't recall the model, they sell many variations) which supposedly doesn't rust up your machine (mine is clean at this point). My Grizzly has a built in slide out chip pan that is level with the lathe. I shimmed the LH side pan glide up 1/4" so everything runs to the drain on the RH side.

Bruce
 
More than it would cost to buy a Noga mist system, that's for sure. Since making this knock-off, I have replaced it with a Noga system on the mill which performs much better. I put a Fogbuster on my PM1340 lathe, and although more expensive, I am very happy with it.
 
davidpbest said:
More than it would cost to buy a Noga mist system, that's for sure. Since making this knock-off, I have replaced it with a Noga system on the mill which performs much better. I put a Fogbuster on my PM1340 lathe, and although more expensive, I am very happy with it.
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Thank you.. appreciate the good info.

CW
 
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