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good coolant for cnc mill?

SDConcepts

Stainless
Joined
Mar 1, 2007
Location
warren, mi
i'm looking for a good coolant for my cnc mill. the max pressure on the mill is about 300 psi and i would like something that is water soluable, doens't get nasty quickly and has good lubricity and cutting properties as most stuff i machine is harder metals like stainless, and titanium. my cnc lathes run straight oil, any reason i can't or shouldn't use that in the mill?
 
There are quite a few opinions on this but Blaser and Hagstaffers (Sp) seem to be the front runners.

I personally like the what I get from Blaser 2000 Universal MD. There might be a better product for your materials. A call to Blaser would answer that. That is what I did. I called them and talked about what I was machinining and they made a recommendation that worked well. I have only maintained my sumps since making the switch about 3 years ago.:)
 
I have been using straight oils in VMCs machining stainless and various types of steel but not titanium. They say that the pulverized titanium chips are highly combustible (?) though I am yet to verify or bust the myth. Some water soluble coolants tend to get stinky and sludgy when unused for 2 days.
 
I second the blazer 2000sw. Ive been trying differant coolants trying to find one that doesnt give me conjuntivitus and this is the only one that has worked so far.
 
I'll 3rd on the Blaser. I've used 4000 strong though. Just watch your concentration. I've even had this stuff in the sump of an old #3 warner w/out it being cleaned out properly and it's held up. We run mostly 303 and 304 ss.
 
We switched to Master Chemical products a few months ago and now use Trim Microsol 585 (semi synthetic) in our Mori vmc and lathes. It was recommended to us specifically for its properties in cutting titanium. We've also gotten good results with 13-8PH stainless and case hardened steels.

Prior to switching, we tried some synthetics with some major odor and minor rust problems.
 
I am running True Blue synthetic. My machine uses too much oil and I am only a home shop. I don't have enough work to keep it busy so coolant can stand stagnet for a week or more at a time. It doesen't get stinky even after a year. No rust on cold rolled and tool life seems ok.
 
I wouldn't use straight oil.

why is that? Just out of curiosity. I have never been around a mill or lathe that has oil in it and always wondered why. Swiss machines seem to thrive with it. It never goes rancid, it has WAY better lubrication than most synthetics I have seen I just wonder why we don't put it in mills.
 
Oil in Mills

I run cutting oil in everything, swiss, hardinge bar machines and 2 haas vf mills. No problem with rust. On the mills I use what is called evaporative lubricant.Its a petrolium product clear and looks like straight water. It sure makes reamers cut right on and excellant finish compared to some water based I tried a couple of years ago. My 14 year old haas still looks almost new since no water based coolant has lifted paint or made thing a sticky mess. We mostly do small parts very little use with face mills, they leave a little mist or haze in the shop.
 
I'm a fan of Hangsterfers S500. Terrific lubrication, good sump life, and doesn't leave residue on anything. The worst I see is dark green dried up coolant that has turned back into concentrate. Just spray it down with more coolant and whatever it was on looks like new.
 
This is an older thread but it has reference value. I just switched away from ValCool. Compared to my newer coolant, ValCool is pure junk. It is so inferior, it should be recalled. I will not brag or sponsor the coolant I am using now but it does what I would expect.
 
Been using Hangsterfers S500 for over 25 years now.

We do not drain our coolant tanks. Ever. We skim our coolant, maintain proper brix value. A few times a year we filter the coolant and drag a magnet on the bottom of the tank to remove any chips and sludge.

I am reluctant to mention, but this new skimmer we sell online is kicking ass. In the past we used all different types, belt, round band, coalescer types. So far this removes more than all of them.
 
Is that soluable then, or just straight oil?

Canola?
Olive?

These have been used with good results in multi-spindle screw machines and such.
I even got a secondary opp machine in once that had apparently been running vegy oil.


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