MQL in the UK?

Anyone using minimum quantity lubricant in the UK?

I have a FogBuster kit on the way to me from the good old USA, want to fit it on my Bridgeport CNC conversion as it has twin spindles - low speed for steel and high speed for aluminium.

Been trying to find a fluid to run in it and it seems I'm almost wasting my time here, only one so far has been Fuchs Lubricants EcoCut Plus 20 but at over £600 for 20l that is not going to happen

Does anyone have any ideas of what might work?

I have a sort of fog buster i built on my engraving machine and i run paraffin/oil mix but it stinks and is pretty messy as it does not evaporate at all. This is the high-speed spindle that will be fitted to the Bridgeport conversion as a tandem accessory head.

Can't believe we are that far behind over here

I've used the Fuchs but it's a bit pricy... a 20 liter of *anything* is a big price though. Just buy a gallon/4L bottle, it will last a long time if your mister is set up correctly. for aluminum, the best I've used is Unist products, they have one for steel too which I'm sure is good (their additives are clearly effective and well engineered). Oemeta has one as well which is fair priced, but not as advanced as the Fuchs or Unist products (from in house testing anyway). the key difference between the different products are the additives, much like the differences between synthetic engine oils. two products may feel and look similar in liquid form, but in the cutting zone, some perform noticeably better.

Thanks, i'll look into Unist, the Fuchs was only available in 20Ltr drums

Hmm maybe not, seems Unist is USA not UK.

Its something like air o lube, 4 liters was circa £20 of the bay, its natural based so if left for too long turns to snot on parts, buts fine in the tank. I use it when milling anything, turning especially parting.

With a acculube, it goes miles, there egg cup full a shifts plenty. What sold me on the whole MQL approach was a steel cutting bandsaw, any one thats cut box section knows how damn messy flood coolant is, MQL gives you the blade life of wet cutting, but the mess of only cutting dry! Yes relatifly speaking the better oils are eye wateringly expensive, but 20 ltrs will run a acculube for years non stop and you have zero disposal issues and near zero system maintenance and best of all no slimly tanks to clean out. Rusting just never a issue again. Like i say, worst bits cleanig the oil off the table if its dripped, sat there and oxidised - cross linked, the more expensive synthetics don't do it but the cheap vegtable - plant oil based ones do :-(

Acculubes are bloody expensive and mine has a habit of gumming up. One of the first jobs once the cnc lathes up and running is to turn up some small peristaltic pumps and build a timing circuit for em, so i can have MQL on each machine separately with a air blast. With out the hassel of the acculubes pneumatic timer - pump system. I hate the mess and wetness in running flood coolants, i much prefer dry machining were ever possible!

Ah, this seems to be the stuff....

Terralus AIR-O-LUBE Air Mist Coolant

Still expensive but should last a good while i think.

Could always make your own... reduce coconut oil/palm kernel oil with pure sodium, and distill to refine it, then mix in some ATF

Hmm, new i should have taken chemistry at school

Anyways, 5ltr is on the way, should last a very long time.

Hi Dave, try Ficep UK Ltd. they sell their own brand MQL for £168 + delivery charge and on checking their Italian Home Website turns out it is Fuchs Mikro Plus 20 rebranded. Good Luck