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Need a coolant recommendation, specific for Aluminium

gregormarwick

Diamond
Joined
Feb 7, 2007
Location
Aberdeen, UK
While we do machine a lot of aluminium it's not the majority of our work. The coolant we use currently (Hysol XF) performs very poorly on aluminium, in particular tapping with coolant just doesn't work - torn threads everywhere, forcing us to manually apply something else (usually WD40) when tapping, and also when using form tools.

Gearing up for a job that's going to be cutting 6082-T6 exclusively for about 6 months, and there will be lots of tapped holes and form tool cut fluid ports.

I want to change one VMC over for the duration of the job to something that works very well in aluminium, in particular so that I can tap (cut and form) and use form tools with coolant and not worry about tears or dull surface finishes.

Suggestions?
 
I've got a job that has some drilling milling/plunge milling in gummy 5052 AL. I noticed a pretty good reduction of burrs and was able to up to feed 30% when I switched to Trim 690XT, from the cimcool qualstar-C I was using before that. Now I don't know how it compares with other stuff out there, and haven't really done much tapping with it yet but its supposed to be formulated for it(an issue the 585xt had).
Maybe also increase the concentration, 10-12%, whatever it takes to get her done eh.

Big thing with AL is to make sure whatever you use won't attack it, tarnish/corrode and so on. I've seen no issue on my stuff with the 690xt, even if it sat with it on there over night but other grades might react be different, no idea. I've never seen 6082.
 
Not sure in 6082 but we use Trim MicroSol 685 in all our machines and it works very well in aluminum. If you're doing a lot of tapping I would keep the concentration around 10%.
 
At my last job we cut a lot of 6082T6, we used Q8's Beethoven and XCIS product over the years with very little issue. (I can`t recall exactly but one grade took over the other)
 
For those unfamiliar with it, 6082 is essentially the UK equivalent of 6061. I have no idea why those two alone are singled out to be given different designations, but it is what it is.

Thanks for the suggestions, I will check them out in turn.

Any more?

As we already use castrol across the board, I notice that they have an aluminium specific range called Alusol, consisting of about half a dozen different soluble oils. Anyone have any experience of those?

I emphasise that I really don't care about performance on any other metals, we will almost certainly switch back to Hysol XF when we're done as it's excellent for everything else we do.
 
asking for a coolant recommendation is kinda like asking, what's the best make of car I should buy. Everybody has their favorite.

We use 585xt for everything without any issues.
 
Since you ask I have used Trim C320 for around 15 years now. It is a full synthetic so low carry off and very clean on the machine, the dried residue on the table in the morning is minimal. I machine mostly 6061 but have used it on plastics to stainless steel with no problems, even form tapping small fine pitch holes in Mic6 with never an issue. I run around 6-7.5% on everything. It seems to be a little less expensive than the newer offerings from Master Chemical which is nice.
 

I'm not sure what the Whamex does for you, but OK.. I've NEVER used a sump cleaner...
20 months? I'm coming up on 10 years on 2 machines and 9 years on another and I've
never done a "system clean"... And they don't stink, and I've even had to supplement with
soluble a few times when I've ran out of the good stuff, and they'll get a little musty until
I get some more "good stuff".
 
I'm not sure what the Whamex does for you, but OK.. I've NEVER used a sump cleaner...
20 months? I'm coming up on 10 years on 2 machines and 9 years on another and I've
never done a "system clean"... And they don't stink, and I've even had to supplement with
soluble a few times when I've ran out of the good stuff, and they'll get a little musty until
I get some more "good stuff".

10 years and not changing the coolant is excessive. I dont know how or what you run, but the sumps have to be cleaned every couple of years. especially in mixed metal environments. I dont use whamex because of bacteria. I use it because it keeps the machine spotless. then again never having a bacteria problem is probably because of the whamex.
 
We use Qualichem Xtremecut 251C and it's awesome. Taps great in steel and aluminum (we mostly run 6061 but some ground cast plate as well) both cut and form, leaves a spectacular finish and isn't greasy.
 
Go old school with Paraffin + 10 to 20% light mineral oil ? ...or of you want to be posh - WD40 - you can buy it in 200 L drums

P.S. that was being a bit tongue in cheek ;)
 
I only used the whamex cleaner when I was changing from the cimcool to 690xt, ran it a day or so with the old coolant, and used it to scrub the machine and tank as best I could.
Right now the batch is about a year old, I pumped in into pails, filtered it to get fines out and its going right back into the mill at its new location.
Machine is quite spotless compared to the cimcool stuff I was running. Better corrosion inhibitors so far and doesn't appear to turn to dry varnish on things so far.
 
Have ran Master Chemical Trim SOL for the last 25 years.

Our alum specific machine (started running whatever in it recently tho) has not been changed in about 8 years. It doesn't last that long in steel machines, but alum only - I'm pretty sure it will still be running long after the first calf heifers are in a can of Campbells Soup.

It is real oil, not synth, which will help your tapping issues I would think.
Alum needs lube more than cool, so an oil based is likely better for spade drilling and tapping.


--------------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox
 
10 years and not changing the coolant is excessive. I dont know how or what you run, but the sumps have to be cleaned every couple of years. especially in mixed metal environments. I dont use whamex because of bacteria. I use it because it keeps the machine spotless. then again never having a bacteria problem is probably because of the whamex.

Why change it? Scoop some muck out of the sump every so often, and skim it. Why would you discard coolant that
doesn't STINK?
 
Why change it? Scoop some muck out of the sump every so often, and skim it. Why would you discard coolant that
doesn't STINK?

#1, because the machine builders say so. Read your manual. #2 Because there are compounds and additives that diminish over time affecting its performance. As well as the mineral loading over the years. #3 coolant doesn'treally wear out but it does get contaminated and will reduce the life of your machine if you don't change it. #4 is not sanitary or healthy for the worker. And by your own admission when you have to top off with something else it stinks which means bacteria is already present in your machine. Why would you not change it? Coolant is cheap. Our machine uses $300-$400 per year worth. I've spent more on a single endmill. You need to get the gunk out of your sump and clean your pump screens anyway.
 








 
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