Coolant Advice?

New to owning/using metal CNC machines here [I’m a mechanical engineer, which never actually translates to making my own parts] and looking at getting the MR1, mostly as a weekend warrior machine. It’s going to all but sit idle most of the week but I’d really like to develop some machining chops just to in general be a better engineer.

To my knowledge, flood coolant is great for chip removal and keeping things lubricated but it sounds like there is a coolant leak issue out the doors of the MR1 and I’ve heard that if you leave coolant idle for days, it tends to get the machine sticky and nasty. (This is what I’m most concerned about) I’ve also heard that parts have to get a pretty good rinse down otherwise the coolant makes them all sticky.

To consider a different coolant, I’ve heard droplet lubricant (fogbuster etc.) is not great for chip removal but does a great job at keeping things lubricated as long as you aren’t pocketing a deep drill. I’ve heard it’s easier to clean because the part can just get wiped down and that it doesn’t mind sitting for days. It does require an air compressor (which I have).

Finally, there’s the good old manual brush/spray oil lubrication, which I’ve done quite a bit on manual machines but seems to be unheard of on CNC (to be fair, it makes no sense on a fully automated machining center but with this machine, you’re probably not straying too far from it anyways). I’m wondering if this is a practical first approach for this kind of machine and possibility upgrading later.

Thoughts/opinions? Is anyone rolling anything other than the flood coolant? Has anyone at Langmuir done much testing with other coolant methodologies?

I’ve been using Fusion (2270 I think?) after recommendation by @Bigdaddy2166 and others, and I’m quite pleased with it. My machine generally sits all week, and chips will tend to get stuck to things, but they rinse off pretty easily when I get back to it. And it doesn’t seem to stain anything.

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I agree with Microarms, a lot of guys, including myself, have switched to Fusion 2240.
There’s a thread on here with more detail. Any Ideas on better coolant? - #38 by spartan2381

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Good coolant will completely mitigate issue. You could instead of brushing straight cutting oil on just use flood cutting oil instead of coolant which does really help with cut quality and tool life but is more pricey than coolant and parts will also need a quick scrub to get the oil off. Usually parts washer is best.

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A good friend is a machinist in the Navy and recommended the Swiss Lube Synergy 735. It’s pricey at $360 for the five gallon minimum, but it is excellent. Requires deionized water as well.
Since my MR-1 is in my home, lack of smell was important. Also, I’m machining mostly aluminum and this works extremely well for that.


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