Did some searching and didnt come up with anything.
Ive been looking into using oil vs coolant on my MR1. I use the CNC maybe once or twice a month. My coolant gets gross from sitting, plus in winter I have to take it all out due to my barn not being heated.
Has anyone used cutting oil with one of these yet? Im not sure if the pump is up to it or if Id need to upgrade. I have a few coworkers who use oil on their lathes and mills at home and have had great luck.
I understand there are a few draw backs (cost is much higher, cleaning parts is a bit of a mess, and it cant handle high heat) But Im spending a fair bit replacing coolant, I have a parts washer sitting next to my MR1 and I cut 90% aluminum at slow rates largely.
Benefits of not freezing or evaporating, not able to mold, and longer tool life would all be nice.
Looks like its still a water based mix? I assume that that would have the freezing issue i have. (Im in Michigan and it easily gets below zero at times)
For the freezing, I’ve seen others mention using a small aquarium or pond heater. I’m not sure about the mold issue. Perhaps someone on here is aware of some kind of additive that would prevent that? I’d be interested in that recommendation too.
I’m went with an aquarium heater and an aerator setup in my tank after having it freeze and spoil the coolant last year. It’s set on a timer to heat and aerate the coolant every 2 hours currently. We’ll see how it goes this winter .
Look at MQL type coolant systems instead of flood. It’s not quite as effective, but it is a lot easier to manage on a lightly used machine and nothing ever goes rancid. I used flood coolant on my last machine, but decided not to use it this time around. I made my MQL system, but if I were buying one I’d get the SST because it looks like a good kit for the price:
The most popular brand of these is “Fogbuster”.
These systems use mostly air with tiny droplets encapsulated in the middle of the air stream which bring coolant right to the endmill.
You don’t want a mist system, those put the coolant on the outside of the air and make a foggy mess of your machine and shop.
If you watch any NYCCNC videos you’ll see him using similar systems on his Tormachs.
Awesome, MQL looks like a much cleaner way to go. But without the flood coolant pump with a sprayer hooked up to it, what’s your method for cleaning up chips? Seems like having a sprayer for that is advantageous.
The mist spray systems indeed work very well. We had a prototype set up on MR-1 a few years ago. The main downside is that your compressor will be running basically non stop. For hours long programs it can get annoying pretty fast, especially if your compressor is in your shop and not outside in a hush house.
I clean up with a brush and vacuum. The chips vacuum up very quickly because there isn’t anything sticky on them.
My compressor is a 2hp / 10 gallon California Air Tools machine. I use a long nozzle which allows for higher air velocity aimed more accurately, so my duty cycle isn’t so bad (about 20% with the spindle also running – my non-standard spindle requires active air). The compressor is pretty quiet, no silent, but you can’t hear it in other parts of the house.
This is a picture of the nozzle, which is made out of 3mm OD, 2mm ID brass tubing:
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