coolant and small cnc mills

[countryguy]

I bought a small Mister unit from Production Tool Supply (on the web) and this unit is carried by many other online places. Came w/ a Qt of fluid as well. Read read read is about all I can say w/ something in which health concerns are of importance. I love my unit. The air pressure required is very tiny. And it does a GREAT job. A few ounces for a 5Gal bucket! And I have cut a lot of 1045 w/ carbide and this unit w/ no issues thus far. w/ the smaller CNC mills your removal rate is often pretty small. So I felt comfortable putting this to good use. Dry's clean and w/ a little bit of a film that is "lube like" in feel. Enjoy CG

 

[xalky]

+1 vote for the kool-mist setup. It's a good cooling setup without all the mess. Set it up like Ray sais and there will be no mist in the breathing environment.

I wish I could say that for the flood coolant setup I have on my big lathe. Flood coolant also deposits quite a bit of humidity in the air from just sitting there.I use the flood coolant on my big lathe because, it's easier when making heavy cuts, I have splash guards everywhere and some of the coolant thru drill bits I use require it. But my smaller machines use the koolmist setup with the #77 solution.

 

[andyman]

I'm surprise nobody here recommended or event mentioned MQL cooling. MQL = minimum quantity lubricant. If your running a small mill and want to avoid the mess of flood and the problems with mist then MQL is what you want.

MQL allows you to cut almost dry. It reduces friction down to a minimum and so the tool bit does not get hot (hours of runtime are only barely warm tool bits). The chips on the other hand gets hot. I recommend anyone to watch MQL cooling on you tube.

The only problem with MQL is cost. You need a pump and special lubricant (accu-lube LB2000 for example). But with MQL you get much better performance then mist, you avoid the mess and toxicity of flood, and theres a possibility of faster cut speed because lubricants are not diluted in water like flood or mist. You also avoid bacterial or fungus growth.