Mister or Flood

I spoke to a chap at work that had been employed to manufacture parts for missiles and weapons regarding coolant for aluminium. He said he has used ethylene glycol (radiator fluid) mixed with water and has also used methylated spirits. He said the glycol mix was good because it had corrosion inhibitors and that the methylated spirits was good because it didn't stain the aluminium being machined.

I havn't tried this but the guy seemed very knowledgable so I may give this a test when I get some time.

Paul.
 
I do not have one here at home, but I did have the opportunity to use one in a maintenance shop where I used to work. I liked it, you could control the coolant quite well, and could keep it from creating a fog in the air too like the others have said. I've been thinking about getting one for here at home, just have not yet pulled the trigger on it, too many other things to take care of right now.
 
darkzero said:
I don't use misters or flood for the same reasons mentioned, too messy to use in my home garage, well for flood that is. I just use air or apply fluids the old fashioned way with luer-lok bottle or brush. I have a second cold air gun that I scored new in the box for the mill but I haven't hooked it up yet. But using a vortex air gun isn't exactly air efficient. I have 77 gallons of air & I would still like more.

A couple of others I know use MQL systems, Accu-Lube to be exact. One of them used to use a mister. They both swear by them but they are very expensive if you don't score them for a great deal.

I use Tap Magic Alum or WD40 for Al & Boelube for Ti & everything else sparingly as cutting fluid. I use Boelube paste for the bandsaw. One thing I heard about misters is that depending on the solutions used, they can cause stains on Al or rust on the machines if not cleaned up but I don't know the truth in that.
Click to expand...

Northern tool in Tyler offers a remaned air compressor for around $400 on their website.
 
I am using the mister from Little Machine Shop. http://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=3804&category=
It puts out a little more than I desired so I built a solenoid operated valve with a pulse timer. It turns air on and off on whatever timing I desire.
Works quite well but I still only use it in certain situations. Most of the time I was a spray bottle of WD40 like a lot of the guys.
The mister setup I have works good when I want hands free or I really want to keep the tool and/or part cool.
I agree you must use only what is recommended or supplied with it. One thing I read about online was some water based coolant/lubricants can grow bacteria and than you are spraying that into the air.
Solution 77 inhibits bacteria growth but then the "inhibit" does not mean it totally prevents growth.
The 77 solution is mixed 32:1 which means a quart bottle that was supplied with it will last a long, long time.
I am only mixing it with distilled water because I don't want to subject the equipment to any more contaminants than I have too and you are starting with water than should not have any sort of organic material in it to start with to grow into bacteria.
I would suggest when the system is not in use to blow the lines out to discourage bacterial growth.
Once again though WD40 for most things is great. Especially works perfect on aluminum.

Have a great day.

Ed
 
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How did I live this long without one? I'm impressed!

Been running the mister all morning on a couple projects and it works great. After tweaking the settings, I found a nice combination of mist and spray droplets using hardly any air pressure. The finish was fantastic, there's no water pooling-up and the parts are almost bone dry after a cut. -Not only that, the part and carbide inserts were cold. I was quite skeptical but this mornings' work really changed my mind.

Here's a piece of 1045 after a 25 thou DoC.

Ray

Misted Metal.JPG

Misted Metal.JPG
 
I've been trying to decide about coolant also. I've been just brushing oil on so far. I looked over the various systems and don't want a liquid or mist system because of the mess. I'm thinking I like the Fog Buster, but have a few questions about the operation.

I assume the tank is just an inline canister type filter housing with a pipe added to pick up fluid from the bottom of the canister and that the air feed and canister are pressurized with the same air pressure and the fluid flow rate is metered by an adjustable valve on the fluid line.

?1: Does the fluid tend to siphon out continuously when pressure is off if the tank is positioned above the work? If not what stops it?

?2: I think I would use an electrically controlled pneumatic valve to turn it on and off. When turned off it seems there would still be some pressurized air in the fluid canister. What keeps it from continuing to spray forth fluid until that pressure is gone?

?3: When starting up, is the fluid line full of air that takes a while to clear out? If so, is an auto bleed air valve used or needed to get the air purged faster?

For coolant it seems KoolMist 77 is one of the most universal and safest. I don't have much ventilation around my tools. A similar alternative may be this: Premier 600 Synthetic Coolant
http://www.tormach.com/store/index.php?app=ecom&ns=prodshow&ref=31750

I don't suppose I will use coolant very fast.
?4: Is it effective to add a small amount of sodium hypochrlorate (bleach) to the solution to prevent bacterial growth? Or is there some problem with that?

Thanks.
 
On mine and I believe the one Ray got it is a venturi tube setup that pulls the coolant from the bottle. Mine is combined in the nozzle itself but Ray's maybe done in the connection block.
I am controlling the air by a electric operated valve but being it is a venturi process it only sprays when air valve is opened. As Tony has said the bottle that the solution is siphoned from needs to be near the level of the nozzle for it to work correctly. Especially on mine being I pulse the spray if the bottle is too low the soultion runs back and when it tries to spray nothing comes out unless spray pulse is increased.
The bacteria growth issue I think a lot of manufacturers have taken into account after the fact. The 77 solution is suppose to have an anti-bacterial agent in it but I agree it is a concern.
One reason I control mine by pulsing a valve is to decrease that mist that can be generated and you breath in. I haven't played with my system to much to tweak it all in for all around best results.


Ed
 
Hi Guys...

A couple more observations and comments here after being in front of the lathe all day.

1) I really like this thing.
2) I liked it so much, I bought 2 more (for mill and surface grinder) and a gallon jug of love potion #77.
3) With the settings tweaked where I like them, there is no residual moisture anywhere around the part. The droplets/mist hit the part and evaporate as the cut takes place.
4) The amount of pressure and mist/droplets needed to keep things cool and maintain a nice finish in medium carbon steel is amazingly small !
5) While boring a 1.125" dia hole with a drill bit in the tailstock, I could feel the heat from the part being carried away as steam. The part was warm when finished but, much cooler from what I'd normally expect.
6) I used the lathe for about 6 hours (turning the mister off when not in use) and used approximately 5 fl.oz. of the diluted solution in that time.
7) Parts come out of the lathe cool instead of warm.
8) As hoped, the air pressure is not intense enough to cause concern that swarf is getting wedged into critical areas (or my eyes).
9) So far, so good... I can't even smell the stuff and no weird reactions. Matter of fact, no headache from cutting oil fumes today.


Ray
 
Ray,

You sold me on one! I like the no headache from fumes by product. I have an old one i pulled off a scrap mill, cleaned it up but never installed it, thought it would be crappy. I'll give it a try and if it i'll buy one
Do the chips come off pretty hot still?
 
Yes. Chips still come off hot but part and bit stay much, much cooler.

LOL: I've got a nice "6" branded into my face as of yesterday. Was wearing goggles and that little indigo devil landed right on my cheek and honkered in. Heard it sizzle and saw the smoke rising past my eye glasses.

Oh yeah.... So after several days more of lathe work and I'm only 1/2 way through the original quart of diluted coolant. At this rate, a gallon of undiluted solution will last a year or two.



toag said:
Ray,

You sold me on one! I like the no headache from fumes by product. I have an old one i pulled off a scrap mill, cleaned it up but never installed it, thought it would be crappy. I'll give it a try and if it i'll buy one
Do the chips come off pretty hot still?
Click to expand...
 
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