# Flood coolant and chip control



## TCSmith (May 21, 2021)

I had a few minutes to play with the lathe. I have been thinking about getting the flood coolant up and running lately. 
One big issue I had was no back splash (pretty sure that is not what it's called). The 3 phase pump was no bueno and no piping came with the lathe.
Ordered and received a small 220 single phase coolant pump. 
Turned a spacer to get the pump off the bottom of the tank.
Ordered and waiting on some loc line parts 
Pulled some 16ga out of the shed and got to beating it into a shape I don't mind.
Plumbing and some other additions still to come 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			











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## Mitch Alsup (May 21, 2021)

That lathe is FAR too clean !!


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## erikmannie (May 21, 2021)

I have had good luck using Mobilmet 766 Neat Cutting Fluid. It is an oil so you don’t get the stink of old, soluble CF. 

Who wants to switch out their CF every few months? Certainly not me. Plus I didn’t have to buy a refractometer.


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## erikmannie (May 21, 2021)

Mitch Alsup said:


> That lathe is FAR too clean !!



We’ll see how clean it is after he gets the CF going LOL.


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## ddickey (May 21, 2021)

Plus you don't have to ever worry about rust.


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## Video_man (May 22, 2021)

I used the coolant system on my lathe. Once. Just once.  It gets everywhere, in the chuck, in the ways, under the crosslide, in your face....even a small dribble gets tossed around to be more trouble than it's worth, IMHO.  Like it on the mill and horizontal saw.


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## nnam (May 23, 2021)

I used water once on a drill press to drill stainless tubings.  It worked very well and kept my drill bit from going dull after many drills. It definitely causes surface rust later though.   I like it alot because my body doesn't tolerate any chemicals at all.


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## Janderso (May 23, 2021)

I’ve used the kool-mist on my mill a few times. It’s great for clearing chips and keeping things cool and lubricated.
Yep, makes a mess.
My lathe is set up for flood coolant. Never used it, yet.
I can see the coolant in the chuck, on the ceiling, on my self and everywhere it can sling.


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## erikmannie (May 23, 2021)

I regularly use the flood coolant system on my lathe. At RPMs over 72 or so, I turn off the spigot when the cutting tool gets close to the chuck. Still messy, but not as messy as CF on rotating chuck jaws.

I often work on large diameter pipe which extends over the ways, so a lot of the CF drains on to the floor. I wonder if anybody ever puts something on the floor (e.g. a cookie sheet or towel) in order to help contain the mess.


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## ddickey (May 23, 2021)

I'm going to try denatured alcohol soon.


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## Shootymacshootface (May 23, 2021)

I have Koolmist on my big mill. It works good and I don't mind the moisture around the vise. It doesn't make surface rust, but it will leave a dark stain under the vise. I was curious how it doesn't make things rust, so I looked it up. It has a synthetic oil in it that freely mixes with water. The recommended mixture ratio is 4oz to 1gal. A 1gal jug will make about a 55gal drums worth of coolant!


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## erikmannie (May 23, 2021)

ddickey said:


> I'm going to try denatured alcohol soon.



You’re going to put denatured alcohol in a flood coolant system?


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## ddickey (May 23, 2021)

@erikmannie no. Guess I was off topic a little. In my mister.


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## Winegrower (May 23, 2021)

I also use KoolMist on the mill, lathe and saw.   Those air/coolant mixers are pretty cheap and can be plumbed into your air system so they are always available, so I have one for each machine.   The mess is probably about as minimal as it could be for an inherently messy operation.


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## TCSmith (May 24, 2021)

ddickey said:


> @erikmannie no. Guess I was off topic a little. In my mister.


Will you be creating an explosion hazard?  Also just a general work area hazard having aerosolized it in the air.
MSDS for Denatured Alcohol


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## TCSmith (May 24, 2021)

erikmannie said:


> I have had good luck using Mobilmet 766 Neat Cutting Fluid. It is an oil so you don’t get the stink of old, soluble CF.
> 
> Who wants to switch out their CF every few months? Certainly not me. Plus I didn’t have to buy a refractometer.


You pump this from a sump just like soluble coolant?  
I imagine it would not cool as well as the coolant but I'm all about using oils instead.


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## ddickey (May 24, 2021)

Sorry Isopropyl not denatured. Will use it with my Noga Minicool which I converted to mare of a droplet type spray. Got the idea here.


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## erikmannie (May 24, 2021)

TCSmith said:


> You pump this from a sump just like soluble coolant?
> I imagine it would not cool as well as the coolant but I'm all about using oils instead.



My PM-1660TL lathe came with a flood coolant system (110V sump pump,  5+ gallon reservoir). I did not want to get into the stinky zone with soluble coolant; I am not interested in a microbiology experiment.

I did some research, including calling the manufacturer, and they said it is totally fine to use cutting fluid. I don’t think that I ever have to change it.

Here is a picture of my floor, though:




Edit: I should have swept up the chips before posting that photo.


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## matthewsx (May 25, 2021)

erikmannie said:


> My PM-1660TL lathe came with a flood coolant system (110V sump pump,  5+ gallon reservoir). I did not want to get into the stinky zone with soluble coolant; I am not interested in a microbiology experiment.
> 
> I did some research, including calling the manufacturer, and they said it is totally fine to use cutting fluid. I don’t think that I ever have to change it.
> 
> ...


Nope....


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## TCSmith (May 27, 2021)

Did some practicing on Tig brazing with silicon bronze. Turned out ok.
Got the plumbing supplies in and hooked up the pump, distribution manifold and feed/drain hoses. I may need to reevaluate some of my plumbing choices this pump creates more pressure than I was expecting. May need a bleed off circuit to reduce the line pressure.
Overall I am happy with the install. Can't wait to try it out and make a big ass mess! 
The mobilmet 766 is nice and thin smells almost of hydraulic oil. Not terrible but also not super pleasant. I'll go with tolerable.
I'll have to keep an eye on the mill table, might need to increase the drain tube size. 1/2" looks like it might be a bit too small.
	

	
	
		
		

		
			

















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