# Setting up flood coolant on my lathe



## wquiles (Jun 22, 2013)

I am having a few challenges drilling into Titanium and with my Dorian cut knurler, so Barry (my machining mentor) recommended I try flood coolant instead of my near-dry cooling system.  So of course, I followed his advice 


The original cooling system that came with the lathe was of extremely low quality.  But, I decided to try use the hoses, at least to get started:










A neat thing about the factory "tank" is the hole with the mesh filter.  It allows fluid to go from one side to the other, but the debris stay at the bottom, and don't make it to the side of the pump:






Per Barry's recommendation I bought this pump.  It is excellent, and quiet!:






The factory "filter" on the chip pan had this really fragile screen:












So I decided to make something a little bit stronger and ticker, and used silicone sealant for it:
















For the tank, I used a plastic container from my local Target, and a plexiglass piece to act as dividing wall:






I drilled a lot of small holes to allow fluid to cross over, while letting debris stay on the bottom.  Then used silicon sealant again:














Here I am testing it - worked great:








For the switch, I am using a SPST on a metal case with a magnet on the back):
















I then cleaned and de-greased both contact areas, and once again, used silicone sealant.  Not pretty, but it works great (zero leaks!):






It is definitely more messy compared to the near-dry lubrication system, but it works great on the cut knurler, and then drilling Ti:






Will


----------



## righto88 (Jun 22, 2013)

Where did you get the pump. I got a "Little Giant" pump and put it in a 5 gal bucket. I am going to re-do mine now looking at yours. Very nice!

:man:


----------



## wquiles (Jun 22, 2013)

Amazon - here is the specific model #:


----------



## AGCB97 (Apr 27, 2017)

Is your pump still working? How much has it been used?
Thanks
Aaron


----------



## Silverbullet (Apr 28, 2017)

Looks Good but I don't understand why you didn't use the pump it came with. Up grade it fix the short comings , but not use it at all . Just seems wasteful not to be judging or trying to raise ruckus or anything , just asking.


----------

