Coolant system for milling machine

A

Ang_Panday

Joined
Jan 10, 2006
Messages
574
I usually use a squirt bottle when milling, but now I think its about to do some upgrade. Can somebody recommend a nice collant system that I could use :)
 
I don't mean to hijack your thread, I've been meaning to ask the same thing for a week or two.

I just got a used drill/mill. Not much use as of yet but I have high hopes. Looks like coolant is a must. After milling a very small amount of steel off the spine of a D2 folder blade I can tell there has been a degredation in the sharpness of my double ended HSS-endmill. Yes I went very slow and used tapping fluid and then switched to an oiler can that I think had Ballistal in it and stunk up the whole shop. Forgive my ignorance I really didn't know any better. I know coolant is the way to go but I just can't spend another $300 or whatever they cost, on a small coolant system.

I too would appreciate any suggestions on an economical setup for myself.
 
crguin said:
I don't mean to hijack your thread, I've been meaning to ask the same thing for a week or two.

I just got a used drill/mill. Not much use as of yet but I have high hopes. Looks like coolant is a must. After milling a very small amount of steel off the spine of a D2 folder blade I can tell there has been a degredation in the sharpness of my double ended HSS-endmill. Yes I went very slow and used tapping fluid and then switched to an oiler can that I think had Ballistal in it and stunk up the whole shop. Forgive my ignorance I really didn't know any better. I know coolant is the way to go but I just can't spend another $300 or whatever they cost, on a small coolant system.

I too would appreciate any suggestions on an economical setup for myself.
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Try using a coated carbide endmill instead of a HSS-endmill. If you only do small milling work then a squirt bottle will do. You could use a regular cooking oil ( corn oil ) as coolant. One benefit I like about is it is it's not health hazard compared to some commercial type of coolants :cool:

I do heavy milling work on 303 stainless steel and it works fine with me :thumbup:


You could get some carbides at http://www.sgstool.com/
Contact their technical support for recommendations :thumbup:
 
Try a "mist" cooler. They are the least messy, there is no oil to clean up, the are very cheap to run, and they keep the part much cooler than oil as well as lubricate it. I like the Trico one's in MSC or J&L, the small one is all you'll ever need. (Aprox. 1 quart.) Dabbing oil on the part is not good for the end mill when using carbide, it get's very hot then get's hit with oil which cool's it a little. This can cause tiny crack's in the cutter and wear it out much faster. The mist cooler is always blowing a fine mist on the part / cutter so it maintains a much cooler temp. while lubbing the cutter. And no, rust will not form on the machine, as long as you mix it right. One gal. of coolant will last most people well over a year, you get aprox. 30 - 40 gal. of mist coolant out of one gal of Tri-Cool or most any one of the brand's. You mix a few onces of the coolant with a quart of water. You can move it to any machine in your shop as well, milling, drilling, grinding, etc..
 
dmachine said:
Dabbing oil on the part is not good for the end mill when using carbide, it get's very hot then get's hit with oil which cool's it a little. .
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I have been doing this method for 5 years now and works very fine with me :thumbup: It keeps my carbide endmill cool and last a long time. The only thing I don't like is it's messy :thumbdn:

I have thought about mist coolers, but I have read from other forums that it makes the shop full of mist and can be health hazard.

One thing I like about using corn oil is it's absolutely safe. People use it to cook food :thumbup: I do not like using commercial coolants, because you would never know what would come out after using it and getting exposed to it for quite sometime :(
 
That air gun system is pretty cool. The only thing I would be worried about would be the chips flying everywhere from the blast. I guess you could put a small barrier though at the end of your table.

When I do milling, I just dab the tool or the part with lathe/mill oil. Works nicely for me and isn't really that dirty in my opinion. But you obviously have done that so I guess you want to run a different system.

Alex
 
If you have mist in the air from a mister you have mixed the coolant to thick, just add more water. When used correctly they work just fine.

Dabbing a carbide endmill is fine as long as you don't let it heat up and then hit it with oil or coolant. This shock's the micrograin carbides and makes them weak and chip easy. This is why flood or misting is much better.

A "Cold Gun" work's ok on some thing's, stuff than can't get wet for example. But they are not as good as misting, and the need alot of air to run. There are no chip's flying around with them, the air coming out of them is much lower presure than going it and it has a large opening at the nozzle. The back of a cold gun get's very hot, the front, or nozzle, will have a frost on it after awhile. The air coming out is about 65 deg. colder than the air going in.
I have one but almost never use it.

High presure flood is the best, low presure is 2nd, misting is 3rd, squirting or dabbing oil on the part (done right) is 4th. Anything else may or may not be better than nothing. Carbide can take alot of heat, and sometimes it's better to run dry than to keep shocking the cutter. The real thing you should be doing is running the end mill at the right speed & feed, most people don't.
 
Ang , I use a vortec cold air gun in my shop. :thumbup: I move it from my mills to my drill press, band saw, etc. I wouldn't be without it. No coolant mess is the best feature. Get one, you won't be disappointed ! ;) :)
 
David Wesner said:
Ang , I use a vortec cold air gun in my shop. :thumbup: I move it from my mills to my drill press, band saw, etc. I wouldn't be without it. No coolant mess is the best feature. Get one, you won't be disappointed ! ;) :)
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Is it easy to setup? What other equipment does it needs? Just a Compressor :confused:
 
Ang_Panday said:
Is it easy to setup? What other equipment does it needs? Just a Compressor :confused:
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I hooked mine up with some flex-tube, a simple ball valve w/elbow, a quick release for my air line and a homemade bar so that I can hook it to my mill, saw or whatever (attached with the high-tech hose clamps you see in pic :D ). Add an air compressor and that is it Ang. I'm not kidding when I say I use this thing all over my shop. I like it that much :thumbup:
 
I use a cold air gun on my surface grinder. does a good job. You do need enough of a compressor to meet the specified need of the air gun.

Used to us a coolant system, which worked, but got the cold air gun when the coolant system wore out.

I'll second David's suggestion to use a quick release fitting for the airline and gun....so you can use the airline for an air gun when not using the cold air gun....
 
I would like to try the vortex system. For now, I use micro grain carbide(coated) dry, high rpm. and slow feed. Works like a giant Dremel! Eats 416 SS just fine. Mike
 
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