OT/ Coolant

[Tony]

Blasocut 2000 at 7% it is!

My boss told me to put the 55 gal drum

of S-500 on E bay..

Thanks again

Tony

[Finecut]

Tony,

Same problem here.This full synthetic crap is pealing my hands away.

Our big problem is changing it out. We are a medical device company. Our "New" coolant has to be tested for biocompatibility before I can change it out. This can take up to 2 months !!

mean while our vendors dont need thier's tested

Talk about BS.

And you dont want to know the last time our coolant was changed out.

We are going to test valcool 790 and with any luck blasocut 2000 CF also.

THe blasocut is a high mineral oil content. That would help the skin problem.

The valcool 790 is a newer coolant and is a semi synthetic. Ive got the cleaner, waste barrels, and the shovel ready. Now comes the wait.

 

finecut

[Jack Mitchell]

Yo Norbert,

 

I just have to ask.

The refractometer reading you obtained seems normal enough. My question is, how did you get the reading without plunging your forearms though this mystical slime?

 

It's sort of humorous now; but the blackened goop that I’ve had to clean from unused equipment was an experience - I think we have all been though.

 

Regards, Jack

[Jack Mitchell]

chris m,

 

The comment about the Valcool is cool.

When you stated that it doesn’t seem to like cast iron too much – sort of hits home.

The many times that I have faced machining cast iron, I have always had the same argument. Do I or Don’t I want too use coolant with this task?

 

I learned not to use coolant. The damn stuff will clump & rust into a solid in anyplace it piles. Particularly in the extreme corners of the machine tool guards. When this happens you need to slug it out of there.

 

A funny thing occurs when you machine the cast iron dry. It’s as if there is a common friendliness about cast iron chips and the machine tool bed. It’s almost as if there is an unspoken harmony – I know I’m looking like a weirdo here, but that’s my take on the nasty black stuff. Actually, I have a rusted piece permanently attached to my eye ball – just left of the cornea, thank God.

 

Who would ever have though that this discussion would amount to the amazing things that we have all shared here? I am blown away by the exacting science quoted by MfgEng and the flat out fears of those who have suffered, as I have with skin irritations.

Thank you Tony for asking the question about slowly being poisoned, this has proven to be one of the most informative discussions I have ever been involved with, I am sure that the other members would also agree. Wow, this group as, Southparks Eric Cartman would say – is, kick xxxx.

 

Regards, Jack

[chris m]

Jack

 

The cast iron situation for us is a bitch. My iron issue is that I primarily turn heat-treated ductile iron castings with ceramics using around 1000 SFM which generates very fine chips and considerable heat. The insert guys all want us to turn it dry but the tolerances I must hold (+/-.0002" on a diameter) make the amount of heat put into the part impossible to deal with, the parts change size too much and are very uncomfortable to handle when they come out of the machine (OUCH). The chips tend to form a very concrete-like sludge in the sump of the machine, which of course encourages bacteria growth and general scumminess (is that a word?) leading to the low-tide odor after a couple of months.

 

We do rough mill iron dry because coolant tends to thermal-crack the inserts and cause (very) premature failure. But we can only do this if the parts are going to another machine for finishing or if the sizes are pretty wide open.

 

C

[McRae]

I have been tied up with trying to genereate a Vectorized Probing Routine for a Mazak Integrex with Renishaw (Class Act Company...) and so I see that you all have been busy here.

 

One other thing I forgot to mention on the topic of coolant (Jack's scientific comment brought it back to life) is coolant tank foaming. This is caused from the emulsifier breaking down the surface tension of the water and so there is a higher tendency for foaming. Here is the thing, there is a relationship between water hardness and foaming propensity. Hard water gives less foam and soft water foams like crazy. If you want to check that the foaming problem is related to water hardness, preform the following experiment.

 

1) When in the washroom, bypass the urinal and go to the toilet bowl.

 

2) Lift lid and empty bladder.

 

3) Observe the foaming action at the boundry between air and water.

 

4) Count "Steamboats" until the foam disappears.

 

Observations and conlcusions:

 

The higher the number of steamboats observed indicates the softness of the water. Hard water will not foam for long, the Calcium molecules are "Shrap and Prickly" thereby bursting the bubbles.

 

The second alternative is to send a water sample to a lab.

 

Here at our plant we have a water softening unit to process the water before mixing.

[chris m]

My hack method to eliminate foaming is to dump about a quart of hydraulic oil into the coolant; usually cuts that foam right down.

 

Does anybody else do this or am I just a nut?

[Jack Mitchell]

chris m

 

Your'e nuts!

 

Regards, Jack

[JOVATO8]

Tony,

 

I switched over to BLASER(BLASOCUT) and all the guys are happy with it.

It also solved a problem we had with breaking tap on aluminum and copper.

 

Later

Joe

[Jack Mitchell]

MfgEng,

 

Where ever do you get this analytical approach?

Are you some kind of scientist?

 

I count many, many steamboats at home - I attribute this to our water softening system.

Oddly enough, Cincinatti stopped us from using Qualstar "C" despite my claim that it was the right coolant to use.

They would only allow us to use Qualstar due to the inherant problems with hard water in Cambridge Ont, tremndous amount of lime & calcium.

 

Should we ever get together with these differences in coolant choices - we should toast with the long tall glasses - please keep these close to your desk.

 

Thanks again, Jack

[McRae]

Jack,

 

i have to wear a helmet when I take a shower to prevent a concussion as the water in Paris is that Hard (We are downstream from Cambridge so watch the illegal dumping...)