[Peter Neill]

The water in my area is very hard - 383mg/l of calcium carbonate - so I use distilled water in the coolant. No ill effects so far.

[Jeff E.]

Sorry, but you guys need something else to do. I mix chicken bones and bat wings in my coolant to keep everything operating.... How about cutting some metal.

Jeff

[GLCarlson]

Why?

Many -not all- coolant systems are microemulsions. They are picky about order of addition when making final dilutions from concentrates. If one expands the continuous phase the wrong way, the emulsion may break and be difficult to re-form. Easy way to tell most of the time: the finished coolant is clear (not, necessarily, colorless) if it's a microemulsion. Generally, adding a small amount of external (continuous) phase to an already formed microemulsion won't break it, so make-up water can (usually) be added. The older the emulsion, the more fragile it will be due to degradation of components, biocontamination, etc, so what works day one may not at day one-eighty.

[BAMCNC.COM]

I just do whatever I feel like to my Kool Mist Flood Coolant, so far about 8 months on same coolant, just add water and coolant when I see the color change from the sky blue I'm looking for. I don't need a science degree for that.

[Spinnetti]

Looks like I have lots to learn.. before my Tormach, I used a mister with coolant and tap water mix, and my mill started rusting in about 15 minutes after done cutting, so I had to break everything down and clean/dry it well. When I got the Tormach, I use distilled and Tormachs coolant, and it still rusts up in some spots, some times, so I still have to to some drying if leaving for a while - since I'm a hobby user, its kind of a pain to have to tear down setups and dry off to avoid the rust... (and with the Tormach design, I lose a LOT through evaporation sitting in the pan and bellows)

[takewhatyoulike]

Yep evaporation is a real issue with the Tormach design. I don’t have rust issues with my Tormach. There was an issue with Tormach paint dissolving and forming a plastic like film that clogged my coolant pump. When the entire coolant system was cleaned and the residual paint was removed the coolant system worked like new again. The paint incident was after about five years of use. FYI the paint on my Kurt vise that was exposed the same amount of time to the same coolant solution still looks like new. I use a 10% solution of Valcool VP650 and plain tap water. BTW I don’t drink tap water, only drink untreated water I get from an artesian well at 7.5K ft elevation or as Arrowhead water says “water from a higher source”. BTW Arrowhead water gets their pretreated water about a mile down the road from my house. I live at 6K ft. elevation.

Another improvement for Tormach would be to use the same paint as on my Kurt vise.

Don Clement

[mike sr1]

DI and distilled are 2 totally different animals. Yes you can use distilled for some coolants. Some coolants are blended for tap water and need the extra minerals to work correctly. I don't know the coolant your using, but I will say in general, with years of experience with the big name brands, distilled water causes the coolant to foam when aerated. You may not ever see a problem with low volume, low pressure pumps. Some coolants will eventually turn to bubble gum when dry from the wrong water. The larger companies will ask you to send them a water sample so they can recommend the correct coolant for your application. As with all coolants, mix the concentrate to the water, not water to concentrate, and never add plain water to your tank, even if it's only a 1% mix to top off.

I am a Hobbist type too and I had a problem with the table rusting with the Tormach coolant and tap water. I switched to a soluble oil and RO water and thoroughly cleaned everything to the point of running rubbing alcohol thru the lines etc.
I havent had the rusting problem again although when I let it sit for awhile I get staining on the table and vise parts, not bad but there is some. The evaporation is an issue here too, the machine will go thru 3 to 5 gallons of water a week. I am in the process of running the table drains to the sump and a few other things to keep the coolant off the stand and hopefully cut down on the evaporation issue.

[Spinnetti]

I use a refractometer to check and keep my coolant concentration @ ~10% http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/b...ter-w-atc.html

Don Clement


Chance the Gardener: This is just like television, only you can see much further.

Does it have to be any specific kind? Fleabay seems to have lots of inexpensive ones?

[SCzEngrgGroup]

Does it have to be any specific kind? Fleabay seems to have lots of inexpensive ones?

Beware - some coolants don't give a useful reading with a refractometer. I use KoolMist 77, and it reads just like pure water.

Regards,
Ray L.

[takewhatyoulike]

Beware - some coolants don't give a useful reading with a refractometer. I use KoolMist 77, and it reads just like pure water.

Regards,
Ray L.

I don’t claim to know it all about refractometers and all water soluble coolants but I do know about using the refractometer with the two water soluble coolants I have used with my Tormach: Mobilmet S122 and ValCool VP650. The refractometer correction factor for ValCool VP650 is 0.9 and refractometer correction factor Mobilmet S122 is ~1.0. Really a moot point though as I adjust my refractometer reading with what works best for me on my Tormach flood coolant for the material I machine most i.e. aluminum 6061-T6 based on my experience with using that particular coolant at that particular concentration. For me the coolants I use on my Tormach work out best to be ~10% concentration as measured with a refractometer. YMMV

FYI http://itwfpg.wordpress.com/2009/11/...refractometer/ BTW March 23 was the 40th anniversary of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.

Don Clement

[SCzEngrgGroup]

Are you still able to buy Mobilmet S122? I've been trying to find it, and everywhere I look that used to sell it, it's been discontinued.

Regards,
Ray L.

[takewhatyoulike]

Are you still able to buy Mobilmet S122? I've been trying to find it, and everywhere I look that used to sell it, it's been discontinued.

Regards,
Ray L.

Availability of Mobilmet S122 is why I switched to ValCool VP650 a couple of years ago. Mobil doesn’t sell Flying Horse Telescope oil anymore either. http://palomarskies.blogspot.com/200...scope-oil.html
Don Clement

[rlockwood]

Beware - some coolants don't give a useful reading with a refractometer. I use KoolMist 77, and it reads just like pure water.

Regards,
Ray L.

Should still be able to mix up a reference batch, no? or does it truly read like pure water regardless of concentration?

In general, i'd say it simply depends on the quality of your tap water. Most municipal water supplies will be sufficient. A previous shop I worked for required distilled water, as their primary water source was from a well which resulted in poor coolant performance (coolant wouldn't stay in solution, bacterial growth was rampant, etc.) which all went away with distilled. Keep tramp oil out, keep bacteria out, filter particulates as best as you can, and accept that every once in awhile it's worth the time/money to empty it all out and start fresh. There's nothing quite like the smell of a fresh batch of coolant, and it sure does spray off nicer.

I've found concentration can vary wildly without much impact on cut quality or tool life. Residue on the completed parts can make for what appears to be poor finish, but it disappears with a cleaning. Residue on windows, vises, tables, etc, though can be a huge inconvenience. It gets sticky, and then the chips stick, and eventually your paint fails.

[takewhatyoulike]

It gets sticky, and then the chips stick, and eventually your paint fails.

Only tormach paint fails. paint on my Kurt vise looks new.

Don Clement

[rlockwood]

Only tormach paint fails. paint on my Kurt vise looks new.

Don Clement

They all fail eventually if used properly...

[takewhatyoulike]

They all fail eventually if used properly...

The Kurt vise is going on five years with no paint degradation so I must not be using it properly. ;-)

Don Clement

[zephyr9900]

Don, I thought Kurt vises were powder-coated. I know my Tormach/Magnum 5" vise is.

Randy

[takewhatyoulike]

Don, I thought Kurt vises were powder-coated.

Randy

If Kurt vises are powder coated than I wish my Tormach 1100 had been also.

Don Clement