Thread: which coolant ?

I use cimcool, have used it for years, comes in 20 lt containers.

have'nt heard of cimcool, but will look in to it.

Don't chuck it out just yet it may be still ok .
Place it in a white plastic drum with a tap in the bottom .
Let it stand for a week on a bench with the tap over the edge. This way most of the tramp oil and impurities will rise to the top or sink to the bottom.
Then without moving it tap off into a clean container while straining it through some chux towling in the funnel .
This way you can save 80% of the volume. If it smells ok then it can be used again.
Top up with some new mix to correct volume.
The only cutting oil I have tried is Rocol Ultracut Premium it works very well and does not stain the lathe . It is fairly expensive if you are using a big volume of it.
http://www.rocol.com.au/driver.asp?p...tracut+premium

http://www.rocol.com.au/pdf/safety/U...ium%20MSDS.PDF

http://www.rocol.com.au/pdf/technica...mium%20tds.pdf
I looked at Cimcool once before but could not find adequate saftey data on their site on the actual Cimcool product.
They only want to show data on seperate additives as far as I could find . Not good enough in my book .
Checked it again now and still the same as far as I can see .
http://www.cimcool.com/
I like to know a bit about the actual finished product I may be breathing when the job gets hot and the coolant is producing fumes .
It may be fine but I cant tell from ther lack of useful information.
I chose a Rocol product because of the excellent safety & product information available.

thanx Retro, some good info there for me to follow up on.

just as a mtter of interest what does the Rocol stuff cost you ?

anyone heard or using a product called "greencut", seem a reference to it on a US site but can't find any info in it ?

If you search you should find plenty of local suppliers of many different types of cutting fluids,all with there own benifits and colours,some neat and others solubile.
I would probably stay with the oil you are currently using.
How lung have you had this oil in your sump for.
Is it (dirty) from what you have been machining.I dont understand what you mean by dirty.
How often do you top your tank up.
Depending on the material and the cutting conditions you have, the cost of a different type of oil may not be justified.

Originally Posted by pipeclay

How lung have you had this oil in your sump for.
about a year, usually filter and top up every 12months or so

Is it (dirty) from what you have been machining.I dont understand what you mean by dirty.
Maybe "dirty" is not the right word to have used. Starting to form a large oil slick on top of the "coolant". but once thats drained away it shouldnt be to bad.

How often do you top your tank up.
as per above

my question was more out of interest in what other ppl are using and any benifets if any and any cost advantage

How much are you paying now.
Just out of my curiosity how big is your tank,mine is about 40 litres on the lathe around 60 on the mill and I need to top up about 6 to 8 weeks just through evaporation.

It was about $95 for 4 or 5 liters.
It sounds expensive but it dilutes at 40 -1 so it goes a fair way for the amature machinist.
Maybe not economical for a professional . I don't know.
It also makes a fair tapping fluid used neat.

Originally Posted by pipeclay

How much are you paying now.
Just out of my curiosity how big is your tank,mine is about 40 litres on the lathe around 60 on the mill and I need to top up about 6 to 8 weeks just through evaporation.

I guess my tank would be about 15 ltr ( it feeds to both the lathe and the mill), goes to show how much I use either machine and or coolant.
Although I tend to only use the soluble Oil for ferrous work, prefer Wd40 or Inox for Aluminium

my set up can be seen here
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/adding-coolant-tank-39167

Bumpity bump

How did you go with the fish tank pump to circulate the coolant?

I'm about to move my lathe and mill and set up flood coolant, but I'm worried about smelly tanks.

What about this stuff from Hare&Forbes? https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Pr...stockCode=S090

Originally Posted by John H

How did you go with the fish tank pump to circulate the coolant?

I'm about to move my lathe and mill and set up flood coolant, but I'm worried about smelly tanks.

What about this stuff from Hare&Forbes? https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Pr...stockCode=S090

If it is used as is then $44 for five liters is too expensive. Again a product being sold with no materials saftey data or specifications . If its Hafco its most likely made in China.
The Rocol Ultracut premium is $100 for 5 liters that dilutes at 40 to 1 thats 200 liters of coolant . Prices may have gone up a bit since I bought mine but you need to work out how far a coolant dilutes first to see how much it really is costing per liter of usable coolant.

Originally Posted by John H

How did you go with the fish tank pump to circulate the coolant?

I'm about to move my lathe and mill and set up flood coolant, but I'm worried about smelly tanks.

What about this stuff from Hare&Forbes? https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Pr...stockCode=S090

the my pump is actually a fountain pump bought from bunnings, the aerator is a faulty unit (oxegenator)from a spa

the ultracut sounds like the go, but for it to be cost effective It would need to be a shared purchase.

I am using the Hare and forbes coolant at the moment, as long as you airate it it's fine.It cost me nothing, as they though 5ltrs in with the package deal.I would buy coolant in 20ltrs if the price was right, but all the brands I have seen get expensive, just for coolant?
The front of the Hare and Forbes coolant container reads

A millky white,non-phenolic general purpose,water misclble cutting fluid
Mixing
general purpose machining 1:20
milling drilling taping 1:10
machining cast iron 1:25
Dave