Water soluble coolant

[Rob WheatleyParticipant @robwheatley66643]

Probably a silly question but I have just fitted a mist coolant system and about to fit a flood coolant one too, now do I have to dry the table/vice totally to avoid them rusting or does the coolant have a corrosion inhibitor in it? not so worried about the slots on the table just the top surface and the vice.

The coolant I'm using is Sarsol at 20:1 mix.

Thanks

Rob

[Rob WheatleyParticipant @robwheatley66643]

[Jim NicParticipant @jimnic]

I use water soluble coolant quite a lot although not the brand you quote. I find that if left to drain, the water that doesn't drain away evaporates from the mixture overnight leaving an oily film on the machines and swarf trays. The only problem, if you see it as such, is that where it gets trapped under slides or vices etc it leaves a harmless (as far as I know) stain in the metal. Never ever had any rust develop.

Jim

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

Never had a problem with the table etc rusting using the correct strength coolant but yes I have seen rust under vices. I used to apply oil liberally under the vice bottom before bolting down.

Tony

[Anonymous]

I use Hysol XF from Castrol as flood coolant on multiple machines. As said above, when the water evaporates it leaves an oily film. There's one caveat, I've only seen surface rust on the lathe when I've let the concentration fall too low. Every time I top up the coolant I check the concentration with a refractometer and adjust as necessary. I generally run at around 7-8% concentation, in the middle of the manufacturer recommendations for turning and milling and the upper end for grinding.

Andrew

[Nigel McBurney 1Participant @nigelmcburney1]

Soluble oils have always left staining under vices .rotary tables etc,rusting caused by soluble oil is a more recent occurance in the last 30 years ago, no due to legislation the some additives have been removed and bacteria growth is now more common this tends to eat the oil and make the water acidic causing corrosion,Castrol suggested using disenfectant ,I tried jeyes fluid but did not work,and also aereate the fluid often as the bacteria seems to grow when the machine is not in use. Changing the fluid more frequently seems to be one option. Back in the late1980s where I worked four cnc machine suffered from bacteria growth,theses were running 24/7 yet the high performance solubles oil had bacteria growth ,as the project only lasted 6 months we lived with it.On an automated machining cell,where stoppages had to be kept to a minimum, the problem was resolved by using a very expensive neat oil,initially developed by Boeing for high speed routing of aircraft components. the oil was applied as an air blasted mist. Soluble oil no doubt had to be changed many years ago as in my youth there were lots of cases of dermatits ,particularly when working on capstan lathes,and the soluble also rotted your shoes and boots until someone found that the old TUF shoes of the 1960s stood up to the oil, but for machining and long life it was far better.

[Rob WheatleyParticipant @robwheatley66643]

Will adjust the mixture, says between 10 and 20:1 so will make it nearer 10:1.

I did put a film of oil under the vice before bolting it down, will take it off every so often and clean/renew the oil.

Now just have to get the table to drain the right way, only one drain point and sod's law says the coolant goes to the other end!!

[Fowlers FuryParticipant @fowlersfury]

Perhaps your greater concern ought to be exposure to oil mist viz " I have just fitted a mist coolant system".
It's less of a problem in a workplace fitted with approved, adequate exhaust ventilation, but if you've a home workshop without such controls or proper respiratory & eye protection, please consider doing a search on "Inhalation of oil mist".

[larry phelan 1Participant @larryphelan1]

I use soluble oil on my lathe and mill and like others have said, when the water drains away, an oily film is left, but rust does not seem to be a problem.

Years ago I did use Dromus oil, from Shell, no less, which caused rust all over the place. Got onto Shell about it, still waiting for a reply [it,s only 20 years ago, so no rush ] Changed over to a different product from my local Farm Shop and no problems since.

Regarding rust under vises ect, I use a piece of anti rust paper on the table, which seems to help, but I dont leave anything bolted to the table all the time.

The big problem, as I see it, is that we do not change the contents of the tank often enough [who wants to throw out "good" oil }, so it goes "off" and perhaps does more harm than good. Maybe a smaller tank is the answer ?

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

An increase in the strength of the mix would help if only small quantities are used. We use Rocol soluble oil at the museum, but only in squeezy bottles at 10:1.

[colin vercoeParticipant @colinvercoe57719]

Oil under the vice etc with WD 40 will help reduce staining of the table if left bolted down for long periods

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