Dealing with flood cooling

[d-m]

Hay All
So I got a bug up my butt and decided to hook up the flood coolant on my Cincinnati tool master milling machine. First let me say wow what a difference it made .500 4 flute end mill .300 depth of cut spindle @ 480 .750 IPM in steel just as sweet as could be, I really think I could have feed it @1.100 IPM and the finish is really nice.
But How do some of you deal with the mess? My table drains well but of course there are the pockets and the vise that holds the coolant I would hate to have to pull the vise every time and clean it then re square any advice or tips?
I am just using a water based coolant that is sold at Napa I have seen what some coolants do to machines and how grungy the coolant gets when it dries.
Thanks
Dave

 

[MuellerNick]

Coolant does nothing to machines, if you keep the mixture rich enough. You need a refractometer. Everything else is a lottery.


Nick

 

[SmithDoor]

I use just air and bush oil on if need. It is cleaner that flood both on me and the floor

Dave

 

[rkepler]

Flood coolant really does help finish and allows you to drive things quite a bit harder, but it's kind of a PITA to keep in the shop what with the occasional use of machinery, tramp oil catchment and the anerobic bacteria that can make things smelly in that environment.

For me the solution was fairly simple - I use a microdrop system. Small amounts of lube right on the work or tool and air to blow swarf clear so there's no recutting and little surface scrubbing. I happen to use a Trico 1200 unit but there are other less expensive units on the market - or better on eBay as these things tend to be expensive.