[lendaddy]

Originally posted by LubeMaster77
Also - in order to get a better understanding of your place, lets try to nail down the following:

What kinds of machines are being used? mills, lathes, saws, and grinders?

Cold saws, CNC mills, Carbide bladed chop saws (for aluminum).

What metals are being worked? Brass? Bronze? Stainless steel? Titanium? Nickel alloys? The list is nearly endless but groups of metals have common characteristics. Should the answer be that a variety of metals are being worked, get a list and determine which metal is the most worked? FYI, there are over 60 carbon steel varieties, 50 aluminum alloys, 90 tool steels, 25 stainless steels, and 60 nickel alloys for starters.

The cold saws cut 50% 400 series stainless & 50% 300 series stainless. It is all tubing 1/2"Ø to 4"Ø, .028" to .125" wall.

The aluminum is all extrusions, generally 6061 T-6, standard stuff. The other non-ferrous have always worked well with our Al cutting equip.

What type of shop is this? Job shop? Prototype? Mass production? Specialty operation? Single operation?


Mass production, we run thousands of cuts day, millions and millions a year

What is being used now?

For the steel work we use the "PPG recool gold", they renamed it a while back, but it's a water soluble cutting fluid. We mix it with water at 40 or 50:1. We have used other stuff in the past that had chlorine for high pressure anti friction, but my customers complain about the residue

The non-ferrous we use the Unist vegetable oil based stuff. You can find that at Unist.com

For cleaning , you are correct it is the n-propylbromide, which is (as I understand it) as safer alternative to Tri-chlor We use ultrasonic vapor-degreasing machines that house it in fluid state. There are cooling coils about a foot above the fluid and the space between is a 160° vapor of the solvent. It works really well.

What types of problems are you having now and what they are trying to achieve?

We are always looking for a better cutting fluid to extend blade life. We are fairly happy with the PPG, but it never hurts to ask around for better quality and/or price

The non-ferrous coolant is the same story, but more so on the price side

The n-propylbromide is all about price, it works great, but it's killing me $ wise. I pay over a grand a barrel and it lasts three weeks to a month.



Sorry for so many questions, but in order to provide you with the best ideas, I need to get a bit detailed. Thanks.

No problem, I appreciate your time. I know how busy one can get in the sales racket. If all you can offer is advise, that's cool too. I truly do appreciate it.