Joe CoolMy name is Stan and I'm a Coolantoholic.A look at my shelf shows Relton A9, Kooltool, Alcohol, Enco #1 (there don't seem to be any other numbers), light and heavy thread cutting oil, Tap Magic, Tap Magic for Aluminum, Tap Magic Heavy Weight, ReLion, WD-40. Lard? That's where I draw the line.
There are Spillmasters next to each machine. Mill, lathe, bandsaws: they all have their own can and brush. Lab wash bottles. Tuna fish cans and a gross of acid brushes.
This is getting out of hand. The other problem is that wet chips are difficult to clean up and vacuum. Cutting a slot is always a pain because the damp chips tend to pack the slot so it's table crank handle in one hand and air nozzle in the other.
Flood coolant looks to be a pain what with filters, pumps, tramp oil filters, refractometers and the like. Mist systems, unless tuned correctly are prone to airborne fog.
A few weeks ago I was waiting my turn at a supplier, drinking their dreadful coffee and mumbling about coolants and lubricants and ran into a rep for Trico. I then got the pitch about MQL and NDM.
Having no idea what he was talking about, I stopped him for a definition and learned more than I needed to know about Minimum Quantity Lubrication, also known as Near Dry Machining.
He asked where I worked and I jokingly said that I was the boss at the Pennsylvania headquarters of C.E.M.S. (I do admit that I didn't expand that to Close Enuf Machine Shop).
So, there I was, driving home with a demo unit of the Trico MD 1200. (Micro Drop)
After a few days I returned it to him and ordered one.
Air and a tiny bit of lube/coolant sprayed on the tool from 1-2" away. The air and coolant controls are independent. The air is adjusted to just blow the chips away and a minuscule amount of cutting fluid is sprayed directly on the tool. By minuscule, I mean if I hold my finger ( machine off of course) in the nozzle path, it takes about 10 seconds to notice any liquid.
I first thought that this can't do anything. That was Incorrect.
1. The chips are blown away so they're not recut, nor can they jam a slot.
2. The air provides some cooling
3. The finish is better
4. I tried an 8" long cut (.4" D.O.C) at about 2300 RPM. The part and the end mill were at room temp after the cut.
5. Applying the fluid directly to the cutting tool is the most efficient use for lubrication and cooling.
6. The chips are dry. The vise is dry. The parallels are dry. What a treat!
According to some posts on the Practical Machinist forum, people who use these for real jobs find that a mill, through an 8 hour shift, will use somewhere between a teaspoon and a tablespoon of fluid. That means that the gallon that came with my unit should last me about 8 lifetimes. I'm quite sure that my 6 Spillmasters have that much lost to evaporation.
The unit is very light and easily moved from mill to lathe to bandsaw. Just requires an air hookup with a minimum of 60 PSI. My small compressor does cycle more frequently but not excessively.
My unit is a single line (they have 2 line units) with a manual on/off switch. They also have a solenoid on/off unit for CNC integration.
For some reason, Travers, here in the colonies, has a bundle with the unit and a gallon of Trico Synthetic fluid (I only read horror stories about the vegetable based fluid hardening to about a Rc 80 and gumming things up if not cleaned fastidiously)
for about half of MSC price..
Mounted above the Bridgeport control,box. This way, the on/off switch for the Trico unit is in an accessible place when the mill is stopped and started.
Mounting plate for the nozzle magnet mount.
The instructions suggest keeping the nozzle 1”-2” from the cutting tool.
Dry chips