"Wild_Bill" wrote in message
...
Yep, I was thinking of fully enclosed machines as about the only
alternative for a mist system while I was writing, and picturing the
enclosed Haas mini-mill that someone mentioned the other day.

I would very likely need a fire extinguisher before coolant with my
machines. I generally just dribble a bit of cutting lubricant out of a
plastic dispenser bottle while cutting metals.

I've managed to get some blue chips once in a while, but only maybe a
handful, certainly not wheelbarrows full.

Even if I were set up to do production-like quantities of a part
occasionally, I would very likely just rig up a gravity feed dribble
spout/tube to deliver cutting lube to the cutting tool.

I can easily suspect a couple of HSMs here actually looking for enema kits
at a Goodwill thrift shop.

--
WB

LOL! Yes, I'll bet you could rig up something from one of those. g

This whole subject needs a good venting here. Over the years I've seen an
endless stream of misconceptions about coolants and lubricants, and, of
course, we have a wide range of hobbyists and commercial shops represented
here, using many different types and vintages of machines. Most of us
hobbyists, running 60-year-old toolroom-type lathes and HSS tools, have no
business running coolant of any kind. We should be using cutting oils, not
soluble oils or synthetics. And, except for people using better production
machines of more recent vintage, few of us run carbide at its limits,
either, and have little or no need for coolants. Coolants come into play
when you're running close to the temperature tolerance of your tools, and
you're trying to extend tool life lost to heat softening. Lubricants reduce
tool loads, give better finishes, and extend edge sharpness lost to
abrasion. Water-soluble (miscable) coolants and synthetic solutions, with
few exceptions, are only mediocre lubricants. Most of us would be better off
with lard oil or mineral-based cutting oils.

Maybe we'll get around to it one of these days, and really dig into the
subject.

--
Ed Huntress

.........
metalworking projects
www.kwagmire.com/metal_proj.html


"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
...

"Wild_Bill" wrote in message
...
I'd be concerned about being in the vicinity of any airborne liquid
droplets, and I'm a bit surprised that this has been a standard method
for machining. The concept just seems like it would be an obvious health
hazard when things like plumbing and electronics manufcturing are going
to lead-free processes, mainly out of rampant paranoia, IMO.

I haven't used a coolant or a cutting lubricant system on any of my
hobby metalworking machines, but a mist system would probably have to be
my last consideration.
Misting seems like a great idea for a greenhouse though, if people
aren't occupying the same space.


One thing that we hobbyists often forget is that machine tools used in
production today are mostly fully enclosed. In some cases (more in Europe
than here in the US) they're also fully ventilated. And the exhaust from
these systems is NOT ventilated to the outdoors. It generally goes to
some kind of central collection system.

--
Ed Huntress