Switched from flood coolant to MQL after a messy Tuesday

I ran a 40-hour week with flood coolant on a 3-axis mill and spent more time wiping down the enclosure and dealing with slippery floor mats than actually cutting parts. A fellow operator in my shop kept pushing minimum quantity lubrication, so I tried it on a batch of 200 aluminum brackets and the finish came out cleaner with zero cleanup. Has anyone else made the jump and found their tool life actually improved, or was I just lucky with the alloy?

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olivia_rivera887d ago

200 aluminum brackets is a solid test batch, not just a fluke run. I ran MQL on 6061 for about six months and my tool life went up maybe 15 to 20 percent, mostly because the chips actually cleared instead of gumming up in the flutes. On 7075 though it was a different story, that stuff ran hotter and I had to back off my feeds a bit or the inserts would go. So part of it depends on your alloy, but the clean enclosure alone was worth the switch for me. My floor mats still look like a crime scene though, that part never changes.

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