Switched from coolant mist to flood coolant on my old Haas and its a whole different game

Ran mist for like 5 years on this VF-2 I bought used back in 2018. Just figured thats how it was supposed to be, you know? Chips everywhere, breathing that crap in. Finally got tired of cleaning the floor every night. Buddy of mine at a shop over in Tulsa said they switched their old machines over to flood with a simple transfer pump setup. Cost me maybe $60 for the pump and some hose from Grainger. Took an afternoon to rig it up. First job I ran with it was a batch of 316 stainless brackets. Tool life doubled easy. Cutter wasnt getting that weird heat discoloration anymore. Chips just wash right off into the pan. Makes me wonder how much money I wasted on endmills those first few years. Any of you guys run mist still and think about switching?

2 comments

2 Comments

johnflores22d ago

That transfer pump setup is a smart move, a lot of guys overthink the plumbing on these older machines. The real savings is definitely in the tooling, you'll see it most on anything gummy like stainless or aluminum. Make sure you keep an eye on your coolant concentration though, flood systems can get real weak fast if you don't check it regular.

kim19122d ago

I've definitely been the guy who forgets to check the coolant until the chips start looking like a science experiment gone wrong. Have you ever had a tool just disappear in a fog of bad concentration?