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Old timer told me to always check the coolant concentration before starting a job
Ignored him for 2 years until I snapped a $400 carbide endmill because the coolant was basically water. Anyone else learn a lesson the expensive way after ignoring some grizzled machinist?
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johnson.paul10d ago
Yeah but that's how it goes with most things, you ignore the basics until it bites you.
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Honestly though, the old timer was half right but coolant concentration isn't really the main thing that breaks tools. It's more about the actual coolant mix being too weak to lubricate properly, not just the water content. I've seen guys obsess over concentration levels but they ignore the pH and bacteria growth that turns the stuff into acidic soup. Tbh a $400 carbide endmill hurts but at least you learned the real lesson about keeping the whole system healthy, not just checking one number.
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lucasjackson11d ago
Yeah you ever had a batch of coolant turn on you so fast you didn't even see it coming? Same thing happened at my shop a few years back. We were checking concentration every week, thinking we were on top of it, but the pH started dropping and the bacteria count went through the roof. Turned that whole sump into something that smelled like rotten eggs and ate through our tooling in no time. I ended up replacing a $600 indexable cutter before I finally figured out it wasn't the coolant strength it was the whole biological mess. That lesson cost me big time, but now I test for pH and bacteria at least once a month without fail. You're dead right that most guys just fixate on one number and ignore the rest of the system breaking down.
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