Quit using coolant misters and switched to flood coolant on my Haas VF-2 last week

I ran a tiny job shop for 6 years always using mist coolant because I thought it was cheaper and less messy. Last Tuesday I had a part come off the machine with a bad finish and couldn't figure out why until a buddy from a shop down the street stopped by. He pointed out my mist setup was letting the tool get too hot and that flood coolant would keep temps stable. I swapped over and spent about $400 on a pump and tank kit. Now my surface finish is way more consistent and my end mills are lasting twice as long. Has anyone else held onto a old habit like that just because it was familiar?

3 comments

3 Comments

sams2524d ago

Dude that's wild, I was the exact opposite - ran flood for years and just dealt with the mess until I tried mist on a whim and realized I was wasting so much coolant haha.

ramirez.caleb24d ago

Wait, you voluntarily dealt with coolant soup all over your shop floor for years just because you were stubborn about flood cooling? That's like eating burnt food on purpose because you're mad at your toaster. I mean I get it, flood seems more "serious" or whatever but once you see how clean mist keeps everything you kind of feel like an idiot for not switching sooner. Plus the money saved on coolant adds up fast, that stuff isn't cheap when you're dumping it on the floor like it's free. So basically we both wasted time and money being too proud to try something that works better, but hey at least we got there eventually right?

sams2524d ago

Man isn't that just how it always goes though? You get stuck in your ways doing something the hard way because it's what you know and it feels right, then you try the new thing and realize you were just making life harder for yourself on purpose. It's like people who refuse to use a dishwasher because hand washing is "how it's supposed to be done" even though they're spending an hour at the sink every night. We've all got that stubborn gene in us I guess, makes you wonder how many other things we're doing the hard way without even realizing it.