Spent a whole afternoon trying to dial in a part because my coolant mix was off

I was running a job on our old Haas VF2, making these aluminum brackets, and the finish kept coming out looking fuzzy. I checked the tool, the speeds, everything. Turns out I'd mixed the coolant way too weak, like a 15:1 ratio instead of 10:1, because I just eyeballed it. Wasted about 4 hours and a chunk of material before I figured it out. Anyone have a good trick for getting the mix right every time?

3 comments

3 Comments

brown.susan12d ago

A cheap refractometer is the only way to be sure. Eyeballing coolant is a guaranteed way to waste time and material. Mine saved me from that exact headache years ago.

the_river12d ago

Yeah, brown.susan nailed it with the refractometer. I used to do the same thing, just dumping coolant in the tank. Got a cheap one off amazon for like thirty bucks. Now I check it every Monday morning, takes two seconds. Saved my butt on a stainless job last month where the mix really mattered.

robert_bennett2912d ago

Actually, a refractometer is the only real way to get it perfect every time.