Kool Mist clone ...

[wquiles]

I have been wanting "something" to cool some lathe/milling operations, and after 6 months of on and off looking, I decided to try a spray cooling device, similar to the one Kool Mist sells. The one I got was from a seller on Ebay that has good feedback from many buyers:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Spray-Mist-Unit-for-Cutting-and-Grinding-Applications_W0QQitemZ140275992173QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item20a919c66d&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50


I took advantage of Enco's (fairly common lately) free shipping deals, and got a gallon of Kool Mist #78 formula. It arrived yesterday, so I proceeded to test it.

Here is the "system":

Here is the "device". I have it temp bolted to a strong magnet. The brass screw controls how much air goes through, which in turn controls the siphoning effect:

Here is my initial use:

Later on, I decided to mount it on the carriage, so I removed the factory lathe flood system pieces:

And lucky me, the hole spacing was "perfect" for the Al block on the mister:

It is great that I can get really close to the chuck:

How it works? I have only tried on Al just to get familiar with it, and it takes a little bit of time to adjust, but I like it a lot. You have to start the siphon effect with a larger air volume, but once it starts, you can cut it down a LOT, just enough to keep the "mist" going, and it uses "very" little, which is one of the reasons I went this way compared to traditional flood cooling - it is really easy to clean up!. I took a small movie clip showing this in action - looks pretty cool. If you guys are interested I will try to find a way to post it

I like it enough that I just ordered a second unit for my milling machine :devil:

EDIT: Videos finally available!
Video 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIN9MP3qbyg

Video 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P0KwCy3Yzc


Will

 

[PEU]

If after an hour of so of working you don't end with a "lake" under your lathe Im definitevely interested!
Until I move to somewhere else, my parquet flooring is no-no regarding liquids...

Upload the vid to youtube


Pablo

 

[wquiles]

If after an hour of so of working you don't end with a "lake" under your lathe Im definitevely interested!
Until I move to somewhere else, my parquet flooring is no-no regarding liquids...

Upload the vid to youtube


Pablo

Videos uploaded

So far (and you can see this better on video #2), the amount of liquid is very small indeed and that was not the smallest pattern - that was just good for the video. It is of course more liquid when you first get it started (start the siphoning effect) since you need more air pressure to get the mist going, but once you cut down the air to a min, then you get the light spray and cold air that you see in the videos. I even got it later to "spit" out even less, down to a mist, so this might be an OK solution for your setup with the hardwood floors. I am not expecting to use it all of the time, plus I mostly work with relatively "soft" Al, but I will report more once I use it more in the upcoming days/weeks.

Will

 

[jhanko]

Looks good. What do you use for the misting solution?

 

[PEU]

Its really a fine mist! added to my list of things to be purchased!

I think I will use it far more on the mill than the lathe, Im tired of using spray lube when I cut alu.


Pablo

 

[wquiles]

Looks good. What do you use for the misting solution?

I am trying right now Kool Mist Formula 78:
http://rayhamil.tripod.com/koolcatalog/kcat6.html

It gets mixed 4 ounces to a gallon, so the gallon of #78 that I bought will last me a LONG time

Will

 

[wquiles]

Its really a fine mist! added to my list of things to be purchased!

I think I will use it far more on the mill than the lathe, Im tired of using spray lube when I cut alu.


Pablo

Yes, it is a very fine mist. And that is the same reason I wanted something like this - I am tired of spraying WD-40 by hand, more on the mill than on the lathe.

 

[bluwolf]

I know I'm just the new guy. But I'm already getting tired of you finding things for me to spend money on

Mike

 

[PEU]

get used to it!

at least we have our flashlights collections kinda established with something added every now and then, you will buy tools AND flashlights :nana:

Speaking more seriously, ingenuity is the mother of all tools, sometimes you can acomplish the same as a $100 tool with some elbow grease and a $5 carbide bit blank


Pablo

 

[Mirage_Man]

EDIT: Videos finally available!
Video 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIN9MP3qbyg

Video 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P0KwCy3Yzc


Will

Cool. How about vids of what the finish looks like when cutting with and without the mister?

 

[wquiles]

Cool. How about vids of what the finish looks like when cutting with and without the mister?

I will try to capture something like that for next weekend. I still have steel rod - that would be a good one to try with, although improved finish should be part of it, as am also expecting/hoping to get longer life from the cutting tools as well

 

[Mirage_Man]

I will try to capture something like that for next weekend. I still have steel rod - that would be a good one to try with, although improved finish should be part of it, as am also expecting/hoping to get longer life from the cutting tools as well

Not to mention you should see less BUE.

 

[StrikerDown]

Other than using less coolant what is the advantage of the mist system over flood coolant?

Is there an advantage of flood cooling over mist for certain applications?

 

[65535]

For casual machining flood is very messy. With small DOC and lower feed rates a home setup doesn't need a flood, rather it needs the lubricity more so than the cooling.

In a production or large setup you would want flood to cool off the part as well as lubricate the cutters.

In most cases the mist just provides enough lubrication to prevent excess heat and wear. A flood will cool everything down with heavy cutting.

 

[Anglepoise]

For casual machining flood is very messy. With small DOC and lower feed rates a home setup doesn't need a flood, rather it needs the lubricity more so than the cooling.

In a production or large setup you would want flood to cool off the part as well as lubricate the cutters.

In most cases the mist just provides enough lubrication to prevent excess heat and wear. A flood will cool everything down with heavy cutting.

Good explanation for 'Home Shop Use'

 

[StrikerDown]

Good explanation for 'Home Shop Use'

Yes Very Good Explanation, Thank you.

It looks like this would be ideal for the mill, at least on mine there is nothing to keep the rotating tooling from slinging juice all over the place! For a flood system those Plexiglas guards would be a real necessity to keep the machinery from being destroyed by the wife! :sick2: :mecry:

 

[precisionworks]

FWIW, here's a low output, no fog, shop built mister:

http://www.metalworking.com/DropBox/_2002_retired_files/Zero_Fog_Mister.txt

 

[wquiles]

Now that I have the Eaton Compressor running, here is the mister in actual use:

And this one was after I was done with the boring tool:

Here, when giving the hole a bevel, I had a little bit of chatter due to the cutting bit being "way" overhanged on the tool holder, but everything remained cool and I had no BUE that I could tell:

Will

 

[65535]

That chattering actually looks really cool.
That's the bad machinist in me.

Otherwise that looks pretty good. Try it on some steel.

 

[wquiles]

Yup, although not on purpose, I like that pattern as well :naughty: