Serious question, faced a choice on coolant concentration for a tricky aluminum job

Honestly, I had a big run of 6061 parts last month and my usual 5% mix was leaving a haze. The manual said bump to 8% for better finish, but the old guy at my last shop in Dayton always swore by 3% to avoid gumming up the lines. I went with 8%, and it worked great, no more haze and the chips washed away cleaner. Has anyone else had to tweak their mix way outside the normal range for a specific material?

3 comments

3 Comments

hannahm3914d ago

Interesting. Wonder if your water hardness played a role. Softer water might need less concentrate to avoid that sticky residue. Could explain the old guy's low mix rule.

the_hayden14d ago

We run 7% for all our 6061 work at my shop. The foreman says it's the sweet spot for our water, keeps the finish clean without any gunk in the pumps.

eva_adams687d ago

Wait, did you say 7%? That's way higher than anything I've ever heard of running. Hannahm39 might be onto something with the water hardness idea, because that mix would leave a total mess in our system. I can't even imagine the residue and pump issues at that concentration. Are you sure your foreman isn't mixing it way stronger than the bottle says? Something feels off here.