Once I get my lathe working I will be looking into getting a coolant system as the feed and drain pipes came with the lathe. But what does SUDS stand for? From what I have read it can become a biohazard so I assume it must be water based. I was thinking more of a cutting oil system so would that mean the pump would need to be different to a suds pump?
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I shouldn't get to tied up in 'this and that' information you have read on coolants. Try to get some perspective and remember guys like me use it all day long each and every day as do thousands of others.
You really do not want to be thinking of cutting oil on a center lathe, you will regret it. It is not the slightest bit practical for manual machines. Plus i have a feeling you will not want to pay for it either at about 4 quid a ltr. being oil is does not run away very freely and is only really used in production machines where the sumps are designed for fast recovery.
I run two of them, so you have been warned.
All you need is a bog standard soluble oil.
Kind regards,
Scott
You really do not want to be thinking of cutting oil on a center lathe, you will regret it. It is not the slightest bit practical for manual machines. Plus i have a feeling you will not want to pay for it either at about 4 quid a ltr. being oil is does not run away very freely and is only really used in production machines where the sumps are designed for fast recovery.
I run two of them, so you have been warned.
All you need is a bog standard soluble oil.
Kind regards,
Scott
ronan
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Suds is just a nickname for soluble oil mixed with the water, the solution can "crack" and stink the place out, but i think that maybe a thing of the past with modern additives. It used to happen in the machine shop next door to where i used to work. it was a pain , the coolant tanks had to be drained , washed out with a bleach or milton solution and new suds put in.
I bought a 5 litre container of soluble oil a month or so ago for my mill as i was wearing out hss tools too quickly. You mix it up 20:1 or more with water so 5l gets you 100l of coolant or more. If you are buying just a small amount eg. not a barrel like a machine shop would buy, you will be limited as to what you can get.
mike 109444
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Chuck a splash of Milton in it from time to time. Standing water = bug growth.
N
naughtyboy
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al i use on mine is same as old guy down rd gave me which red iesel mixed 50/50 with cheap engine oil.
hes been doing it like that all his life and never had probs.
i use a small parts washer for pump/tank same setup on drill and bandsaw.
hes been doing it like that all his life and never had probs.
i use a small parts washer for pump/tank same setup on drill and bandsaw.
With Scott on this one, I use use soluable all day long and have done for decades, certainly not practical to use neat oils and diesels.
Plus debris will cling better to thicker viscosities so will loose more, clog the pump up more, fill the room with smoke and have more unwanted debris in it whilst using, quite a negative when thinking its oiling the beds.
Lets face one of the tanks is not less than 5 gallon and probably a lot more. Evaporation average around 4 ltrs p/w in summer.
Cheapest motor oil whats that £15 5/ltrs + 5 ltrs diesel at £6.30 = £21.30 and only 10 ltrs which isn't enough for the Chinese things on ebay.
Soluable £17 5 ltrs, as said above makes 100 lts, whos the mug at £0.175/ltr opposed to a rising £2.13/ltr.
Plus you can wash off debris with soluable and leaves an oil residue.
Plus debris will cling better to thicker viscosities so will loose more, clog the pump up more, fill the room with smoke and have more unwanted debris in it whilst using, quite a negative when thinking its oiling the beds.
Lets face one of the tanks is not less than 5 gallon and probably a lot more. Evaporation average around 4 ltrs p/w in summer.
Cheapest motor oil whats that £15 5/ltrs + 5 ltrs diesel at £6.30 = £21.30 and only 10 ltrs which isn't enough for the Chinese things on ebay.
Soluable £17 5 ltrs, as said above makes 100 lts, whos the mug at £0.175/ltr opposed to a rising £2.13/ltr.
Plus you can wash off debris with soluable and leaves an oil residue.
For convenience to use across a range of different metals I use Castrol Hysol Excel. I've found that it lasts a long time and has good anti rust properties on the machines I use it on. I ordered a second (already have one in stock) 20 litre drum from MSC this morning as it is on special offer. I have a CNC lathe to fill up from empty that takes 320 litres of it diluted at 6-7%, which is an entire 20 litre drum and a hose pipe !!
To keep it fresh it needs to be used, and also have 'tramp oil' removed. Tramp oil is the various lubricating oils that leak from the machine (headstock, gearbox etc) that find their way into the oil and float on the surface. On the big cnc lathe I have a tramp oil skimmer that I will install that has a continuously rotating band dipping into it that lifts the oil up to a scraper where it is removed from circulation.
Some people swear by having a fish tank bubbler in the sump to aerate the coolant and prevent anaerobic bacteria multiplying
To keep it fresh it needs to be used, and also have 'tramp oil' removed. Tramp oil is the various lubricating oils that leak from the machine (headstock, gearbox etc) that find their way into the oil and float on the surface. On the big cnc lathe I have a tramp oil skimmer that I will install that has a continuously rotating band dipping into it that lifts the oil up to a scraper where it is removed from circulation.
Some people swear by having a fish tank bubbler in the sump to aerate the coolant and prevent anaerobic bacteria multiplying
MattF
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Along those lines, you could just fit one of those UV lights they use for pond tanks to kill any bacteria, algae etc.
langy
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This is great advice from someone that actually does the job
Many thanks for all your inputs. I wont be using the lathe a lot, that's why I was concerned about the standing water problem. Cheap oil and red diesel sounds fair for my use but I will have to consider both options. I still have to source a pump and tank!
brightspark
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just use a gallon can with a tap and pipe gravity fed drip feed
MattF
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As I mentioned earlier, the pumps should be pretty much the same for either, so any half decent fluid pump should work. Even an old vehicle engine oil pump could be put into service for the task. One thing to make sure of whichever pump you go for is just to give it a quick run occasionally, and also make sure it's input is filtered somehow so that swarf can't run through it. I had one here which jammed solid through a combination of rust due to being stood and swarf.
On my manual lathe I just have a squirty bottle sat on the head stock, and apply as needed. This is despite it (Colchester Master 2500) having a fully functional but unfilled coolant system. I fill the squirty bottle by nicking the coolant from one of the CNC machines 
brewdexta
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I bought a suds pump off fleabay item number 370532648992 for my Colchester, its now 40 quid plus about 12 quid shipping from Germany, I think I paid about 30 plus shipping.
I bought it rather than a pond pump as it directly replaced the knackered lathe pump with minor mods to the tank lid and I was going to plumb it to the neighbouring drill/mill machine with the return going back to the lathe tank so two for the price of one.
I am currently using cutting oil however as others have said, this is probably a mistake but you live and learn. I have got some soluble oil now for the rapidor so will switch to that in the tank at some point.
It works fine however the best bit are the Chinese/English instructions, I'm not near the workshop at the mo but will post some choice excerpts when I get back.
Here's a link to the pump thread
Cheers
Andy
I bought it rather than a pond pump as it directly replaced the knackered lathe pump with minor mods to the tank lid and I was going to plumb it to the neighbouring drill/mill machine with the return going back to the lathe tank so two for the price of one.
I am currently using cutting oil however as others have said, this is probably a mistake but you live and learn. I have got some soluble oil now for the rapidor so will switch to that in the tank at some point.
It works fine however the best bit are the Chinese/English instructions, I'm not near the workshop at the mo but will post some choice excerpts when I get back.
Here's a link to the pump thread
Cheers
Andy
ronan
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What colchester do you have andy ? I have a a master 2500 , i want to get the suds flowing as i turn a fair bit of stainless steel and it heats up really quickly. What i had intended to do was buy a cheap vfd to run the three phase pump, but one of those pumps you bought would be cheaper and better if it fitted in the tank.
