coolant setup

With conventional coolant setups the mist is always on or off, which results in a large volume of coolant being applied, and can create a mess (especially in the air) as well as being expensive. This system has a timer switch which turns the spray on and off so that it only sprays every 5-10 seconds. This really cuts down on the mess and provides more than enough coolant to the cut.

I bought the solenoid valves from Surplus Center (6 in a monoblock for $25.00), the timer and socket from MSC, and the regulator and Koolmist setup from ENCO. I cobbled the rest together from spare parts I had laying around. The timer is expensive, about $65.00, and I bet anyone who knows electronics could build something much cheaper. The timer has a 0-10 sec range, with on and off expressed as %. Make sure you buy the correct socket with it. All components are 115V AC, I decided that using DC would complicate things.

In use you have to start the unit on, so the coolant gets sucked into the mister, but then turn it down and start machining. I was able to put a part in the mill and walk away - no chip buildup (the mister blows the chips away as well), no buildup on the tool, no puddles of coolant. The whole point of CNC is not having to sit there and brush chips away and slop coolant on, so this really ups your productivity.

The mist head is a "Kool Mist" setup. I purchased the 12" locline length, and no coolant tank to save money. Coolant is the Kool Mist water based stuff, stored in a 1 litre bottle. I removed the magnetic base and screwed it to a piece of aluminum bar that mounts to the mill head. The spray volume is adjustable.

The "Frankenstein" setup.

Air goes from a compressor into the regulator at the left.
From the regulator it feeds into the manifold on the right (Surplus Center) that has solenoid valves which are closed until voltage is applied.
The quick connects then feed air to either the mister or another unit (plain air for milling plastic)

The switch box top switch is on/off for the unit
The bottom SPDT switch selects which of the two bottom solenoids gets activated by the timer.

The timer (orange box with dials) turns the solenoids on and off for a specified amount of seconds, usually about 1 sec on to spray, then about 8-9 sec off.

Nick's Coolant Setup on his Taig CNC Mill