Overheard two guys at the diner talking about coolant ratios

I was grabbing lunch at Millie's Diner yesterday and the guys in the next booth were arguing about coolant mix. One said he always runs a 10 to 1 ratio for aluminum, but the other guy insisted on 15 to 1 for better tool life on his older Haas. I've been using 12 to 1 for everything, but it got me thinking about fine-tuning it for different materials. What mix do you all run for steel versus aluminum?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_alex4d ago

My old shop foreman swore by 8 to 1 for steel on our Bridgeports. I bumped it to 10 to 1 for aluminum and it really cut down on the sticky residue. Honestly, the machine manual is usually a safe bet to start from.

taylor_flores4d ago

Manuals are outdated, you gotta just try stuff and see what works for your shop.