Honing Coolants
Honing Coolant Considerations
Coolants serve the following functions:
- Carry-away chips to keep tool free-cutting
- Lubricates cutting area, extends tool life
- Dissipates heat, maintains size & geometry
- Rust protection
- Oil-based coolants feature superior lubricity, but do not dissipate heat well and have negative disposal requirements
- Water-based coolants remove heat effectively and work well with diamond abrasive. Water-base coolants do not work well with vitrified abrasives.
- Water-base is emulsions (mixed water-oil), synthetics (water-soluble chemicals) or semi-synthetics (water and chemistry combined)
- Coolant should be chilled to approx. 68-72 degrees F
What Coolant Should be Used?
- Lapmaster offers several excellent coolants that handle a wide range of honing applications.
- For Steel and other stringy chip materials we offer a coolant with sulfur content and high lubricity additives to prevent tearing.
- For Cast Iron and other easy to hone materials we offer a light honing oil with just enough lubricity to ensure clean cutting.
- For Aluminum and Brass we offer a light honing oil with high fat content to ensure clean cutting on soft materials
- Many customers have honing coolants in their plants already. We work with any coolant that will provide the cutting characteristics they need and the finish they desire.
- Many customers want us to use a cutting fluid they use for boring or other operations. These usuallywill not be satisfactory for honing.
- We offer testing and trial services that can determine if an existing coolant is acceptable.