Coolant delivery system eliminates misting: a new coolant delivery system eliminates misting by delivering a coherent stream of coolant, rather than atomizing the fluid. (Shop Safety Environment).

"Misting is a serious problem in most machine shops in manufacturing plants as a foul smelling cloud literally hangs in the air," says Gene LeVan, manufacturing engineer, C.R Laurence Company (CRL) (Los Angeles). 'This is particularly true in a manufacturing plant such as ours as we have many custom machining applications that require a coolant."

CRL is a leading supplier of glazing for industrial, construction and automotive industries. An essential component of glazing is the frame that holds the glass or composite. One of the challenges in manufacturing windows for the transportation industry is that the frame-work has to be precise, yet it is cumbersome to handle in the manufacturing process. Often the material is extruded aluminum and though Lightweight, requires custom fixturing or custom machines for machining operations.

For instance, one new custom machining operation at CRL consists of four drill presses ganged together with multiple heads on one of the drills and a custom drill head on another. The machine has custom fixturing as well as horizontal machining heads mounted on the framework. Because of all the heads, misting would have become a serious problem, according to LeVan.

To avoid this misting problem, the engineer elected to use a Fog Buster[TM] coolant delivery system CRL had used on other standard machining operations. Manufactured by Hench Mfg. (San Clemente, CA), Fog Buster has "eliminated misting problems in the shop," explains LeVan.

According to LeVan, other systems tried in the past, sprayed coolant in such a fine mist that coolant clouds could develop in the shop. LeVan's challenge in designing the ganged drill presses was to find a system that could deliver the coolant at low pressures without excessive misting.

The Fog Buster is a patented low-pressure system that delivers coolant fluids to parts and tools without fine atomization. This effectively eliminates the unwanted coolant fog that carries into the surrounding air of the machine shop area. The coolant delivery system's ability to deliver a constant strong flow of coolant and place it exactly where it is needed increases tool life, improves material finishes, and allows faster cutting speeds, explains the manufacturer. The strong air flow emitted by the sprayer clears chips from the cutter and workpiece, keeping the part clean for easy handling.

The key to the patented coolant system is that coolant is not atomized at the nozzle tip. With the Fog Buster system, a small stream of coolant is carried accurately with the air stream as it flows to the workpiece. Essentially, the liquid spray is surrounded by the airflow, rather than mixed with it. This allows the system to produce a small, accurate spray pattern several inches or more from its target.

Because the system can operate with a wide range of coolants and air flows, it is applicable to a variety of machining applications. Coolant flow rates are set with a needle valve located on the sprayer head and air pressure is controlled by a pressure regulator and allows instant on/off operation.

Operating at low pressure (10-20 psi), the Fog Buster system is fed by either a 1/2 gal. clear reservoir or a 1 gal. reservoir with a sight gage. The system maybe controlled via the machine's CNC program.

"By replacing our coolant mister with the Fog Buster, everyone is breathing much easier. We save on coolant while meeting machining requirements i.e., the system accurately places the coolant where it is needed, especially on our custom machines, while maintaining a cleaner work environment. Hench Mfg. Co.

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