Environmental

I spend more time managing coolant on my deep hole drilling machines than on any of my conventional CNC equipment. The reason is simple: deep hole drilling pushes coolant through the tool at high pressure, blasts chips out through the drill flute or annular gap, and in the process generates a massive volume of contaminated fluid that needs continuous treatment. After ten years of running BTA and gun drilling machines, I have learned that treating coolant as a disposable consumable is far more expensive than treating it as a managed resource. ...

MQL uses a small amount of oil or lubricant sprayed as a fine mist instead of flooding the cutting zone with coolant. It is common in conventional machining operations like milling and turning but rare in deep hole drilling. The main challenge is chip evacuation, which in deep hole drilling depends on high-pressure coolant to push chips out of the bore. Recent research on MQL in deep hole drilling (2025 Manufacturing Letters, and a 2023 comprehensive review) confirms that MQL is technically feasible for certain deep hole applications and can actually outperform flood coolant on tool life in some cases. But the data also confirms what I have found in practice — the L/D ratio and material type are the deciding factors. ...

Deep hole drilling machines use a significant volume of coolant. For a machine running oil-based coolant, the coolant cost can be a significant operating expense. Recycling the coolant saves money and reduces waste. I have used various coolant recycling systems. Here is what works. Why Recycle Coolant recycling reduces: Coolant purchases. Recycled coolant costs less than new coolant. Disposal costs. Used coolant is hazardous waste in most jurisdictions. Downtime. Coolant changes take the machine out of production. For a machine using 500 gallons of coolant that is changed quarterly, recycling extends the coolant life to annual changes. That is 1500 gallons of coolant that does not need to be purchased or disposed of. ...