Just found out coolant pH can mess with your tool life way more than I thought

I was reading through a thread on Practical Machinist last night and someone linked to a study from some university. Turns out if your coolant pH drops below 8.5 it can cut tool life by almost 40 percent. I always just checked the concentration with a refractometer and called it good. Now I'm gonna grab some pH strips from the hardware store. Any of you guys actually test pH regularly or am I the only one who skipped that step?

2 comments

2 Comments

spencer_chen614d ago

Wait, you never checked pH? Thats basic stuff man.

tarajenkins13d ago

@spencer_chen6 I hear you but I bet a lot of people skip the pH test honestly. I read a thing from some coolant supplier that said most guys just check concentration and call it a day. They had a chart showing how tool life drops off fast below 8.5 pH and I was like oh wow I'm probably that guy. I grabbed some strips from Grainger after that and my coolant was actually sitting at 7.8. No wonder my inserts were burning up faster than usual. Now I check pH every time I mix a new batch and it's made a difference.