Craftsman Tools switch coolant for all metal-cutting operations

Paul Hobson, Product Manager at Craftsman Tools, says: "Earlier this year some of our operators expressed concerns about our existing coolant. The heavy misting was causing breathing difficulties and leading to hand irritation. We take the health of our employees extremely seriously and so immediately began sourcing an alternative coolant."

Craftsman Tools, based in Otley, West Yorkshire, had some experience of using Master Chemical products successfully in the past and so made contact with the area sales representative.

Mr Hobson says: "We worked with Simon Young, District Manager at Master Chemical, who recommended TRIM SC516, a low-foaming, biostable, semi-synthetic coolant specifically formulated for the materials we machine every day, such as steel, cast iron and aluminium. We conducted extensive cutting trials and could see immediately that our misting problems had disappeared."

TRIM SC516 contains no DEA, chlorine, nitrites or phenolic compounds, and can be easily recycled or disposed of without special handling or equipment. Its formulation ensures low levels of foam not generally experienced with other semi-synthetic products, especially in soft water areas such as northern England. The coolant is very versatile and works well in mixed metal applications across a range of operations that include grinding, milling, turning, drilling and tapping. Furthermore, very fine emulsion reduces carry-off for low total operating cost, while fast wetting transports fluid to the point of cut and fully coats the workpiece and chips for superior corrosion prevention.

Mr Hobson says: "We started using TRIM SC516 in May 2013 and now it has completely replaced our previous coolant in all of our manufacturing cells. The operators say it is far cleaner and smells much better."

The shop floor at this ISO9001 accredited company houses over 30 machine tools, ranging from standard lathes and vertical CNC mills to twin pallet horizontal machining centres, full five-axis machines and grinders.

Mr Hobson says: "A welcome added benefit of switching to a higher-quality coolant is that we use far less of it. Before the change we were consuming around three 200-litre drums every month, whereas now we only use around half that amount, sometimes even less. As a result, we have cut our coolant costs by approximately 50 per cent."

The production area at Craftsman Tools is divided into five manufacturing cells. There are three subcontract machining cells serving their own product lines for a range of multinational OEMs, while two further cells deliver Craftsman's range of toolholding and workholding equipment. Each cell is run by a dedicated cell manager, providing a single point of contact for every enquiry. The company was established in 1953 and today employs around 60 people.

To learn more about TRIM SC516 coolant, please visit www.masterchemical.com.