I am searching for the most effective method to eliminate oil and chips from our brass-turned components.

[Masoud]

Hello Colleagues,

We are currently using a CNC auto lathe machine to produce brass parts, but we are experiencing difficulty with oil and streaked chips on the surfaces of the parts due to our use of oil-based coolant. Can you please recommend the most effective method, equipment, and solution to remove the oil and chips from the parts? Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[boslab]

How about ultrasonic bath?
Mark

 

[???]

I wash mine in clean machine coolant then run through boiling water and into a heated drier. Most coolants have detergents in now. My coolant is Ho Cut 795 MPB

 

[kb0thn]

heated ultrasonic cleaner. 50 degree C tank temperature. Generally run simple green and de-ionized water. Rinse parts with tap water. Rinse again with flowing de-ionized water. Spread out to dry. The de-ionized water doesn't leave spots.

 

[L Vanice]

If you use a leaded free machining brass like copper alloy C36000, there is no need for coolant. You get clean parts and the chips are easier to dispose of, which is why the alloys were invented.

Resources: Standards & Properties - Copper & Copper Alloy Microstructures: Leaded Brasses

Lead brasses are used for their high machinability and atmospheric corrosion resistance. The machinability of brass is increased by the addition of lead because it acts as a microscopic chip breaker and tool lubricant.

www.copper.org

Larry

 

[Masoud]

How about ultrasonic bath?
Mark

Thank you Mark for your message.
Is ultrasonic bath effective? Have you had any prior experience with it?

 

[Masoud]

heated ultrasonic cleaner. 50 degree C tank temperature. Generally run simple green and de-ionized water. Rinse parts with tap water. Rinse again with flowing de-ionized water. Spread out to dry. The de-ionized water doesn't leave spots.

Thank you for your message.
Does it work well? Have you had any personal experiences with it?

 

[L Vanice]

Small ultrasonic cleaners have been used for cleaning watches and jewelry for decades and work well. For larger work that needs larger tanks, the cost of the machine and the cost of replacing contaminated cleaning fluid gets expensive, so there is an economic limit. I had an expensive 5 gallon ultrasonic cleaner, bought used, that I could not really justify keeping. I sold it to a clock repairman, a business involving expensive skill and good return where the ultrasonic makes sense.

Eliminating the use of coolant has to be the most effective method of keeping the parts clean.

Larry

 

[Masoud]

Thank you

Small ultrasonic cleaners have been used for cleaning watches and jewelry for decades and work well. For larger work that needs larger tanks, the cost of the machine and the cost of replacing contaminated cleaning fluid gets expensive, so there is an economic limit. I had an expensive 5 gallon ultrasonic cleaner, bought used, that I could not really justify keeping. I sold it to a clock repairman, a business involving expensive skill and good return where the ultrasonic makes sense.

Eliminating the use of coolant has to be the most effective method of keeping the parts clean.

Thank you, Larry, I'll search for it. It could be a great solution.

 

[kb0thn]

Does it work well? Have you had any personal experiences with it?

It works well and I have personal experience with it. Otherwise I wouldn't have taken the time to write about it.

 

[Masoud]

It works well and I have personal experience with it. Otherwise I wouldn't have taken the time to write about it.

Thank you.

 

[EmGo]

Thank you, Larry, I'll search for it. It could be a great solution.

I think his 'solution' was don't use coolant. I'll second that. I don't remember using or seeing anyone else use coolant on brass ever. I'm sure there is some situation where you would but generally, just say no.

 

[Kenre]

Does using coolant on brass have any downfalls, besides the resulting cleanup required?
Is surface finish affected for better or worse?

 

[L Vanice]

I think his 'solution' was don't use coolant. I'll second that. I don't remember using or seeing anyone else use coolant on brass ever. I'm sure there is some situation where you would but generally, just say no.

Yes, but some people are a bit loose in their use of "brass" to describe yellow metal. I still have some big yellow pins that came from Eaton two-speed truck axles. I need carbide tools to turn them, which is why I still have them in the bin after fifty years. Those were made of silicon bronze and are quite hard. In the 1980's a customer wanted yellow investment castings (brass-looking) made and all he could source was aluminum bronze. Very pretty things, but I turned them with carbide and hated the drilling and tapping operations on them (with Tapmatic). Cartridge brass (C26000) is miserable to machine and forms easily, which is why you will mostly find it in sheet and tube form.

That is why C36000 is so popular in the screw machine world. Machines dry at high speed with no fuss and makes short clean chips that easily recycle for good scrap value.

Larry

 

[surplusjohn]

I have seen copper parts with printers ink on them manually cleaned with granular saw dust. Works remarkably well

 

[Peter Colman]

If you are taking heavy cuts or deep drilling etc, coolant is vital on free machining brass, the wet swarf and parts are best separated using a sieve if small larger parts can be washed off with coolant.
To clean the parts we used a variety of methods, vapour degreasing - slow and costly, an alternative is warm detergent followed by a hot rinse in hot demineralised water, another drying method is to rumble them in a heated drum of bran, this also polishes the work.
careful selection of the coolant will reduce staining
Peter

 

[604Pook]

Does using coolant on brass have any downfalls, besides the resulting cleanup required?
Is surface finish affected for better or worse?

I find the brass with coolant can end up having reactions in the machine as time goes on and looks like corroded battery terminals in the nooks and crannies that don't get cleaned out when doing a quick machine cleaning.