VIDEO: TOOLING UP: The Hidden Benefits of High Quality Coolants

JOHN TREESE: These are water-soluble, semi-synthetic products that have really small oil droplets, that really small oil droplet that really helps them with lubrication. And it also frees up the water to help cool really well. So not only are we getting great lubrication, but creating great coolant, which means our customers can push their machines faster and harder, making more parts, more money.

And that's what it's all about in today's business.

Narrator: This video is brought to you by Master Fluid. The right coolant makes all the difference. If you're looking for real world insights, tips from leading industry experts, the latest trends in products and technology, you've come to the right place. From MSC Industrial Supply, this is Tooling Up.

TONI NEARY: Hello and welcome to Tooling Up. I'm your host, Toni Neary, and I'm so glad that you've joined us today. Before we talk with today's guest, let's go ahead and get some business done. If you are new around here or just haven't done it before, go ahead and click that like and subscribe button. And that way you'll get every episode of Tooling Up.

Today I'm excited to be talking about TRIM® cutting and grinding fluids with John Treese. John is the director of global training at Master Fluid Solutions. John, thanks so much for joining us, and welcome to Tooling Up.

JOHN TREESE: Thank you for having me, Toni.

TONI NEARY: Perfect. Before we get started talking about cutting fluids and all the amazing things that we'll learn today, for our regular viewers, they'd love to hear a little bit about your career path. So tell us, how did you end up at Master Fluids?

JOHN TREESE: It was kind of an accident almost. I was making stainless steel. I work for a manufacturer. And I got a call about this fluids company and, well, after a few conversations, all of a sudden it became something that sounded really interesting and fun and, well, that was 17 years ago, and I've been with Master now for that and it's just been a great experience.

TONI NEARY: Okay. 17 years is a pretty good career there, at Master Fluids. So I've got to believe it must be a pretty okay place to work then.

JOHN TREESE: It is a great place to work. One thing about the company is we've been voted the top workplace in our area for the last 11 years in a row, which says a lot about a company that we can maintain that, it’s not just a one-time thing.

TONI NEARY: That is so cool. Get it, right? We're going to be full of puns today. So speaking of coolant, let's talk about coolant. It's really the forgotten tool, and people don't realize just how important it is. So tell me a little bit about how important cutting fluid is.

JOHN TREESE: Well, cutting fluid is another part of the tooling to make your parts. And a lot of people look at coolant just as a necessary evil. They go out looking for the lowest priced product. It often creates more problems than what it's worth, and it also restricts their manufacturing. There's a lot of hidden costs in coolant about how fast you run, how much the operators like it, all the different problems that show up from bad skin issues, bad stink, and, well, we talk.

We call it the four four letter words and, you know, four letter words, we're taught are bad words when we're young. Foam, odor, users, and rust and you start having those, you start having a lot of problems. And we have issues where, you know, shops don't even think about it. The common bad odors from an inexpensive, cheap coolant, actually can drive away some of your operators.

They just smell bad. They don't want to go home smelling like a stinky shop. Their family doesn't want to be around them. And, well, on their way home, they may see a sign that says machinists wanted. And if your shop stinks and the other one doesn't, well, you may have just lost a great machinist. So, there's a lot of things coolant affect.

People just don't think about it. And it is another tool.

TONI NEARY: I have to be honest, I don't think I've ever considered a good coolant reducing employee turnover. So I'm going to assume that using TRIM coolant is going to help retain employees.

JOHN TREESE: Yeah. We've put a lot of work into our coolants to make sure that they are, well, very stable, very strong and we don't have those typical four fours that you will find with a lot of very inexpensive coolant. We do a few things with our coolant that, well, as far as I know, we're the last coolant company doing it.

We actually do what's called the human insult patch test with our certain chemistries to make sure that we don't have skin issues and other problems with our operators.

TONI NEARY: And I think that speaks volumes to who you are as a company, that it's not just about how well the product works, but it's about the user experience with it as well. So we've talked a little bit about the four letter words. And let's kind of drill in on two of those: users and odor. So pardon my French, but how the heck do TRIM coolants actually help with foam and rust?

JOHN TREESE: Foam and rust. Those are two of the biggies out there. And well, when we develop our products at Master, we build them on a backbone that tends to really resist foaming and based on the new machines of today, the pressures are higher, the volumes are higher, the machines are getting bigger and faster, and the sumps are getting smaller.

So foam becomes a bigger and bigger issue. So we build our products to be resistant to foaming without just adding a whole bunch of de-foamer, which creates a lot of other problems from residues, higher costs, all that kind of good stuff. So we build it into our product to be low foaming and when it comes to rust, that's something we build into our product so it has very strong rust inhibitors. So it doesn't rust the machine, doesn't rust the part. And actually leaves a rust inhibitor on the parts so they can sit on the shelf for a while before you do your next process, whatever it might be–another machining process or painting, plating or packaging.

TONI NEARY: And I feel like you've kind of thought of everything when it comes to coolant, because it's so much about not just the moment that you're actually removing material, but you're really looking at the long-term effects of using the right products. So tell me a little about how TRIM coolants trim the fat, if you will, from the machining process.

JOHN TREESE: Well, it's actually kind of funny the way you put that because our founder, Clyde Sluhan, had coined the word TRIM, and in that it was trimming metal, trimming costs, and a clean trim smell. So it's all about helping our customers get more out of their machines, running faster, higher speeds and feeds, more parts coming off the machine means more money.

TONI NEARY: So, John, I think we look at Master Fluid Solutions and you've really thought of everything. You're looking at making it a better cutting experience, better output, a better user experience. What aren't people considering when they're trying to select the right coolant?

JOHN TREESE: Great question. And one thing to keep in mind is coolant makes up less than a half a percent of the cost of a part. So, a lot of times people get wrapped up in the cost of a drum, and they don't realize how little that actually is to the part that they're making. Yet that coolant affects every part in their shop, and it affects everything to do with that part, from the raw material they're buying to the machines, to the operators, and to all those other things that happen, like quality, shipping.

TONI NEARY: Fantastic. John, I cannot thank you enough for your time today, just your knowledge and your brilliance. And thank you for teaching us so much about cutting fluids.

JOHN TREESE: Well, it was a pleasure, Toni.

TONI NEARY: If you enjoyed our conversation as much as I did and you want to see more discussions just like this one, please go ahead and subscribe to our channel. To find out more about TRIM cutting and grinding fluids, visit mscdirect.com/products/masterfluid. Thanks and we'll see you next time and Tooling Up.

Narrator: What more insights and ideas to improve the efficiency and productivity of your operations? Check out the Tooling Up video playlist to hear tips that can take your company to the next level. And subscribe to our channel so you won't miss out.