How High-Quality Metalworking Fluids Pump Up Machine Shop Performance

Using bargain-basement metalworking fluids on state-of-the-art machining equipment is a bit like buying old, bias ply tires from a salvage yard for a new Ferrari.

Sure, the initial price tag is lower (on something that was a far smaller investment to begin with), but they’ll keep your big-money purchase from delivering the performance you paid for.

That’s the analogy Dale Zimmerman, regional sales manager for Master Fluid Solutions, uses to demonstrate the value of high-quality metalworking fluids to customers.

“When you have a new machine with high-pressure pumps, chillers, through-the-tool cooling and all the other capabilities that have been developed, you have to have a fluid that’s capable of handling all those things as well,” he says. Otherwise, “you’re limiting the capabilities that you spent money to get. Because you don’t have a fluid that’s formulated to stand up to these challenges, you end up running your machine at less than optimum parameters.”

A prime example of the drawbacks is foaming, which can impede machining operations: “If you put a fluid developed in 2010 that was held to the design characteristics of that age—when machines were capable of 80 pounds per square inch of pressure—into a 2024 machine capable of 1,000 psi, then it’s likely going to foam like crazy,” Zimmerman explains. Newer products such as Trim® MicroSol 692XT are formulated to excel in such environments.

While the latest innovations in metalworking fluids are designed to achieve maximum metal removal across a range of alloys and operations, it can be all too easy for customers to focus solely on price.

That’s especially true since manufacturers and machine shops that buy hundreds of different cutting tools may use only one metalworking fluid, which makes its impact on the bottom line far easier to spot—and a far more attractive target for cost-cutting.

Machine shops and manufacturers that overcome the temptation to buy the lowest-priced fluid that can handle operational basics, however, can achieve much bigger financial benefits.

High-quality fluids such as those in Master Fluid Solutions’ signature TRIM HyperSol 888NXT can help users not only optimize machine performance but also prolong tool life and reduce production time.

Made to Machine Specialty Metals

Formulated to deliver high performance in advanced aerospace materials such as titanium, high nickel alloys, stainless steels and Inconel, HyperSol 888NXT pulls off the rare feat of improving both lubricity and cooling capability.

“We’ve seen certain applications in exotic materials like Inconel and 316 stainless steel where users can achieve three to five times their previous tool life simply by changing from an older-technology fluid to this product,” Zimmerman explains.

Looking for metalworking fluids? Click here to shop Master Fluid Solutions products on MSCDirect.com.

An alloy prized in production of aerospace components as well as medical implants because of its durability and resistance to high temperatures and corrosion, Inconel is notoriously difficult to machine.