By: Willy Goellner, Chairman & Founder—Advanced Machine & Engineering/AMSAW

A full flood of coolant can’t reach the carbide tips of a cold saw once they’re buried in their slots. This causes the temperature to fluctuate on the cutting edges, creating heat cracks that prematurely destroy the carbide tips.

A saw machine that uses a flood coolant system must be designed to collect and return the coolant to a tank that is equipped with a pump and filtration system. The pump and filtration system are required to prevent bacterial growth in the coolant and to remove smaller chips.

It also requires splash guards and tight seals; however, it’s impossible to completely seal off the coolant. Some of it leaks around the incoming material and cut pieces. Some of it gets carried around the rotating blade, splashing all over and making it difficult to contain within the machine enclosure.

The chips also get soaked and need to be separated from the coolant to get cleaned. This extra cleaning step only adds more time and costs to the overall cutting process.

Spent flood coolant is classified as toxic waste due to the contamination of bacteria, tramp oil, and swarf. The disposal of it requires expensive, government regulated disposal. Environmental laws also make flood coolant options more expensive because the chips need to be stored and transported in leakproof containers.

A more economical alternative is dry cutting, especially when cutting softer or low alloy steel or, because carbide-tipped circular saw blades can withstand high temperatures. Lubricating the carbide teeth of a circular saw with a thin layer of Minimum Quantity Lubrication (MQL) minimizes the friction and improves tool life, making it a better solution than flood cooling.

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