Machine coolants are a necessary component of running many machining businesses. But using a sub-par product can lead to problems such as bad odor and employee skin issues. Rathburn, a local tooling and manufacturing company, learned this the hard way with many employees breaking out in rashes after coming into contact with their machine coolant product.
After the company started researching for new machine coolants they learned more about coolant formulas and practices, and how coolants reacted to the oils and heat created by the machining process. It was evident to Rathburn managements that they needed to rethink their coolant strategy to address both of these issues while still maintaining a good viscosity level to minimize rust.
In their effort to address the issues the coolant was causing employees, Rathburn researched alternatives and found Fusion. Mark Dennis, Maintenance Manager at Rathburn, describes the results like this:
“As we moved forward in our search to better serve the environment and our employees, we came to find Fusion Chemical. They promised to do all we needed at a significant drop in cost while eliminating the need to add harmful chemicals. From my experience, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. However Fusion Chemical offered to give us some of their product as a trial run to see if it wasn’t indeed what they claimed. We had two machines that ran the same part, so we left one with the old coolant in it and tried the new coolant in the second one. Three weeks later we had no rust on the parts we ran, no odors, and no noticeable change in tool wear. A longer test would be needed in order to be sure of the longevity of the product, but the initial test coupled with the fact that the new coolant cost less was enough for us to commit to a longer engagement.”
Read the full story behind Rathburn’s switch to Fusion’s coolant.
