What are Traditional Metalworking Fluids?
Metalworking fluids, also known as cutting fluids or coolants, are liquids used in metalworking operations such as cutting, abrading, and metal forming to reduce friction between the workpiece and the tool. Cutting fluids provide these processes with many benefits, including better surface finishes, longer tool life, lower energy consumption, enhanced precision, and better corrosion protection. Halocarbon offers an elite, niche class of metalworking fluids, formulated through years of expert specialization and breakthroughs in fluorochemistry (PCTFE).
Fluorinated Fluids: an Elite Class of Metalworking Fluids
Fluorinated metalworking fluids, or PCTFE fluids, are synthetically formulated to aid today’s advanced machining processes, including cutting, turning, threading, drilling, milling, grinding, honing, polishing, lapping, forging, drawing, stamping, and other metal procedures. Fluorinated PCTFE metalworking fluids have found a niche in refractory metals, which can require complex machining and customization for safe processing and practical operation. Refractory metals such as tantalum, tungsten, niobium, molybdenum, and other alloys are extraordinarily resistant to heat and wear, which makes them desirable as alloying elements in a wide range of industrial applications. Halocarbon fluorinated metalworking fluids enhance surface finish and extend tool life by mitigating the destructive friction at the contact point between the tool and the metal workpiece. Halocarbon continues to lead the industry in the development of innovative metalworking fluids, offering a high degree of customization and design flexibility to accommodate a myriad of application-specific needs.
What are the Benefits of Fluorinated Metalworking Fluids?
The fluorinated metalworking fluids in Halocarbon’s portfolio provide several benefits for processes such as tantalum wire-drawing or tungsten cutting, for example. Serving as exceptional lubricants for these procedures, fluorinated PCTFE fluids prevent friction between working components and prevent adherence of the metal to the tool. Accordingly, PCTFE metalworking fluids improve the surface finish of the refractory metal, enabling enhanced aesthetics and long-term performance. Additionally, these fluids improve precision during refractory metal cutting by stabilizing the temperature of the workpiece and preventing BUE (built-up edge) on the tool’s surface. By minimizing error with higher quality cutting, stamping, drawing, and forming, Halocarbon PCTFE fluids also facilitate lower production costs and reduced product waste.
What Are Some Key Applications and Characteristics of Fluorinated Metalworking Fluids?
Fluorinated metalworking fluids are used in a variety of challenging refractory metal processes, such as wire-drawing, stamping, tube-drawing, cold-rolling, forming, and removing, which includes cutting, grinding, drilling, milling, and honing. Specifically, Halocarbon Metalworking Fluids are strategically designed to ensure safety and reliability. These high-quality metalworking fluids provide manufacturers with key performance characteristics such as:
- safe, non-toxic handling
- good lubricity
- high thermal stability
- anticorrosive properties
- flame retardancy
- natural, inherent film strength (EP qualities)
- Contains no hydrocarbons or oxygen to support bacteria
- Hydrophobic – does not absorb water
Additionally, Halocarbon Metalworking Fluids are well suited for use in flooded, high PSI, hand-applied, or minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) applications.
What is MQL?
Minimum Quantity Lubrication (MQL) involves the precise application of minute amounts of metalworking fluids between the tool and the workpiece, to provide optimal lubrication. Ideally, with the perfect amount of metalworking fluids, the lubrication is virtually dry during the cutting, removing, drawing, or forming process, which results in a cleaner, more efficient procedure.
Halocarbon is dedicated to delivering high-performing, reliable metalworking fluids to provide ideal machinability and workability for refractory metals and other hard-to-process metals such as tungsten, titanium, and more difficult-to-machine alloys. Whether you’re seeking metalworking fluids for cutting, drilling, shaping, forming, sawing, wire-drawing stamping, or other processes, we ensure long-term solutions for the most advanced refractory metal processing. Looking to learn more or purchase a fluid? Contact us today!
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