This is the coolant system I've built into my lathe stand. It consists of a 10 litre plastic jerry can, a $25 centrifugal pump off ebay, a couple of flexible nozzles and a heap of retic pipe and fittings. It's been running for eight years now with no problems. The coolant container was originally on the back of the stand, but proved a little difficult to get to to top up, so, I moved it to the side.
Coolant is gravity fed to the pump, the pump pumps coolant up to a twin outlet coupling leading to two nozzles, through a tap, then along a 25mm pipe running under the swarf tray, then back to the coolant tank. Coolant drains into this 25mm pipe from the swarf tray. The green tap restricts the amount of coolant flowing back to the coolant container, thus increasing or decreasing the amount of coolant delivered to the two nozzles. It's a sealed looping system, so very little coolant loss and it's continually aerated, so no smells.
It's been in operation for around 8 years with no problems. I top up the jerry every three to four months and I've only changed the coolant three or for times since it's been in operation.
Here's a video showing it working.
Coolant is gravity fed to the pump, the pump pumps coolant up to a twin outlet coupling leading to two nozzles, through a tap, then along a 25mm pipe running under the swarf tray, then back to the coolant tank. Coolant drains into this 25mm pipe from the swarf tray. The green tap restricts the amount of coolant flowing back to the coolant container, thus increasing or decreasing the amount of coolant delivered to the two nozzles. It's a sealed looping system, so very little coolant loss and it's continually aerated, so no smells.
It's been in operation for around 8 years with no problems. I top up the jerry every three to four months and I've only changed the coolant three or for times since it's been in operation.
Here's a video showing it working.
