Important note: this calculator is built for water-miscible metalworking fluids (coolants) in industrial machining. It is not for automotive coolant or antifreeze.
Controlling emulsion concentration precisely is the basis of a stable CNC process. This calculator works out the exact quantities for a new fill and for the top-up needed when the concentration has drifted. To get an exact result, the calculation takes the product-specific refractometer correction factor of your coolant into account.
The background to the calculation and how to apply it correctly is in our article Mixing coolant and water quality.
Measuring the Brix value regularly and correcting it with the product-specific factor is what prevents under-dosing (corrosion risk) and over-dosing (foaming, skin irritation). The reading is taken with a refractometer; from several machines upward, a mixing unit takes the variation out of the mix. Which further values German TRGS 611 requires to be checked weekly is covered in The functions of coolant.
Don't know your coolant's refractometer factor? Without it, the Brix reading is not the concentration. The factor is in the manufacturer's data sheet — send us the sheet or the product name and we will tell you the value. The same goes if you are switching from another fluid and want to know which product suits your materials.
How long an emulsion lasts depends on maintenance and on the formulation. The semi-synthetic EASYCUT products are built for bio-stability and low-foaming operation, and they form a series with a growing material range:
The full range with prices and stock is in the coolant catalogue; refractometers and mixing units are under Fluid Management.
The word "coolant" covers two entirely different products, and in Germany the automotive one dominates the search results — so it is worth stating plainly which one this page is about.
Metalworking coolant lubricates, protects against corrosion and flushes chips out of the cutting zone. It is a concentrate mixed with water on site and it lives in an open machine sump.
Automotive coolant (antifreeze) only transports heat and prevents freezing in a closed circuit. It is not mixed to a working concentration by the user and never meets a cutting edge.
Putting automotive coolant into a machine tool causes serious damage to seals and destabilises the machining process. If you arrived here looking for antifreeze for a car, this calculator will not give you a usable figure.
