What are your thoughts and experiences with Cold Air Coolant Systems?

Never used one. Liquid sure transfers heat quicker.

They use a lot of air and are noisy. I looked into it and just couldn't justify moving that much air. I have small flex lines with a mag base at most of my machines hooked to a regulator so I can control the flow since I don't have a large compressor. you would be surprised how effective air and the proper coatings on tools can be for dry machining. I hate coolant and the mess it makes with manual equipment however I still flush chamber but catch the coolant and direct it into the sump. Oil gets in the sump no matter what so that is another issue to deal with when using coolant. A mister may be a good solution but agian over time you end up with everything coated with coolant. I turn barrels fairly often and the biggest drawback is heat not insert life (I can turn an entire barrel from a blank with one edge dry machining) and a relatively small amount of air will keep things cool enough to work continuously.

Like ramrod340 I've never used it, but I've been in shops that do and I guess it works pretty good. The problem that I saw in small jobber shops that use it was the lack of proper ventilation. Everything in the shop gets a light coat of goo stuck to it. I don't know if breathing that stuff all day is all that good for you either. In the big shops with proper ventilation it's definitely not a problem. The guys that are properly set up for mist say that it's the katzazz and when a new machine comes in it gets hooked up to the mist and ventilation system almost before it gets leveled. So I think it's here to stay.

I use a full flood of moose milk (water) on both mills and one lathe and the lathe that I use for chambering I use 7 pounds of Sulflo Dark. I have used moose milk for chambering too but with today's reamers with their shallow relief angles I find the reamers sing too much and cut too hard. Forming tools also last a lot longer when high pressure cutting oils are used.

Thanks guys!

I use a Kool Mist system which works great. Uses very little coolant, but still does use coolant, not just air.

I'll stick with the Kool Mist, appreciate the help fellas.