Choosing Coolant To Use For Cutting Metal With Your Bandsaw

Cutting fluids are important for metalworking bandsaws.  They lubricate and cool saw blades and flush heat and swarf in the cutting zone.  This extends blade life and increases the band speed the blade can be run at.  Quality coolants also contain rust inhibitors to help keep your saw in optimum condition.

SnakeBite® is semi-synthetic coolant specifically formulated for sawing cast-iron, steel, and ferrous metals formulated specifically for metal sawing applications.  We recommend a 20:1 dilution with tap water for most use cases.

Blade Serpent Snakebite Metalworking Blade Coolant

For aluminum, stainless steel, and other non-ferrous metals, we recommend QualiChem Xtreme Cut 251C.  It resists the staining and hazing that sometimes happens with other coolants in aluminum. As with SnakeBite®, we recommend a 20:1 dilution for sawing.

Qualichem Xtreme Cut 251c Metalworking Coolant

Both Snakebite and Qualichem Xtreme Cut 251C are human-friendly and low-odor.