Manufacturing Coolant Technology: The Ten Percent Nobody Talks About

Tony Gunn
Jul 12
2 min read

By Tony Gunn | The WorldWide Machinist

Manufacturing has always been like an iceberg. The world celebrates the ten percent sticking above the water.

This week I went looking for the other ninety.

Baer Brake Systems: Manufacturing Coolant Technology in Action

For more than three decades, Baer Brake Systems has been proving that stopping is every bit as important as going.

Their performance brake systems are engineered, machined, coated, assembled, and finished right in Phoenix, using U.S.-sourced materials. This isn't a company that buys someone else's homework and signs their name at the top. They build it. They obsess over it. They live it.

Then we crossed town to Star Metal Fluids, LLC.

Star Metal Fluids has been serving manufacturers since 1992. They didn't build their reputation by becoming another catalog company. Instead of asking "what product would you like," they ask "what problem are we solving." That's why they've become one of the world's largest distributors of QualiChem Metalworking products — customer loyalty earned through technical expertise, not price tags.

Huge thanks to Baer Brakes, Star Metal Fluids, and the QualiChem team for opening the doors. The greatest stories in manufacturing are almost never found in the spotlight. They're hiding behind safety glasses, coolant lines, CNC machines, and people who care more about excellence than applause.

Central Valley Machine

Any guess what we might be spotlighting today?

Today in North Logan, Utah, I got reminded that some of the biggest breakthroughs come from understanding what you already have.

Back in 1976, Jerry and Audre Wursten started Central Valley Machine in a small storage unit as a one-man farm equipment repair business. Orders during the day. Another job in the evening. Then back to the shop, machining parts into the early hours of the morning.

Nearly fifty years later, that same work ethic has grown into a second-generation family business spanning more than 150,000 square feet, serving aerospace, medical, commercial, and other precision industries — still family owned, now under Bret and Brad Wursten.

Working alongside QualiChem Metalworking and Star Metal Fluids, Central Valley has doubled their tool life while cutting coolant consumption in half. That's what happens when chemistry, application knowledge, and manufacturing experience actually come together to solve a problem instead of just selling drums of coolant.

Thank you to everyone at Central Valley Machine for opening your doors. This is exactly why I travel the world chasing these stories. Behind every spindle, every chip, every finished part — there's a family, a history, and people trying to get a little bit better every single day.