Zone: EDM Equipment

Room To Grow

This wire EDM job shop in Wisconsin acquired a submerged cutting wire machine that lets it handle larger, taller workpieces than just about any other job shop in the country. The new machine has a “column-up” option that adds a riser block between the X-axis saddle and the Z-axis column casting to give it exceptionally tall cutting capacity. The machine was installed in November 2007.

Read Complete Article

Research Further:

Browse This Zone By Type:

Most Recent Content in this Zone:

Wire EDM with a Twist
1/23/2012 Modern Machine Shop: Most wire EDM units feature a wire electrode that passes vertically from an upper to lower wire guide system.
CAM Shortcuts Simplify Lights-Out Burns
9/14/2011 Modern Machine Shop: A CAM system with an intuitive user interface, adaptable postprocessors and time-saving shortcuts help this manufacturer maximize unattended EDM burn time.
Laser Sintering and EDM: Complementary Processes?
8/29/2011 Modern Machine Shop: An EDM machine from GF AgieCharmilles proves effective in separating laser-sintered parts from their base plate.
A Novel EDM Application
8/2/2011 Modern Machine Shop: GF AgieCharmilles designed the FO 550 SP die-sinking EDM, the company probably never imagined it would be used like this.
EDM, Metrology System Pairing Opens New Doors
5/17/2011 Modern Machine Shop: Seeking a solution for producing and measuring smaller, more intricate parts, this shop combined a ram EDM unit and optical 3D metrology system. Each provided significant benefits on its own, but the pairing of the two technologies enabled the company to achieve new levels of precision and productivity.

View More Content in This Zone | RSS | Atom

Overview Of:
EDM Equipment

In EDM, or electrical discharge machining, the equivalent of tiny lightning bolts perform the material removal. Though slow in terms of metal removal rate, EDM is capable of machining complex shapes in hard materials. Mold and die makers, as well as makers of jet engine components, rely on EDM routinely. The process includes an electrode and a workpiece, both submerged in dielectric fluid. Current flows between the workpiece and electrode, repeatedly creating tiny plasma zones with temperatures around 10,000 degrees C. The high temperatures produce localized, instantaneous melting of the material. Though the process may seem violent, it occurs on such a tiny scale that the resulting metal removal can be precisely controlled. The electrode in EDM takes different forms. Wire EDM machines use a thin wire to cut with electricity, with the wire advancing into the hard metal part as if it was a slow-motion saw blade. By contrast, ram EDM machines, which are also called “die sinkers,” use electrodes that are custom machined into 3D shapes. The EDM process then produces a cavity in the part that is the opposite or female version of the “male” electrode form. Similar to the ram EDM machine is the small-hole EDM machine, or “hole popper.” On this machine, the electrode is a cylinder used to machine a hole. Often these machines are used simply to provide starter holes for wire EDM, but the technology may also be used to machine finished holes in materials that are too difficult to drill.