EDM, or electrical discharge machining, is an innovative way to manufacture intricate machined parts out of hard metals to the designer’s exact specifications. Wire EDM is a CNC production service or manufacturing process that surpasses traditional machining methods in its ability to replicate complex contours and cavities in pre-hardened steel or other metal alloys.
Does your invention or concept require custom parts for prototypes or should your business outsource wire EDM services for production runs? Let’s drill down into the details of the EDM process, its benefits to innovators and businesses, and the cost-effectiveness of purchasing equipment or subcontracting these services to a company that specializes in non-traditional machining techniques.
What Is wire cutting?
While wire cutting machines have been around since the 1960s, using this technology with CNC (Computer Numerical Controlled) plotters has taken the machining capabilities of wire EDM to amazing levels of accuracy. Using a CNC machine for metal machining allows designs to be manufactured for a single prototype, for R&D small batch runs, or for large scale production.
A simplified overview of the process:1
A wire EDM machine uses a thin piece of electrically charged wire as a saw blade to cut any metal which will conduct electricity.
The EDM wire is tiny—measuring only 0.010” to 0.012”—and it may be made of brass or other materials for specific applications.
The cutting wire is stretched tight between two spools, which constantly move fresh lengths of wire into place.
The workpiece and the cutting head are submerged in deionized water for cooling with a flushing action to remove waste materials.
Using a CNC-Maschine to guide the cutting pattern, the highly charged wire is brought very close to the metal, causing electricity to discharge to the workpiece.
The discharges happen up to 250,000 times per second, with automatic sensors managing cutting speed and replacing broken wire automatically if needed.
These rapid electrical discharges dissolve the metal to be removed, leaving no burrs or cutting marks, and with precision perfect results.
Wire EDM Applications
Wire EDM is most often used for mold and die, metal parts, and tool manufacturing. Many industries and small entrepreneurs are creating new uses for the process, including:2
Extrusion dies and blanking punches
Prototypes and proof of concept builds
Automotive parts and accurate reproductions
Aerospace industrial parts and components
Electronics and implantable medical devices
Creating dies to be used for jewelry, watchmaking, coin stamping, or starting blanks for hand engraving
Shaping hardened steel materials without softening them, eliminating the need for re-hardening steps during production
Machining application-specific materials that are extremely hard or soft, such as ceramics, titanium, polycrystalline diamond, Hastelloy, Kovar, tungsten carbide, and Inconel
Creating any high-quality specialty part that must be free of burrs and imperfections, while being manufactured to exact specifications from difficult to machine materials
What Are the Benefits of wire cutting Services or Equipment?
Having access to a professional CNC production service with wire EDM capabilities will offer your project or business the same quality and level of detail that is required for medical devices and airplane parts. As long as the material you want to re-shape is conductive, it can be machined into almost any shape.
Even if you are not sure of the exact design, with a clear concept of what the part or machine needs to do, you can work with the machine engineers to create the right design and transfer it to the wire EDM computer. Some of the reasons that businesses are working with subcontractors or even buying EDM equipment are:
Cutting small radius inside corners, deep ribs, and narrow slots to create intricate patterns
The ability to cut extremely thin stock without bending or warping
Built-in sensing and intelligent automatic control, which has enhanced ease of use
Eliminating mechanical force in the cutting process to create fragile outlines
Drilling deep and irregular shapes that normal cutting tools could not reach
Producing a part with fine or specialty finishes, superior to traditional methods
Avoiding the deforming effects of heat in the cutting process, especially for hardened materials
Leveraging the flexibility of CNC manufacturing techniques in automated production
Should You Use Wire EDM for Your Prototype, Process, or Production?
There are some questions to ask before choosing the right machining method for your project. Wire EDM machines represent a sizable investment and require trained personnel to program and operate. These considerations should be weighed against the lower costs of using a CNC production service or a less exact method of metal cutting.
Some reasons to choose wire EDM techniques include:
Creating a single high-quality part for inventions, prototypes, and proof of concept models
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