Wire Cutting EDM

EDM Wire Cutting uses a metallic wire to cut a programmed contour in a workpiece. Extrusion dies and blanking punches are very often machined by wire cutting. Cutting is always through the entire workpiece. To start machining it is first necessary to drill a hole in the workpiece or start from the edge. On the machining area, each discharge creates a crater in the workpiece and an impact on the tool. The wire can be inclined, thus making it possible to make parts with taper or with different profiles at the top and bottom. There is never any mechanical contact between the electrode and workpiece (see above). The wire is usually made of brass or stratified copper, and is between 0.1 and 0.3 mm diameter.

Depending on the accuracy and surface finish needed a part will either be one cut or it will be roughed and skimmed. On a one cut the wire ideally passes through a solid part and drops a slug or scrap piece when it is done. This will give adequate accuracy for some jobs but most of the time skimming is necessary. A skim cut is where the wire is passed back over the roughed surface again with a lower power setting and low pressure flush. There can be from one to nine skim passes depending on the accuracy and surface finish required. Usually there are just two skim passes. A skim pass can remove as much as 0.002" of material or a as little as 0.0001". During roughing ( i.e. the first cut) the water is forced into the cut at high pressure in order to provide plenty of cooling and eliminate eroded particles as fast as possible. During skimming (accuracy / finish cuts) the water is gently flowed over the burn so as not to deflect the wire. 

Wire EDM is a method to cut conductive materials with a thin electrode that follows a programmed path. The electrode is a thin wire. Typical diameters range from .004"-.012" although smaller and larger diameters are available. The hardness of the work piece material has no detrimental effect on the cutting speed. There is no physical contact between the wire and the part being machined. Rather, the wire is charged to a voltage very rapidly. This wire is surrounded by deionized water. When the voltage reaches the correct level, a spark jumps the gap and melts a small portion of the work piece. The deionized water cools and flushes away the small particles from the gap. 

The CNC machine can independently move four machines axes to generate taper cuts. A stamping die can be machined with 1/4 degree taper or a mold with one degree taper in some areas and two degrees in another with precision. Extrusion dies can be cut with the taper constantly changing. For example, a detailed shape on the top of the work piece can transition to a simple circle on the bottom.

Wire EDM can be accurate to +/-.0001". No burrs are generated. Since no cutting forces are present, wire EDM is ideal for delicate parts. No tooling is required so delivery times are short. Pieces over 16" thick can be machined. Tools and parts are machined after heat treatment so dimensional accuracy is held and not affected by heat treat distortion.