EDM TECHNOLOGY EDM is moving “into new alloys and materials which can


hardly be machined” traditionally, said Gisbert Ledvon, director of business development of GF Machining Solutions in Lincolnshire, IL, part of Georg Fischer AG, based in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.


CNC PRECISION


32 and 46 mm capacity


7 and 9 spindle models


Low to high volume production applications


Free speed selection in any position


Drives, guide-ways, lubricant/coolant hoses or cables not in machining area


Wide range of machining applications, including C-and Y-axis to machine second side of a component


Specializing in profile grinding for a variety of applications.


“Sigs Pro” software with fast on screen simulation


Turnkey medical applications, tooling, implants and dental,


including micro applications.


Easily accessible machining area


rfq@schutteusa.com 517.782.3600 70 AdvancedManufacturing.org | November 2015 www.schutteusa.com


For example, he said, an aerospace alloy “is very tough and is used in jet engines and can take all kinds of heat.” Medical parts also lend themselves to EDM production because “they’re so delicate, you can’t machine them,” said Pat Crownhart, sinker EDM product manager at Wood Dale, IL-based MC Machinery Systems. Sinker, or die-sink, machines discharge electricity from shaped electrodes into machine parts sub- merged in a fluid. When very precise cuts are needed, wire-cut machines send sparks through a wire to cut parts submerged in de-ionized water. New versions of both have gotten more sophisticated.


“In the early days of EDM,” said Brian Pfluger, EDM product line man- ager of Mason, OH-based Makino Inc., “EDM was a black art.” On a typical factory floor, he said, “There was only one guy who could run it.” Today, he said, EDM machines have operator controls that look and act more like smartphones and tablet computers. “It’s certainly a more refined pro- cess,” Pfluger said. “It’s also appealing to a younger generation that’s coming into the workforce.” As a result, changing manufacturing


trends are giving EDM something of a home field advantage. EDM companies are moving to capitalize on that.


`Take Care of the Operator’


EDM, in some instances, is being used on small parts “where it’s uneco- nomical to mill,” Pfluger said. EDM “is a slower process than con- ventional machining,” he said. However, because of the automaton involved with EDM, “you run it at a lower labor rate. The operation is performed overnight and unattended.”


Makino has emphasized making operator controls more intuitive. For


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