Wire EDM for complex contours, keyways and hardened parts up to 500 mm thick.
Two very different processes both come after heat treatment, where cutting with carbide is no longer economical. But the choice between them follows the shape of the part, not its hardness.
The abrasive wheel removes a small allowance from a surface it can reach. It delivers flatness, parallelism and a fine finish, and hardness does not stop it. Its two conditions: the wheel must reach the surface, and the part must be held without distorting under the contact force - a thin part clamped tightly leaves the machine flat and bows once the vice is released.
The wire never touches the part: electrical discharges melt the material, and the cutting force is practically zero. That is why it cuts hardened steel as readily as soft, and why thin walls do not deflect under the tool. The wire follows a contour and cuts through the part, top to bottom - here, over a height of up to 500 mm.
Almost sharp internal corners. A cutter leaves its own radius in the corner, however small the tool; the wire leaves only its radius plus the spark gap - an order of magnitude less. That is why a slot with straight flanks and a flat bottom, or an internal keyway, is cut with the wire rather than milled.
The wire only cuts contours that pass through the part: a blind pocket with a floor cannot be made this way. The cut surface carries a thin recast layer, which on fatigue-loaded parts is removed by grinding or polishing. And for a large flat surface the wire is the long way round: there the wheel does the job faster and better.
Wire EDM for complex contours, keyways and hardened parts that cannot be cut conventionally.
CNC wire EDM machine with reciprocating wire, for high-precision cutting of electrically conductive materials whatever their hardness. The process makes no mechanical contact, so complex contours, narrow slots, small radii and shapes hard to obtain by cutting become possible. It suits dies, punches, gauges, fixtures and precision components; CNC control holds path repeatability and keeps mechanical load on the part low.
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