Production Wire EDM solves problems, saves time,
and is a competitive machining process

Wire EDM has long been recognized as a production process for the aerospace, medical and electronics industries, but it shouldn’t be overlooked for less demanding applications. Adron has successfully quoted production wire EDM for many jobs traditionally thought to be best suited to conventional processes. It is a mistake to automatically think that wire EDM is going to be too expensive. Under the right circumstances it can be competitive with machining processes broaching, milling and drilling, as well as with forming processes such as stamping and fine blanking. You can’t always identify a wire EDM part by its looks, as the following cases illustrate.

Typical EDM jobs as well as unusual projects

Many wire EDM jobs that we machine are fairly typical for electrical discharge machining, but we have a “no limits” philosophy of production wire EDM, tackling and succeeding at jobs that other shops refuse. Non-disclosure agreements prevent us from discussing the innovative uses for EDM that we have created for many customers. The following examples were chosen because they illustrate the strengths of Adron and the wire EDM process.

The wire EDM work Adron does touches everyone’s life one way or another. Wire EDM is ideal for turbine vanes producing electricity; key medical components for surgical tools, implants, and X-ray and CT scan diagnostic equipment; avionics, navigation and get engine components in commercial and military aircraft; semiconductor components and tools critical for computer chip making; as well as for countless parts for consumer and other products.

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You Can't Always Identify an EDM Part By Its Looks

The parts to the left look like a milling job; however, Adron won a government prime contract for 3,500 pieces of this 7075-T6 aluminum back plate latch because our price was less than half the cost of milling. These latches are a general machine shape without close tolerances and are not subject to heat-treat distortion. They are an ideal production wire EDM job because the parts can be nested for optimum material use, stacked for faster cutting, and burr-free EDM production saves secondary costs.

When You Need a Fine Quality Edge, Wire EDM is the Efficient Choice

These simple, flat shapes, one of which is used in food processing, which usually would be stamped, were wire EDMed instead because they required a superior quality edge. The price remained competitive because the stainless steel sheet stock was stacked to cut a number of parts at the same time.

The obvious methods - stamping and laser cutting - were tried for this part. Wire EDM proved the most cost effective. Titanium earring shapes used by a jewelry artisan illustrate why wire EDM can be a better choice than more conventional machining methods. Although the earrings are simple shapes, the stem (which is ultimately bent to become the ear loop) is too thin to be stamped. EDM also was competitively priced with laser cutting and chemical etching, however these caused the stem to become brittle and break. The earrings were nested for optimum material use, stacked for faster cutting, and wirecut burr-free.

The replacement turbine blades pictured at right are an example of how wire EDM meets just-in-time manufacturing requirements in a very cost-effective way. The 347 stainless steel material needed for the job was readily available in 10 in. diameter round bar. We nested the blades within the round shape, but we could have used many other material configurations just as effectively. This ability to use the material configuration which is in stock and/or at the best price is an advantage production wire EDM has over other machining processes.