EDM
5-10 times a day – the savings add up quite rapidly.” Further improving the set-up
would take four passes to finish on the BA8 can now be done in three or sometimes two passes. This improves our productivity by 25 and even 50% in some cases. For example, on a hole we would previously take away the slug with the first cut and follow this with a skim cut to take the hole or feature to size. The third
and running time is the new wire re-threading system. As Chris continues: “On the old BA8, wire re-threading due to breakages or the re-setting of jobs
would require the tank to be emptied every
time. If you had a job with a profile that required 30+ holes, this would mean emptying the tank repeatedly, which would take 1 to 2 minutes every time. With the
and fourth cuts will be finishing cuts to obtain the high-quality surface finishes we need.
With the MV1200S, the second cut to size is often of high enough quality – but we may
new MV1200S, the tank only drains to the mid-point and then automatically refills. This means a wire re-thread takes around 30 seconds as opposed to 1-2 minutes.” “Another improvement with the new MV1200S is the axis positioning when the wire breaks. On the previous machine, if the wire broke, the machine would return to the start position, re-thread the wire and then jog through the programmed path until it returns to the wire break point – and then it would resume cutting. With the MV1200S, it re-threads the wire at the wire break point and immediately resumes cutting, saving valuable time. These incremental savings, like the machine setting on the CNC, are the culmination of lots of small updates that add up to considerable savings when it’s calculated every day or week.” With regard to overall cutting time, Chris states that the generator on the previous machine was only one generation behind that of the MV1200S. “The speed of cutting is always restricted by the wire. However, features that
sometimes need a third pass.” This 25 to 50% productivity improvement is credited to the new
V350 generator which has a significantly higher effective clock rate. The voltage is built up faster and with greater precision thanks to reduced capacitance loss. With a faster voltage build- up, spark duration and working voltage can be lowered, so customers like Precision Engineering Services will notice higher surface quality and lower power costs. Chris concludes: “The machine is faster, more powerful and more precise than its predecessor. The more we familiarise ourselves with the machine and the intuitive new control system, the more we find features that can improve our productivity beyond the realms of what we thought possible. The service and support from ETG has been fantastic throughout and their EDM experts are always on hand if we need them.” n
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