Recent Postings

I wanted to let you all know that there will be a change coming in the format of this blog. Until now, it has been pretty much devoted to HEAT. From now on, this will be more of a general EDM blog. I will be posting topics related to HEAT, Surface Wizard, new technology developments, and customer success stories. Enjoy the new format and new site, www.EDMmatters.com!

We had a request for some images illustrating SurfaceWIZARD, so here you go.

This diagram illustrates the flatness that can be achieved with SurfaceWIZARD in two machining passes.

This sample part shows how SurfaceWIZARD virtually eliminates lines at transition points.

Makino is proud to announce its latest Wire EDM technology development, SurfaceWIZARD, which virtually eliminates witness lines.

SurfaceWIZARD is the newest control technology development from Makino’s EDM R&D. This technology provides exceptional surface quality in applications where the part has variable shape thickness or sudden changes in thickness, such as a stepped part. It will be an invaluable tool for shops manufacturing parts for the aerospace, medical and injection mold markets

Witness Lines

Historically, when stepped parts have been Wire EDMed the process would leave a “witness” line at the transition from one step thickness to the next. Many times the part would have a taper with variations in straightness across the machined surface. SurfaceWIZARD virtually eliminates these lines and has been shown to maintain part straightness within 5 microns in one pass and within 2.5 microns in two pass machining.

SurfaceWIZARD technology has been developed for tool steels up to 4 inches (100mm) thick, and will support 0.008” (0.020mm) and 0.010” (0.025mm) diameter wires with one and two pass conditions. This technology was developed specifically for use in poor flushing conditions where the nozzles cannot be sealed on the work surface. The technology is available as a standard technology on all Makino SP and U series Wire EDMs with the MGW-S5 control.

Demonstrated at Die/Mold Expo

The new SurfaceWIZARD control will be demonstrated at the Makino Die/Mold Expo and EDM Forum to be held September 25 through September 28, 2007 at the Makino Die/Mold Technical Center in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

In the next issue of Competitive Mold Maker, we're going to feature a case study of a shop in Wisconsin using an SP43 with HEAT to create innovative mold locks.

We'll link to the case study as soon as it's up!

Featured in the next issue of EDM Today is Tom Frick of Intricate EDM, a HEAT user. Check his story out in the next issue!

Makino will soon be releasing HEAT Technology for 3 pass machining. Originally developed for 2 pass part processing in order to provide greater speed in poor flushing conditions, HEAT has been received with great enthusiasm by shops that require fast burn times and high accuracy, but may not need superior surface finishes. At the request of some of these customers, Makino developed settings for a third pass using HEAT for those jobs that require a finer finish as well. Current 2 pass settings can achieve 80 micro inch RA, while the third pass settings will be able to provide finishes of 50-55 micro inch RA. These figures are specifically for machining in tool steels.

I recently spoke to a HEAT customer who informed me that he has reduced set-up time on one job from almost 3 hours to about 1/2 hour because of HEAT. Even though the work piece for this job is flat on top and bottom allowing for good sealed flushing, by using HEAT Technology, he was able to move the flushing nozzles away from the work piece far enough to clear the clamps that were used to hold the work piece. Now instead of having to plan work piece holding/clamping in order to avoid the upper head hitting the clamps, he simply does his set-up however is convenient, uses HEAT settings instead of standard technology, and runs his parts with the flushing nozzles moved away from the work piece surface. He is also able to realize shorter process times with faster burns while also consuming less wire. This means shorter lead times and higher profits.

A: It is the combination of different Makino adaptive control technologies that have been combined to create a much faster machining and straightness accuracies with poor flushing conditions. This technology is a total revamping of our existing poor flush technology (Both Away…for both nozzles away from work piece). Makino has been able to better the straightness accuracy while greatly reducing cycle time under poor flushing conditions… which is a very difficult thing to do! We have greatly increased flushing pressure, and we have updated this poor flush technology to include some of our newer adaptive technologies:

BellyWIZARD: Improves part straightness thru adaptive and mechanical adaptive controls…this technology was originally developed and is part of our standard machining technology library for “optimum” flush conditions (High Speed and Precision settings). It has been incorporated into the HEAT technology and is a critical part of machining straighter parts.

PowerWIZARD: Improves and stabilizes the machining power to prevent wire breaks and to help improve accuracies. For the HEAT technology, this adaptive control has been set to be more sensitive, so that this technology will be more reactive to changes in both flushing and material thickness changes.

CornerWIZARD: Improves the geometric shaped and corner tolerance of the work piece. For HEAT technology, this adaptive control has been modified to accommodate the increases in both machining speed and flushing pressure.

FlushingWIZARD: This includes the two independently monitored and adaptive flush pumps that are each dedicated to the upper and lower machining heads. Each pump will sense and adapt to changes in “flushing dynamics” of the cut more quickly than any of our competitors (our competition only uses one pump), and this aids in maintaining machining speed as well as to prevent wire breaks. For HEAT technology, the flushing pressure has been greatly increased, which is a key factor in reducing cycle time.