Thursday, October 09, 2008
Customer Satisfaction

This came into our applications department recently from a new EDGE2 customer:

"Thanks for sending the test document on the Ultra-fine Circuit program. It was a big help, along with the input on looking at the block by block function in the diagnose screen. I now have a lot better understanding of how time control breaks down into segments and how much time I'm actually spending on each portion of each process. It was also interesting on how MC Method 13 has 3 segments to each process and Method 93 has 7 segments. It still amazes me on how the operator has virtually an unlimited amount of options when it comes to programming. The amount of information that's available to monitor every portion of the burn is a big benefit that was unheard of with our old machine. Every day I'm more and more convinced we made the right decision in going with Makino. Thank You."

This customer does a lot of carbide punch back-burning, and has seen a dramatic decrease in processing time on the Makino EDGE2 as compared to the other sinker they had been using. They also do a lot of carbide face details, and have seen improvements in surface finish, surface integrity, and geometric accuracy in these applications.  We did a webinar on the back-burning process back in October 2007, entitled Back Burning Punches. This webinar, along with our entire webinar archive, can be viewed for free at www.makino.com/library.

High Speed Burning
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 Thursday, September 18, 2008
DUO webinar scheduled for Sept. 25 at 11am Eastern

Makino introduced a new wire EDM at IMTS--the DUO series. I'll be giving a webinar on Sept. 25 at 11am ET talking about the new machines, and will be available for Q&A after. Plus we'll have the first two DUO users on hand talking about their experience.

Register to attend at www.makino.com/events, or check out more on the DUO at www.makino.com/DUO.

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Surface Integregity Testing for Aero update

Hello everyone!  I want to provide an update of where Makino is with surface integrity testing for aerospace.  Since the last webinar in January 2008, we have added Inconel 718 alloy to the testing, and have also added sinker test results for all alloys tested so far.  These include 6061-T6 aluminum, 718 alloy Inconel, 17-4PH stainless, and 6Al-4V titanium.  These materials were machined with wire EDM, using brass and coated wires with one, two, and three pass machining.  Sinker EDM tests were done with a widely recognized, premium grade of EDM graphite to rough, semi-finish, and finish states. 

The test results on all alloys have been very impressive.  If you would like a free copy of all three lab test reports, please email me, and I will be happy to send electronic versions for review.  Also, if anyone would like to work with Makino on more specific tests (materials, geometries, coupons, or additional testing such as tensile strength after EDM) contact me to set things up.  I can be reached at  jeff.kiszonas@makino.com  or 248-232-6208.

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 Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Stop In and Say Hey to Your Favorite Blogger at IMTS!

If you plan on attending IMTS 2008 in Chicago, IL between September 8 and 13, check out what Makino will be showing at www.makino.com/IMTS. Wire and Ram EDMs and the V22 VMC will be on display at booth D-4101 in the Lakeside Hall, and we will be presenting HMCs and VMCs in the main Makino booth, A-8301 in the South Hall. Stop by the EDM booth any time during the show to say "Hi", and discuss your EDM needs with our knowledgeable and experienced EDM Applications Engineers.

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 Friday, August 08, 2008
An Update on Our Aerospace Material Testing

I've mentioned in the past that Makino is doing materials testing of aerospace alloys that have been processed with EDM. Makino has shown 2 webinars addressing this topic. I will be presenting more information on this topic as a speaker at this year's IMTS in Chicago, IL on Wednesday, September 10 at 10:00 a.m. Makino EDM has had testing done on several different aerospace alloys, having just added Inconel 718 to the list of tested materials. Other alloys previously tested for HAZ, recast, micro-cracking, and Vickers Micro-hardness include 6061-T6 aluminum, 17-4 stainless, and 6Al-4V titanium. Be sure to stop by the Business and Technology Forum to see results of the latest testing performed by a NADCAP certified lab.

Accuracy | High Speed Burning | Surface Finish
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 Tuesday, August 05, 2008
New Larger EDM Booth For IMTS 08

Hey everyone, IMTS 08 is nearly here and all of us at Makino are very excited. We'd like to inform you that Makino EDM will have a new, larger booth at this year's IMTS in Chicago, IL, September 8-13. The new booth is twice the size of previous years, showcasing EDM machines and processes for Micro-machining, Aerospace, Medical, and Job Shop applications. We will have displays of parts for these sectors, and our Applications staff will be there to answer questions about the machines, parts, and processes that will be shown. The new, larger booth will be located in the Lakeside Pavilion, at D-4101, directly at the entrance to the Hall. Along with Ram and Wire EDMs, we will have a V22 high precision, high speed VMC to complement the Micro-machining area of the display.

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 Friday, August 01, 2008
A New Release From SST Made For Makino HEAT Technology

Single Source Technologies Introduces Topas Plus H.E.A.T. wire

Pine Brook, NJ--August 2008--Single Source Technologies, Consumables Group is proud to introduce a unique new Gamma phase wire, optimized to ensure the fastest possible part production while maintaining accuracy, Topas plus H.E.A.T..

This wire technology breakthrough is the result of two years of collaboration and testing by Makino and Berkenhoff at Berkenhoff's development facility in Germany. Berkenhoff is highly regarded for wire EDM products such as Cobra Cut, MegaCut and Bronco Cut.

Topas Plus H.E.A.T. is manufactured specifically to compliment Makino's H.E.A.T. Technology, but can also provide significantly faster machining speeds on all high performance wire EDMs. Initial results of tests utilizing Topas plus H.E.A.T. wire have seen increases in machining speeds by as much as 40 percent compared to traditional single coated wires.

Topas plus H.E.A.T. offers a unique approach to Gamma phase wires, utilizing a dual coating that provides more zinc content in the cutting zone, aiding the spark erosion process and providing superior straightness and cleanliness for automatic wire threading. When combining these properties with the Makino EDM features such as BellyWIZARD, H.E.A.T. (High Energy Applied Technology) and the newly developed SurfaceWIZARD, Topas plus H.E.A.T. delivers the most significant performance improvement provided by a coated wire to the EDM industry thus far.

Topas plus H.E.A.T. is available in 0.010 and 0.012-inch diameter wires on European and Asian style spools from Single Source Technologies, Consumables Group in North America. Learn more about Single Source Technologies at www.singlesourcetech.com.

Consumables
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 Friday, June 20, 2008
New version of ED-CAM to be released at IMTS!

Our work has paid off, and the ED-CAM Version 5 is on the way! The new ED-CAM software for sinker EDMs is currently projected for release on September 8, 2008, to coincide with IMTS in Chicago.

We’ve included many new features to improve on our widely accepted ED-CAM version 4, including expanded model data, machining conditions technology, and electrode material types. Further options include carbide machining and Z-axis stabilizer. It can now provision a wide selection of cavity types, including rib, open side, connector, pin gate, speaker grill, EDM after pre-cut, and more.

We’ve also simplified the user interface, making it more logical when entering data. Users will also be happy to know we’ve added spreadsheet data import for those of you that lay out their processes on spreadsheets. The new version is also Windows Vista compatible, for those of you who have made that jump.

If you’re currently using ED-CAM version 2, Makino is offering a free software upgrade should you desire to do so.

As always, feel free to leave questions and comments for me. Despite the busyness of day to day life here at Makino, I will make time to respond!

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