[DDLES]

I run a small manufacturing company. We have a new product that requires a wire EDM cut. We were going to contract this out, but a new business relationship would allow us to buy a wire EDM to do this cut in house.

Which EDM’s should we get quotes for and which one would be your pick. It’s a bit of a loaded question with the details below.


Material is 7075 and some 6061 Al
Length of cut is 7 inches. Depth of cut is 3 inches (or 5 inches).
Qty is 250 to 500 parts per month initially of our first product that will use the EDM, with more designed later.
Operator skill level is very low.
We would like to run lights out.
We would like a machine that will run trouble free and not need much operator intervention, and we are willing to sacrifice speed to accomplish this.
A simple user interface is a plus.





Any advice, suggestions or experience would be appreciated.

[DDLES]

OK, at this point I am looking at a Fanuc and a Sodick.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[ltkettch17]

When I am testing a new wire machine, my top 3 considerations are accuracy, reliability of the wire threader, and maintenance. Notice, speed is not a consideration.

I've used wire machines for over 10 years now. If you're running the same or similar parts over and over again, operator experience is not really a factor. I have used Fanucs in the past and they are pretty user friendly.

I don't have too much experience with AL, but I know it can wreak havoc on your filters and other consumables. If your sales person will allow, try and get in touch with other users in your area and find out what their experience has been. Have the OEM to a test cut on a work piece while you are present. Make sure you get to see the whole process from start to finish.

Don't skimp on tooling/fixturing. It's one of the best investments you can make.

hth

[DDLES]

Thank you for the reply.

I'm going to keep talking to sales guys at this point. That and try to probe around and see what other people in my industry are using and if they are happy with what they have.

[sodickappsguy]

both machines will cut AL about the same speed. The sodick will rough a bit faster but the fanuc will do the first skim a bit faster. That is all in the cutting tech offsets. Both machines will require more maint cause you are cutting AL. The sodick threader can thread deeper without having to drain the tank (unless you are looking at the AD325 cause it has a solid upper guide like the fanuc). Whatever machine you buy i would look at tooling and also i would invest in a External filteration system cause aluminum will cut fast but will kill the filters in no time. Average time to do the service on the sodick is 30 minutes a week (cleaning guides, carbides being indexed and cleaning the DI probe) IF you keep the table and tank wiped out on a regular basis. If you let the residue sit that stuff turns into concrete and you will spend hours cleaning. Someone with a Fanuc can give you the low down on the maint cause i am not 100% sure about it.