Continuously machining microholes by EDM

Abstract

Machining microholes has become important in various industrial fields. Since the development of WEDG (wire electro discharge) technology, micro-EDM has become an excellent method for machining microholes on metals and alloys. However, problems remain for achieving mass production of microholes by EDM. Conventional micro-EDM technology is needed to prepare a microtool before machining microholes. In this paper a new system is proposed for machining microholes, called the Tandem micro-EDM system. The new system is not only for machining microtools but also for machining microholes at the same time. As a result, the Tandem micro-EDM system can machine a great number of microholes continuously after spindle setup.