.002 wide ribs in graphite

I need to wire cut an electrode with .002" wide ribs spaced by a .009 gap 94 times. Cut has to go .010" deep in .200" thick grahite. Customer needs to know if it's possible right away, but I don't have time to set-up .004" wire in my charmilles 330F for at least week. Anybody ever cut a detail this small in graphite? Can I do it with .004 wire?? How about the Ram burn? I need to burn .007 deep into 1/8" wide D2 steel. I figure 5 electrodes per part cause I'm sure those .002 ribs are just ganna disapear. Final slot width will be .003" wide. Think it can be done?

I have never cut graphite on a wire machine, but I'm sure I could do it in stainless with .004 wire.

Not sure if my $.02 helps.

Why not just wire cut the D2 part directly?

TMD can go down to .0008" wire in his Vertex.

Jay cee,

.002 wide ribs wire cut in graphite are no problem.

If your slots are blind, yea, you are going to need a sinker and "thin" electrodes. I have burned slots .003 wide .030 deep with my Sodick..

TMD

Precision, believe me, I would love nothing more than to cut this feature on the wire. I always prefer to keep my hand out of that oil (makes me itchy...). Surrounding features unfortunatley don't allow for that. Thanks for your input dudes. I told the customer I can do it, just need 5 weeks. Hopefully I can figure it out in that amount of time. Any particular grade of graphite you think might be better for this? Not so much the RAM burn I'm worried about. I just keep picturing those little .002" tabs blowing off in the wire. Have a great holiday!!!

Just an idea, but would it be beneficial to go a bit deeper into the electrode, so you can have a radius at the root? Even though the standing tab is a few thou longer,it is less likely to snap off at the root. I have done this on fragile electrodes before. I think I would use the Poco AF-5 graphite. It has a very fine grain, & can actually flex a bit before shattering.

I have gotten so fond of Poco 5 that I use it on everything (but everything I do is small)

TMD

I just keep picturing those little .002" tabs blowing off in the wire.

Click to expand...

Keep that flushing LOW!!!!

Also, consider not doing the entire electrode at once. Going every other rib will allow more room for flushing on both the sinker and the wire. It will also allow you to use larger diameter wire. The added benefit of the larger wire is a larger (stronger) radius at the base of the electrode. Obviously you will have to make two burns but this shouldn't be a problem unless you are trying to hold sub-micron tolerances.

I should mention, have you considered copper for an electrode material over graphite? I'm a wire service guy, not a sinker apps guy but in my mind that might hold geometry better at that size, and certainly less subject to wear. In most countries other than the US copper is still the preferred material over graphite. We just like it here because it's cheap and easier to machine with conventional tools (grinders and mills).

Whelp, it didn't work. At least not with the graphite I had at hand. Ribs just disapeared (had the flush down). Found out the customer only wanted to pay $100 each anyhow. Crazy... I tried an E2 and I tied an E7 to cut it and nothing worked. Maybe the generators for .004" wire are still to much to not eat through a .002 wall on either side. If I ever get a costomer that wants to pay for what it's worth, I give Poco 5 and copper a shot. Maybe even go down to a .002" wire. Thanks everyone for the input.