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Should I keep it or sell it?

B

Bobfix-usa

Plastic
Joined
Feb 5, 2007
Location
Massachusetts
I recently aquired a Charmilles D-4 EDM I know nothing about this machine and the books are greek to me. I thought I could use it at my shop, but it looks like I dont have enough power to run it. The guy I got it from was forced out of business. I am into it for $500.00. can anyone even use this machine in the industry? The guy I got it from says it works fine. I have no way of finding out.
anyone have any ideas?
 
Well, they don't look like much as a monument


Seriously, people do still use them. They are good machines as long as they are in good working condition.
How much power do you have in your shop???
 
We have a D-400 we use very occasionally. The Charmilles machines were built to very high quality.

Does it have an Isopulse power supply?

What type of work do you do?

What tolerance are you hoping to achieve?

Graphite electrodes are crap in these machines. Copper=$$$

Take a few pics and post them.

Charmilles mauuals are completely unintelligable.
Their machines, however, are fairly easy to use.

t2r
 
So what kind of answer do you really want?
1-You do not know anything about this machine?
2-You do not have enough power to run it?
3-You do not know what it is for?!?!...
4-What industry are you wanting to use it for?

Whay did you buy it?!?!? Curious...

I would say...sell it to someone that will use it...

How much do you want for it and how much is freight to San Antonio, TX?
 
I understand the principal of the machine, I repair construction equipment and have a lathe and milling machine and thought this would be useful as well. I was told it could machine a broken tap out of a head without hurting the head. I have 3phase 220 available and It does have an isopulse.
 
It can remove taps... And so much more!!!

I would be curious why you believe that you do not have enough power... What amp service do you have coming in? My guess is that machine will run around 12 KVA maximum (startup), depending on the amperage of the generator. Course I am not familiar with that particular machine, so my figures are a SWAG. If anyone else knows the actual power draw of the machine, please pipe in...
 
I really thank you for the feedback . I am very curious as to what I can do with this thing. I am having a hard time figureing out how it knows what to do since it does not have a computer. it has different circuit boards and it has what apears to be a wire cuting fixture mounted to it. it came with a bunch of circular plastic disks and metal mounting plates for these disks, but I don,t know how to put these on the machine. I will atempt to upload some pics
 
It all depends on your work... Die and Mold Manufacturing is the most common use but the EDM process got its start in burning out broken taps. Today burning out taps is the most rudimentary use for the machines. Better than trying to address it here, do a quick Google search on "EDM Machining". You will need to figure out where/if it fits in your operation.

The switches on the generator tell it what settings to burn with and what gap to maintain (there may be a chart in the book). Depth is controlled with probably a micrometer stop on the ram.
Yes please post some pics.

If you don't have a use for it, I am sure someone here would be more than happy to take it off your hands
 
I would like to see this thing work, but it seems like I should offer it to someone who is more Knowlegeable about these. I am sure it is worth some money, I will be happy to recover my $500.00
Hopefully it can help someone get their own business started for a cheep price.
I cant see where I can load some pics. got any clues on how?
 
in the first pic there is an assembly mounted to the head and it has a wire attached to it, I assume it is for wire cutting through steel. mounted to the down piece there seems to be a carbon block mounted to it and it is engraved. what is it for?
 
Gee, could use a good cleaning eh?
Looks like it was set up to do a specific part. Can't tell you what the wire in the photo is for, but if it was for wire cutting, it would need to be continuously fed.
Looks like the carbon block is a graphite electrode, the down piece you mention is a fixture. That and the workpiece fixture in the tank leads me to believe it may have been a setup for machining a roll die of some kind, course the fixture in the tank would have to rotate the workpiece in sync with the movement of the ram.

Looks like everything is there. If I were closer I would come and take a look. It does look like you may need a buck boost transformer to get up to 380V. I would check the main transformer inside though, it could have been converted to US voltage a long time ago... Also, my guess on the KVA rating might be a little low, I forgot about the hydraulic ram, but still around 15KVA is a good guess.

Greg

[ 02-09-2007, 01:28 PM: Message edited by: Hollistergc ]
 
Wow, it's like a walk down memory lane... The first EDMs I ever ran were a pair of very similar machines, but they were in the "C" series. They were good machines, but I don't miss them. :D
 
That machine is the same one that that guy in Vegas used to counterfeit all of those dollar slot tokens. There's a good start up business huh???

I have that same machine in my shop. Wish I could give you more exciting news but broken taps is exactly what we use it for. The rest of the time it just sits. Compared to what’s out there now, it is a waste of time to even start it up if you're looking at serious ram work.

Trubble is exactly right. Graphite is a joke in that machine. We burn copper tungsten and buy it in standard rods. The price for standard rod is the only thing that keeps that machine powered up.

You could try this if you'd like to see it run. Contact your local business association and tell them you have a machine that you will rent time on for people who have experience. I did that it 13 years ago. I was the guy with experience. I walked into a shop with a Mits 90H that had been rode hard and put away wet. Owner bought parts and I fixed the machine. I got to use the machine for an incredibly cheap rate and he got his machine fixed. Worked great until I had enough $$ to buy my own.

You power issues can be worked out. Call Charmilles (1-800-282-1336) and they can help you out.
 
Thanks Jay Cee thats a big help. I don't know if i will end up keeping this machine due to the amount of space in my shop, but I want to see it work once.
Lots of stuff to learn about. Brain cramps. ouch
 
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