Does this exist already or should we create one here ?

http://www.wire-edm.com/photos/twistcube.jpg

Here's my contribution...it's a direct Inch-to-Metric Converter!

-Brian

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Nice!

Gotta ask though ... how did you get the center cut on the small 'e' in "metric"?

KilrB,

I EDM Drilled a hole in the center of the small "e" in "Metric", and then Wire cut it. In actuality, once this part was modeled in CAD, the CAM programming was easy...but the real fun began after the part was machined. Beyond the 4-Axis part geometry, this part required 33 individual 4-Axis programs to cut and segment the final completed part from the parent block. I also ran into some trouble cutting the center of the "c" in "Inch" and the lower part of the "e" in "Metric". I created a small slug about 0.4" by 0.15" that would lock in place. I could pull it up about 2.5" and it would lock, or push it down 2.5" and it would lock (part is 4.0" tall). I ended up pulling the slug up as far as I could, and then pulled out my handy cut-off wheel and hand grinder and cut the slug in half vertically...allowing half the slug to be removed from the top, and half from the bottom! It's real easy to get yourself in trouble, but the fun and challenge is finding your way out!

-Brian

That is pretty interesting stuff. I like seeing the crazy stuff some get in to. It makes me proud of the profession to see what insanity we can create.

They've usually got some interesting stuff in "EDM Today".

http://www.edmtodaymagazine.com/

Unfortunately, my copy always seems to get lost between the front door and me!

i made it in aluminium and in three cuts.

regards

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Not the smallest, but one of the more delicate parts I've cut on my 15 year old Agie.

An electro-optical component for a military contractor. The small cross sections are .008" x .030", and it was cut using 70 micron wire.

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this one is nice...stupid me ,i was actually looking for the formula..lol..im still trying to find the one where their is a horse on one side and an Elephant on the other..i know i have ..but where ? 9 years ago..lol
peace

Not really an outrageous or impressive WEDM burn, but my g-friend insisted I post it up for all to see.
The program on the other hand was rather outrageous.
It started out to be a decorative piece to hang off of a rear view mirror.
One clang from the 1/8 stainless into the windshield changed our plans on that.
Sorry for the blur and out of alignment.
G-friend isn't to handy with the camera...

Via ESprit ?

I've see a numeral 1 to numeral 2 done in similar fashion. Not as complex as the inch to metric converter, but I thought it was cool at the time.

I would think that the Match Segments (points that tie where the wire should be on the top and bottom form at the same time) would be kind of a biatch on Esprit.
Is there some way other than manually selecting those points on other CAM software?
Considering that the top form and the bottom form don't have an equal number of segments and don't "auto connect" nicely.
I guess what I'm saying is, can you take an extruded 3-D form from CAD and plug it into your software and say, "make the wire make this"?

Milacron, your triangles at the beginning of the thread can be made with a single line of code on Charmilles machines.
"K" is a "twist" variable.
How often it is actually used to make stuff other than toys is a mystery to me.

Roonie,

What is the order of your cuts?

About the Inch-Metric thingy...I did this using Mastercam, and I manually created the "match" or "sync" points between the 2 geometries. This can be done equally well in other CAM systems (I use Mastercam, ESPRIT, and PEPS), but I am most familiar with Mastercam. When creating the model, I worked in sections, and guessed at the sync points. I looked at how much twisting I was getting on the CAD model, and if I didn't like the result, I added or edited the sync points. Since this is just a "FUN" part with no real function, I worked strictly based on how the CAD model looked.

-Brian

If you where the spider i start cutting firstly your right´s part profile later i cut your top profile both with vertical programs, and finally i cut the back profile with a 4 axis program in order to give movement to the legs.

Brian,
Manually tagging all of those points must have taken a while.
That's more what I was asking.
I was wondering if another software could just take the extruded 3D form and apply the tags where the original drawing had them.
I didn't think so but saw you say "once the part was modeled in CAD, the CAM was easy".

Roonie,
I don't see the 4-axis cut.
Can you point it out?

Jay Cee,

To my knowledge, there is no system that can automatically create the sync or match points and give you a perfect part. I did actually start out by chaining these geometries without syncing them, but the results had some severely twisted mangled masses that wouldn't be machinable (see photo). Please understand that this is a CAD geometry/design issue, and I modeled the part with surfaces before I cut anything, and played with my sync points until I was happy with the 4-Axis blend results. There are a lot of variables here, but once you have the CAD geometry created properly, the CAM programming should be a breeze.

Speaking of CAM systems, another nice feature that some WEDM CAM systems now have is an Auto-Part release function. This is part of the CAM systems verification 3D program graphic check preview, and it will actually check to see if your slug will be able to be pulled/released from the block, which is a very nice feature if you do a lot of 4-Axis work.


-Brian

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the 4 axis cut was in order to give movement to the legs, if you have a look they are not similar, but finally i did not get the result i wanted, anyway it looks nice in my office;-)

my photography stinks but you'll get the jist

http://s845.photobucket.com/albums/ab17/boybayawak/