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- Joined
- May 16, 2017
I am looking into options for production of a small mold type component. It is a small zero draft hardened 440C cavity used for casting a specialized polymer. We make these in a bunch of different sizes from a bit smaller than the one I have attached a cross section photo of, to around .25" ID. The cavities are currently EDM'd with the smaller through hole being jig ground to achieve the tighter tolerance (we are aiming for +/-.0002"). We are working with a shop that runs older EDM equipment, but does a pretty good job. In house we carefully polish the cavity, finishing with a linearly drawn mirror surface finish.
The polishing process is very time consuming due to the small part size and occasionally disasters happen. I am looking into options to bring the EDM process in house while reducing the amount of time spent polishing. We produce only 200-500 of this type of part each year, generally 1-3 of a single design. The desire do this work in house is based only on lead time reduction. The goal is to be able to fixture 3-5 of these at a time and have the machine work unattended, producing either the final surface finish or something close too it. It would be great to be able to eliminate the jig grinding as well.
What have your experiences been using Mikino's HQSF option or any similar types of equipment?
Has the extra machine cost, effort in very nice electrodes, and consumables cost been worth it? How good of a surface finish have you been able to reliably produce? I've read a bunch of articles, but I am interested in real world experiences.
The polishing process is very time consuming due to the small part size and occasionally disasters happen. I am looking into options to bring the EDM process in house while reducing the amount of time spent polishing. We produce only 200-500 of this type of part each year, generally 1-3 of a single design. The desire do this work in house is based only on lead time reduction. The goal is to be able to fixture 3-5 of these at a time and have the machine work unattended, producing either the final surface finish or something close too it. It would be great to be able to eliminate the jig grinding as well.
What have your experiences been using Mikino's HQSF option or any similar types of equipment?
Has the extra machine cost, effort in very nice electrodes, and consumables cost been worth it? How good of a surface finish have you been able to reliably produce? I've read a bunch of articles, but I am interested in real world experiences.