Thread: what's a practical machine to make widjets similar to this piezo electric actuator

Fishing for machine recomendations to do this sort of work.

I need to cut stuff of roughly the type as what's shown. no big or heavy parts. no stacks of tubes or anything difficult to flush. and nothing over 2kg ever. I dont intend to cut anything thicker than 50mm, and it will be all aluminum or stainless steel.

I'll be making parts kind of like this. not these, but similar features. These are probably 6mm thick.




I know JayCee recomends against a cheaper machine that might be a fixer-upper nightmare, and I accept that he is most likely right.

Also, for me the cut time is nearly irrelevant as I am developing my own stuff and will likely only cut a few of these parts per MONTH. I dont intend to be into any commercially competitive job shop work.
as such ROI dictates a machine under $14k is most desirable.

If anyone were to give me a list of machines to keep an eye out for that would be awesome.

Here's a short list:

For the most basic wires that will do the job:
Hansvedt DS2
Brother HS 100
Here's a link to an EBay machine: EX-CELLO BROTHER #HS100 CNC WIRE EDM | eBay

These two will do the job you have described very nicely and are cheap, but only 2 axis machines.
They're also little so they can sit in a corner of the shop and nibble away without you tripping over them all the time.

Moving up in the world:
Sodick A280 or A320:

I owned a Sodick A320 for 3 years and cut my wire EDM teeth on it.
Main benefits over many others including the Hansvedt and the Brother:

Easy to program and run...REALLY easy compared to some of the Swiss exotica it seems.
4 axis: Yeah, you say now you'll never run anything other than parts like these, but a 4 axis wire EDM is very very useful in any shop' even if it's just to make formtools for the lathe.

Good support still available: I used a fellow from Southern California named Larry Wetmore and I can't say enough good things about him; a true gentleman and super knowledgeable too.

Available within your price range.

Pretty rugged and pretty basic; nothing too fancy to get screwed up.

Small footprint for a proper EDM; mine tucked into a space 9 ft x 9 ft and was still serviceable in that space.

Submerged (BIG bonus) decent capacity, cheap repairs and consumables (a third the prices I'm seeing and hearing about for Swiss stuff)

For what you want to do, I'd give Larry W a call and pick his brain: (951) 306-4017

Cheers

Marcus
Implant Mechanix – Design & Innovation - home
Vancouver Wire EDM -- Wire EDM Machining

The robofil will be ggod...
Didn't realize what you were making.
Marcus is right though, even though you are buying it for these parts, you WILL end up using it for other things.
That is one reason why I recommended submerged.
Lead-in and out on aluminum especially will give you head-aches.

I can also recommend you to some used machine dealers near you (Chicago).
Feel free to hit me up if you have interest.

Jay

I'm interested in the EX-CELLO BROTHER #HS100 CNC WIRE EDM | eBay. I have a customer that I need to do just simple slots in 304 ss. Nothing fancy, just a straight line for about .450 at a + or - .001" location.

Is this machine capable of that and is it submerged or not and how does that affect the finish etc. I have CNC lathe and CNC mill, but have never done EDM.

Thanks---Mike