Help with mystery EDM machine

finbar800 · May 28, 2018

Hi all,

I'm an undergraduate research assistant in an electrical engineering lab at the University of Virginia. We have an old EDM machine that no one knows how to use, but it would be super helpful if we got it up and running. I've searched everywhere for information on the machine, and the company that made it, but I've been unable to locate anything.

Allegedly, it's made my US EDM/Unitek and the model number is D55. It seems like this company went out of business a long time ago, and I couldn't figure out if they were acquired by another company that I could contact.

The user manual would be super helpful, but Google searches haven't turned up anything. I know little about EDM machines, so I'm not sure where to start in getting it going. The power turns on, and if I flip certain switches, liquid starts leaking from the pump (so that's not good).

Here is an Imgur album of the machine: Mystery EDM - Album on Imgur

Any guidance would be helpful! Any other forums I should send this to?

Thanks a bunch!

plastikdreams · May 28, 2018

Says error...click it, it's for the manual.

Error Page | eBay

andrewmawson · May 28, 2018

OK so it's a wire EDM rather than a sinker.

You need a few setting conditions - it looks to be manual rather than CNC but perhaps you can say differently.

A/ Wire Speed
B/ Discharge current
C/ Travel Speed
D/ De-Ionised water flow

If you can't find ANY documentation (unusual for a Uni) then I'd start by mounting up a bit of 1/8" or so mild steel, fiddle to get the water flowing with the nozzles close to the work,get the wire moving relatively fast, turn on the discharge generator and set it moving - play with the settings - too aggressive and you'll break the wire.

As you experiment you should be able to develop a feel for what is right, after all you are in a University, think of it as a bit of research

andrewmawson · May 28, 2018

OK from that link it's a sinker NOT a wire - next time include the full picture !!!!

Much easier to get going

There will be a servo system that hovers the electrode in contact with the work piece - check you have Electrolyte - probably a special oil (I use IONO-Plus by OEL-HELD) but could simply be paraffin (the oil not the wax - I'm UK)

See that float switch - the servo probably won't work until that is triggered by a full tank

Mount a bit of copper as an electrode, and a bit of steel as a victim work piece, fiddle with your settings until the ram descends and it starts to discharge - tweak your amps to find the sweet spot and off you go

plastikdreams · May 28, 2018

andrewmawson said:
OK so it's a wire EDM rather than a sinker.

You need a few setting conditions - it looks to be manual rather than CNC but perhaps you can say differently.

A/ Wire Speed
B/ Discharge current
C/ Travel Speed
D/ De-Ionised water flow

If you can't find ANY documentation (unusual for a Uni) then I'd start by mounting up a bit of 1/8" or so mild steel, fiddle to get the water flowing with the nozzles close to the work,get the wire moving relatively fast, turn on the discharge generator and set it moving - play with the settings - too aggressive and you'll break the wire.

As you experiment you should be able to develop a feel for what is right, after all you are in a University, think of it as a bit of research

That's a sinker sport...

finbar800 · May 28, 2018

https://i.imgur.com/5d05JWG.jpg

As you can see in this picture, I think the electrode piece is missing. I have no idea what it looks like.

If I don't have an electrode piece, is it something I can manufacture? Or is it more technologically complicated than I realize.

uncledenny · May 28, 2018

Oil or water?? Might be some sort of hole popper. Looks awfully clean for a sinker!!

precisionmetal · May 28, 2018

Has it ever been used? It looks old, but unused!

I think if it was a hole-popper / edm drill, there would be a chuck or collet somewhere that we might see? A big cable disappears down near the bottom of the column, so sinker?

PM

finbar800 · May 28, 2018

Update:

So far, I've got the pump working so I can flood the whole thing with the dielectric fluid. I pinned the anode to a random piece of metal and the cathode to another piece of metal, just to see if I could get sparks flying, but it didn't work. I'm able to pass current through when they are touching, but when they aren't touching, nothing happens. Maybe the metal I'm using is too high of a resistance to jump through the dielectric?

andrewmawson · May 29, 2018

The servo system should hover the electrode so it floats on the workpiece

Maybe you need to experiment with the servo controls to get a proper discharge rather than a dead short.

If you go to the Oelheld web site they have an excellent publication to down load that goes through the theory and practice of EDM

DDoug · May 29, 2018

plastikdreams said:
That's a sinker sport...

And the milling machine like base appears right from HF.

All this assumes that the damn thing works.
Could be it was "left for dead" because it is.

Skillet · May 30, 2018

Manual

finbar800 said:
Hi all,

I'm an undergraduate research assistant in an electrical engineering lab at the University of Virginia. We have an old EDM machine that no one knows how to use, but it would be super helpful if we got it up and running. I've searched everywhere for information on the machine, and the company that made it, but I've been unable to locate anything.

Allegedly, it's made my US EDM/Unitek and the model number is D55. It seems like this company went out of business a long time ago, and I couldn't figure out if they were acquired by another company that I could contact.

The user manual would be super helpful, but Google searches haven't turned up anything. I know little about EDM machines, so I'm not sure where to start in getting it going. The power turns on, and if I flip certain switches, liquid starts leaking from the pump (so that's not good).

Here is an Imgur album of the machine: Mystery EDM - Album on Imgur

Any guidance would be helpful! Any other forums I should send this to?

Thanks a bunch!

There is a manual on Ebay. US EDM SYSTEMS OPERATING MANUAL FOR MODEL D55 | eBay
I work at OleMiss, we had a Hansvedt sinker similar to what you have. It was old, but had like 10 hours run time.

plastikdreams · May 30, 2018

digger doug said:
And the milling machine like base appears right from HF.

All this assumes that the damn thing works.
Could be it was "left for dead" because it is.

Manual vectoring/orbit ftw!

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