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Buying a used edm

ow2knives

Cast Iron
Joined
Nov 16, 2002
Location
Arvada Colorado
I want to buy my first edm and have a Charmilles D10 or 20 in mind. As a complete beginner in this field the possibilty of buying a machine that is completely worthless or that will cost a small fortune to repair concerns me. Can anyone help me with some basic things to look out for. Are there techs out there who could be called on to assist in getting these machines up and running without going to the expense of the Charmilles peo[ple themselves. According to Charmilles they no longer support their older (pre '85 machines)
 
First of all, what do you want to do with it?

I started off looking for a sinker EDM, but found a wire machine was what I needed. Having water conductivity problems, thank you
Culligan Man, but I think I have it whipped now several months later. I will find out when I get home in about 2 weeks.
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If you don't know how to run it, have the seller throw in training at a nominal cost or free. Yes, it is very important. I could never have gotten my machine up and running if the seller did not insist on training. See the machine operate at their site before you buy that machine. It is a BUYERS market on EDM machines, and serious bargains are around every corner.

Yeah, watch out for parts. They are horribly expensive. 3000 bucks for a card, 500 bucks for a pair of wire feed wheels,.... The good news is that you might be able to buy serviceable parts from a salvage yard.
 
Dear Pogo,
Many thanks for your posting. I had about given up hope of any sort of a reply, but perhaps I should have introduced myself to the forum before charging in with questions.
It is probably obvious that I make knives - mainly high end folding knives. I have the idea of doing intricate surface texturing and patterning on titanium and stainless steel scales (the handle pieces of a folding knife). Also it would enable me to do some intricate lock work in the hardened state rather than the soft state. Some other ideas too but that's it in a nutshell.
I moved here from South Africa four years back - with my all metric machine shop in a container - Deckel FP1 and Schaublin 125 included, both of which have taught me to love good German/Swiss machines which, of course, brings me to Charmilles. They have a great reputation. Perhaps because of the super expensive parts situation the older models do not seem to fetch the prices that some of the American machines do. I am talking small machines here - prefferably a benchtop.
Your idea of a training course with the seller - and seeing the machine in action is great advise which I will try to adhere to.
 
Don`t make the same mistake as I did last year when I bought a Charmilles D 10. It came cheap and too late I found out why (at that time I didn´t know anything about EDM:s). This particular D 10 wasn´t made for general work but for the drilling of several small holes at the same time. It has a fixed table/worktank and a MHD (Mulit Hole Drilling) generator. Rebuild it ? I don´t know it it could be done. The problem is the generator, not the table.
Inge Henrikson
 








 
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