Re: EDM Fluid

GREAT TOPIC guys, I commented to Bill that I haven't seen too much
in the way of EDM on here.

I noticed on this thread that the fluid gets contaminated and is
nasty to dispose of. seems that if you are dealing with aluminum or
iron or steel you won't have nasty effluent, but small metal
particles.

Another observation is that most of us are home brew types and use
what is at hand. we all can boil water (don't let the wives know
that) so making distilled water is simple. and the added benefit is
that by distilling your water, you reduce the volume and have a
concentrated effluent. That and the cost of equipment is right.

Another benefit it that distilled water is real easy to clean and is
not toxic.

Dave

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., bjammin@i... wrote:
> At 08:25 AM 6/9/02 -0700, you wrote:
> >But every commercial manufacturer of wire EDM's that I know of
uses a
> >deionizing bed rather than a still to get the water quality they
need.
>
> That's a straw man. I didn't suggest that anyone distills water in
EDM
> machines, just that distillation is quite capable of producing de-
ionised
> water to begin with. We had a quartz-based still in a lab in
academic
> department in which I worked. It produced water in one pass that was
> sufficiently clean for sensitive biochemical work, pollution work
in fact,
> where any impurities left in water would confound experiments
studying
> those very substances in native water. That BTW is something that
ion
> exchange resins DO NOT produce; they merely substitute one set of
ions for
> others.
>
> >This tells me that distilling does not work adequately for the
volumes that
> >are needed for commercial applications,
>
> Stilling and reverse osmosis are the only ways to rapidly produce
pure
> water. Ion exchange merely substitutes one set of ions for others.
>
> >and I suspect that the corrosiveness
> >of steam on metallic condensers is at least part of the source of
the
> >problem.
>
> Straw man. I never said they used metallic condensers.
>
> >My main point is that with water based systems, you need the
capability to
> >scrub large volumes quickly and very thoroughly.
>
> IE, filter. But EDM systems do use water so this must not be a real
toughie.
>
> >Oil is much more forgiving in this regard.
>
> No doubt.