Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Tap burning EDM? Need it Quick and Dirty ;-)

egroupscdh@... wrote:

> Would it work to use a solenoid or relay coil with the electrode attached to
> the armature and feed the coil through the electrode? Contact would engage
> the coil pulling the electrode away, breaking the connection which would
> cause the electrode to drop making connection, etc. etc. With perhaps a
> light-bulb ballast ...

I don't see why that wouldn't work. I would use a spring loaded
solenoid with a very small movement - or hold it in a fixture so
that the movement can be limited to a few thou. It isn't quite
as quick as using a hand held engraving tool as a vibrator, nor
quite as dirty as using duct tape to hold it together :-). (You
gotta have duct tape when you talk quick and dirty.)

Actually, you can see cratering when you touch the poles of a car
battery together. I removed a large tape this way once when I
was about 14. Takes some extra electronic bits to keey from
frying everything, however.

> All you'd have to do is feed slowly listening to the sound of the mechanism
> to adjust for maximum cutting rate.

That is about what you do when you use one of those $4500 tap
burners. We had one at work. Very simple to adjust. Even
though these things have feedback control and eat metal using a
spark, I don't think of them as either CNC or EDM as they are
just too simple.

JerryK