Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: EDM

At 10:12 PM 12/13/02 -0800, you wrote:

> The electrolite fluid needs to flush the metal out of the cut. Good
>flushing is critical to a good burn.

True! If anyone needs flushing and doesn't want to go to hollow trodes or
nozzles, it's possible to do the job with rotating trodes. I 'drill' and
'trepan' with this trick and one could 'mill' that way too. I simply put an
aux motor on the milling HS (I do my EDM under my mill) and drove the
spindle thru a belt made up of woven fishing line in several wraps around
both pulleys, and dressed with belt paste. The action of the trode does
entrain the fluid and circulate it thru the cut and it does flush out
fines. You can see a cloud of then coming up from the work zone within
seconds of starting the action. As for fluid, the less viscosity the
better. I've used motor oil, ATF and kero.

I have voltage sensing on my setup, which controls feed; if it's open, it
feeds at a set rate, which I can vary from keyboard. If closed, it backs up
a few clicks and then checks voltage again. Have noticed that if the fluid
gets dirty, the device spends more time cycling up and down and less time
burning.

Regards, Hoyt McKagen


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