Ardel Engineering and Manufacturing Inc.

WIRE EDM

In the wire electrical discharge machining process, a thin, electrically charged wire is used to erode material in very small volumes.

The rate of material removal is dependent on the diameter of the wire and thickness of the work piece; larger diameters are used to make efficient rough cuts, while fine wire is used to meet tight dimensional tolerances and provide a very clean surface finish that requires no secondary grinding or honing.

While wire EDM can be used to machine any conductive materials, it is most often employed for applications that require the machining of high strength alloys such as tool steels, Hastelloy™ and Monel, because the original property of the metal is preserved. Machining these materials using traditional milling methods is cumbersome as they can cause rapid wear of cutting tools and work harden as they are machined. Using a wire EDM, we can hold tolerances as tight as ±0.0001” on parts up to 12” in length, 10” in width, and 8” in height.