Microvaporization

Microvaporization

 Electrical discharge machining using a sinker EDM is another micro-holemaking option. Unlike ,Cnc machining  which create small holes for threading wire through the workpiece when wire EDMing, EDMs for producing microholes are considerably more sophisticated, accurate and, of course, expensive. 

 For producing deep microholes, a tube is applied as the electrode. For EDMing smaller but shallower holes, a solid electrode wire, or rod, is needed. “We try to use tubes as much as possible,” said Jeff Kiszonas,Cnc machining  EDM product manager for Makino Inc., Auburn Hills, Mich. “But at some point, nobody can make a tube below a certain diameter.” He added that some suppliers offer tubes down to 0.003" in diameter for making holes as small as 0.0038". The tube’s flushing hole enables creating a hole with a high depth-to-diameter ratio and helps to evacuate debris from the bottom of the hole during machining。

 One such sinker EDM for producing holes as small as 0.00044" (11μm) is Makino’s Edge2 sinker EDM with fine-hole option. In Japan, the machine tool builder recently produced eight such holes in 2 minutes and 40 seconds through 0.0010"-thick tungsten carbide at the hole locations. The electrode was a silver-tungsten rod 0.00020" smaller than the hole being produced, to account for spark activity in the gap. 

  When producing holes of that size, the rod, while rotating, is dressed with a charged EDM wire. The fine-hole option includes a W-axis attachment, which holds a die that guides the electrode, as well as a middle guide that prevents the electrode from bending or wobbling as it spins. With the option, the machine is appropriate for drilling hole diameters less than 0.005".

 Another sinker EDM for micro-holemaking is the Mitsubishi VA10 with a fine-hole jig attachment to chuck and guide the fine wire applied to erode the material. “It’s a standard EDM, but with that attachment fixed to the machine, we can do microhole drilling,” said Dennis Powderly, Cnc machiningsinker EDM product manager for MC Machinery Systems Inc., Wood Dale, Ill. He added that the EDM is also able to create holes down to 0.0004" using a wire that rotates at up to 2,000 rpm.