I am working on a project at work where we are designing a new CNC machine for a particular application. Up to this point I have been planning on using a standard machine spindle.
The more I think about the actual process and needs of the machine I am thinking that a small hole EDM drilling head would be better for this application. The application required drilling small 0.050" diameter holes through .135" thick stainless steel. The back side of these holes are in an annular space that cannot be easily reached for deburring. The reason I am contemplating the small hole EDM process is three fold. First it is difficult to drill these tiny holes in stainless and the drill bits frequently break. Secondly the back side of the hole needs to be burr free but is difficult to get to with conventional tools. Third the machine could be lighter and simpler if I use EDM vs a standard milling head. So my questions are as follows. What type of power supply would I need to use for doing small hole EDM drilling? Can I use a tig welder as the power supply and control pulsing with LinuxCNC driving an external IGBT? Could I use the Mesa THC to control gap of the electrode to the workpiece? It appears that spindles don't need to rotate very fast. What type of rpm do the spindles typically run at? That is all for now. I am sure I will have more to come. Thanks, Jim ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's most engaging tech sites, SlashDot.org! http://sdm.link/slashdot _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
