Intricate EDM
Tom Frick started out in the machining industry as a wire EDM applications engineer for a major EDM manufacturer. Once he saw how successful someone with a good machine and know-how could be, he decided to go out on his own.
Frick started Intricate EDM in 1998. Most of his business is precision die work, including parts for race car builders like transmission parts and valve bodies. Recently, the bulk of new business has been small, highly detailed work for everything from lawnmower to electronics to aerospace manufacturers. Even some government business has come his way, including some work for NASA and some high-tech EDMing for a defense application.
As his business began to grow, Tom realized he’d need to replace his aging wire EDM machine to keep up with the demands of his customers and turnaround jobs more quickly.
In Need of an Upgrade
"I never buy a piece of equipment for the price, I buy it for the service and what it can do for the company," says Frick. "I’ve seen some of my customers and buddies buy a machine based solely on the sticker price. The real cost of the machine has nothing to do with that – it’s about how much the money the machine can make you, and if you’ll get the support you need to fulfill your commitments."
Frick knew that for a machine to be profitable it had to be well serviced, and beyond that, it had to perform up to the most stringent standards.
"If you can’t meet the tolerances they need you to, you’ll never get the job. And if you can’t cut the parts fast enough, you’ll never make money on the job," Frick continues. "It’s simple economics. To only focus on the original purchase price is not only foolish, but it’ll end up costing you a lot more in the long run."
Frick says that even though speed is a primary concern, if the product they produce isn’t top-notch, they won’t get any repeat business. "Most of our business comes from a few shops that rely on us to get a job done quickly and correctly. If they have to come back for re-work, that’s a big problem and threatens future business. Parts have to come off fast, but they also have to come off error-free."
In order to speed up their wire EDM operations, Intricate has recently invested in some new equipment, and was given the opportunity to try something before anyone else.
"I know wire EDMs," Frick says. "So the spin that many manufacturers push doesn’t do much to sway me." After considering several machines, Frick chose a Makino SP43 wire EDM. mostly because he valued the service Makino provided.
"They told me they were testing a new technology that could speed up my cycle times. I trusted the local reps, and figured it couldn’t hurt, so I gave it a try."
The technology Intricate EDM was one of the first to try in the U.S. was High Energy Applied Technology, or HEAT, for Makino wire EDMs. Essentially, it’s a generator, software, and flushing upgrade that increases cutting speeds in poor flushing conditions.
The First Part
The first part Intricate EDM tried with the new wire EDM was an auger for an unknown application, passed onto him from a large machine shop as overflow work.
Frick set up the part to run nine at a time in a fixture which clamped the irregularly shaped parts from the top. It’s a home-made fixture that doesn’t look pretty, but does the job. Another thing the fixture does is not allow the nozzle of his wire EDM to come into direct contact with the part.
"The flushing here is just horrible – but how else do you hold this part?" Frick says, holding up the part, which looks like a small, thick boat propeller. The part had to have a through-hole machined into it, along with a counter-bore on both sides a half-inch in. "To top it off, it’s made of a cast Stellite®, which is filled with voids." Stellite is a non-magnetic and non-corrosive Cobalt alloy.
The tough part would run on his wire EDM, but only at 0.070 to 0.075 inches per minute. "That kind of cutting speed just didn’t do it for me. I knew it was the best speed I could probably get with any machine on the market, and my tolerances and surface finishes were perfect, but it was killing me that the machine wouldn’t be available if a new job came through the door, and I was struggling to get the part to the customer in a reasonable amount of time. Seventy-thou just wasn’t fast enough."
After a few months of machining the part, Frick was contacted by his local Makino representative about a HEAT upgrade. He agreed to upgrade his machine, and began cutting again.
"My biggest fear was that it was either a marketing ploy or that the accuracy I had to maintain would suffer," says Frick. "I’ve been around EDMs a long time. It’s just a given that if you speed up your burning you lose the tolerances you need.
"These guys found a way to change my mind. After the upgrade and a few days of tweaking, I was holding the same accuracies and having to hold the machine back at 140 thousandths," says Frick. "The bad flushing conditions and step inside don’t matter when you throw this new process at it."
Frick is maintaining the straightness and part tolerance of 0.6 inches, with standard 0.010 inch brass wire and no problems with wire pinching.
The HEAT upgrade involves new nozzles, a generator upgrade and a software upgrade. Intricate is still using the same brass wire it used before, and hasn’t had to change the fixture or any other aspect of the setup.
"About half our work involves poor flushing conditions, so it’s a huge time saver to have the ability to double our production speed," says Frick. "We’re cranking these babies out fast enough to free the machine up for new jobs as they come in the door."
Other options
Frick investigated other wire EDM technologies, including some that boasted increased cutting speeds.
"There was always a catch," says Frick. "Either you had to use some special wire, like 13 or 14 thousandths, or some special coated wire, or some strange technology that was more smoke-and-mirrors than an actual improvement. You try and find fourteen-thousandths wire, and beyond that, how much more is that going to cost you, including lower filter and resin-life?"
Frick was happy to find Makino’s solution didn’t require any special wire purchases and allowed him to use the same process he had been using, while obtaining much better cutting speeds. To add to his satisfaction, there was no loss in accuracy.
Changing the business
Not only is Intricate EDM producing parts faster than ever, but they’ve also been able to get rid of some of their older equipment that has been made obsolete, including an abrasive flow machine used to clean up bad finishes. The new Makino can hold a 16 micron Ry finish in one pass without any additional hand work or secondary processes.
"I’ve even had customers come back to me and say their plastic extrusions are flowing better, and customers who took the time to hand-polish to confirm everything was smooth enough have been able to skip the step. Everyone’s happy."
Makino currently has HEAT available as an upgrade on any Makino SP-series wire EDM machine, and it is available on newly purchased Makino wire EDMs.