Charmilles Leads a New Millennium of EDM Technology - GF ...

Charmilles Leads a New Millennium of EDM Technology
Spring 2001
www.charmillesus.com
Inside This Issue:
VEKA Case
Study..............................2
Quality EDM work is
paramount to VEKA’s
worldwide operations.
AcuCut Case Study ......4
Speed, automation and
dependability add up to
success for AcuCut, Inc.
Business Forecast
Survey............................6
Business seems to be good
if you judge by the
AMBA’s most recent
business forecast survey.
SEKAM Technologies
Case Study..................10
Robofil 6030 wire-EDM
keys SEKAM Technologies
explosive growth.
Used Equipment.........13
Charmilles’ Used
Equipment web page
Charmilles Open
House...........................16
Higher productivity:
Charmilles EDMs unveiled
at Open House.
Machining Carbide on a
Wire EDM....................18
Grinding is not the option
to achieve good tool life
when machining carbide.

Spring 2001
www.charmillesus.com

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Quality EDM Work is Paramount to VEKA’s
Worldwide Operations
Pat Racioppi, Manager of Tool and Die at VEKA
VEKA is one of the world’s leading
extruders of vinyl profiles for the window
and door industry. One of
VEKA’s top customers is Republic
Windows and Doors. VEKA’s growth
in the U.S. in 2000 paralleled that of
the strong U.S. economy. Eighty five
new employees were added last
year alone, sales growth figures hit
into the double digits, and the
Fombell, PA., plant was expanded to
just under 600,000 square feet of
space.
That plant hums with activity, running
24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The first step for VEKA is to develop
a precision tooling system. This is
where wire EDMs come into play.
And quality EDM operations are
critical.
“It’s essential,” agrees Pat Racioppi,
manager of tool and die at VEKA.
“It’s the first step during the production
of precision extrusion tooling.
It’s the core of how we build accurate
tooling. The geometry is the most
important and critical thing in the
extrusion business.”
For VEKA, it’s a ‘Baker’s Dozen,’ of
Charmilles machines. The company
has 13 Robofil 330F machines. “We
wouldn’t have 13 of them if we
weren’t certain they do exactly what
we need them to do,” Racioppi says.
Jim Nagle, Charmilles’ district manager
for the Northeast says, “VEKA is
a great customer and they’re great
individuals to deal with because
they’re very knowledgeable in their
field. It makes it very easy to work
with them.”
Racioppi feels that compared to the
general marketplace, the Robofil
330F was built for extrusion die
making. He lists four features that
separate the 330F from the rest of
the EDM pack.
The first is the table’s rigidity. It is not
uncommon for VEKA to work with
large blocks of steel that will be on
the table for 60 to 100 hours at a
time.
“The table on the 330F is really
almost the kind of a table that you
would see on a milling machine,”
Racioppi says. “It can support heavy
loads and support them in a stable
manner for long periods of time.”
When heavy parts require toploading
into the machine tool, the
330F really shines. Among all EDM
manufacturers, Racioppi says,
Charmilles was the only one to
address this eventuality. There is a
cut-out on the top of the machine so
heavy blocks can be top-loaded with
a crane.
“If you’re not a customer that’s lifting
heavy loads and dropping big
blocks of material into the machine
work area, you’re probably not
going to see that as a big selling
point,” Racioppi says. “But if you’re a
person who is putting a 125-pound
or 150-pound block of steel in and
out of your machines, you can
imagine the difficulty lifting it to
waist-height and then pushing it onto
a conventional table. Not the type of
thing you want to do all day long so
for us that top-loading feature was
very attractive.”
Speed is the next feature that makes
the Robofil 330F so attractive to
VEKA. The 330’s tank fills and drains
very quickly. This is important
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because VEKA works on very tall
workpieces. Racioppi says that the
fill/drain cycle was the fastest of any
manufacturer he had seen. With the
volume VEKA puts through its wire
EDM machines, the fill and drain
cycle time becomes very important.
Charmilles’ Nagle says the 330F
boasts better technology for cutting
tall parts than anybody else in the
industry.
“Most of our competitors,” Nagle
says, “have to make extrusions in
smaller pieces which creates a seam
line. If you have a seam line it is
another area where plastic, when it is
extruded, can get stuck and caught.
The next thing you know the extrusion
will show a line through it or start to
build up and you have to tear it all
apart. So cutting taller parts without
any seams to it is a big plus for their
type of work.”
Last, but certainly not least, is the
ability of the 330F to cut heavy
tapers. A heavy taper is
very important in
the process
of cutting complex
extrusion tools. The
Robofil 330F is the
only wire EDM that
cuts a 30-degree
taper on 15.75” tall
workpieces –
submerged. In addition,
the machine
features larger X-Y-Z
travels of 15.75” x
11 .8” x 15.75” plus U-V travels
of 19.68” x 15.75”.
Upper head travel has been
increased on the Robofil 330F by 2”
per side. This allows a workpiece to
be positioned very near the table
limit of the primary X or Y-axis with
full taper cutting over a very large
working area.
Racioppi says, “The heavy tapering is
fantastic. Not only does it cut heavy
taper but it trim-cuts consistently,
yielding a uniform surface, which
reduces polishing time and gives
you good surface quality on the
extrusion.
“The ability of the 330F to cut a
heavy taper pretty much put
the nail in the coffin of all
the other manufacturers.
We just couldn’t look
any further. It was pointless.
Nobody else could
compete against
Charmilles in heavy
taper cutting.”
The Robofil 330F also
comes equipped with
Integrated Collision
Protection (ICP). The ICP
prevents damage to the
machine if a workpiece
Adam Reed, a wire-EDM apprentice at VEKA, downloads a
program on the Robofil 330F
or clamping device, for example, is in
the path of the machine’s operation.
This can prevent downtime and
repair expense.
Though VEKA has been in business
since 1967, its loyalty to Charmilles
began only in 1996 when the first
330F was purchased, making it one
of the first such machines in North
America.
There is no question that VEKA plans
to buy additional Charmilles
machines in the future.
“The other EDM suppliers have not
addressed the extrusion die making
market as thoroughly as Charmilles,”
Racioppi says. “When you factor the
rigid work table, top-loading capability,
heavy taper cutting, and
collision protection, Charmilles
clearly is superior in this market with
the 330F machine.”
New Ideas In EDM
Reed performs a part set-up on VEKA’s
Robofil 330F
3

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Brother Helps AcuCut Exceed
Customer Demands
Speed, automation, dependability and cost add up
to the success the Brother Model HS50A has helped
bring to AcuCut, Inc. of Southington, CT. With
production orders in the aerospace and medical
fields rising in the last year, Mike Barmore, AcuCut’s
vice-president of production needed more equipment
to meet his customer’s demands.
And Mike is increasingly turning to Charmilles/
Brother to meet — and exceed — those customer
demands.
“We initially started with the Brother HS5100 with a
B-axis,” Barmore said. “It took up very little floor
space and was extremely dependable. We wanted
more diversification so when the HS50A entered the
market we traded in the 5100 and purchased 3
HS50A’s. We now have purchased seven in a year’s
span. You might say they speak for themselves.”
AcuCut was one of the country’s first job shops to
utilize Wire EDM when Stephen Barmore founded it
with two employees in 1978. Business quickly
boomed and AcuCut was purchasing one to two
wire machines each year to accommodate customers’
needs.
Innovation soon became part of the company’s lexicon.
The first laser cutting machine debuted in 1985
to supplement the Wire EDM service. Two years
later, CNC Sinker EDM and CNC Small Hole EDM
Drilling were added. In 1996, AcuCut began to offer
general machining as a complement to all of its
other services.
Today, there are 50 employees and annual sales
revenue is approximately $5 million.
AcuCut purchased their initial HS5100 in the fall of
1998. Mike Barmore said the HS5100 was equal in
speed to the more expensive wires in the shop. “It
did the job within budget and performed well,”
Barmore said.
Mike Barmore, vice president of production at AcuCut, holds an
aerospace part produced by the Brother HS50A.
A row of Brother HS50As at AcuCut in Southington,
CT. The company has purchased seven HS50As in just
one year.
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An AcuCut employee uses the easy-tooperate
control on the Brother HS50A.
What Barmore saw in the new
Brother HS50A was critical to
AcuCut’s needed diversification
strategy. The new Brother offered
taper with a programmable Z and
many new control features. In
total, the Brother HS50A was a
complete package that was worth
the investment.
The Brother EDM is critical to
AcuCut which runs three shifts a
day. Outstanding teamwork
exemplified by careful planning
and fixturing their production work
properly, has allowed AcuCut’s
growth and expansion in all areas
of EDM.
“Anytime you can keep the cost
down, make consistently good
parts and meet deliveries, the
work will continue to come,”
Barmore said.
AcuCut continues to depend on
Charmilles. AcuCut recently purchased
two new Charmilles EDM
Sinkers, the Roboform 35 and the
Roboform 55. “We keep growing
with the industry to guarantee the
best product on time for good
value,” Barmore said.
New Ideas In EDM
5

Editorial Comment on the
Business Forecast Survey
By Clare Goldsberry
Reprinted with permission of Clare Goldsberry and the
American Mold Builders Association
Overall, business seems to be
good if you judge by our most
recent business forecast survey.
Of those responding to the survey,
61 percent said business was
good to excellent. That’s an
improvement over the last survey.
On this survey, AMBA requested
some additional information to
help me verify a trend I thought I
was seeing in the industry: the
shops with newer equipment tend
to be busier and have a more
optimistic outlook than shops with
older equipment.
For example, in the category
question “How is business
NOW” respondents who replied
“Excellent” in that category have
equipment that averages 2 years
old. In the “Good” category of
how business is doing, 35 out of
48 respondents have equipment
that averages 3 years old. One
respondent in the “Excellent” category
has equipment 1 year old,
and three respondents in the
“Good” category have equipment
1 year old.
Now for the “Fair” category of
business, 16 respondents have
equipment averaging 4 years old.
For those responding that business
is “Poor” or “Bad”, their equipment
averages 6 years old. A few
responded that their equipment is
8-10 years old.
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Judging from the information provided
in this survey, and from what
I see while traveling and visiting
shops, I think my theory is correct.
The newer the equipment a mold
shop has, the more business it
has. Obviously, shops utilizing
newer technology are able to be
more competitive.
A respondent in the “Excellent”
business category
commented: “We
have doubled our
work force in the
last year.”
Though the benefits
of new
technology are obvious, making
the investment is a tough decision.
One moldmaker who’d recently
made a quarter-million dollar
investment in new equipment told
me that getting rid of older equipment
that still runs perfectly is the
toughest thing he has to do. I
know that feeling. I had a Fujitsu
DL3400 high-speed (by 1984
standards) dot matrix printer. For
16 years this printer served me
well, printing out hundreds of
thousands of pages over that time,
never missing a beat.
Recently, I got a new computer
system (my old one was 5 years
old, a lifetime in computer time),
and purchased a new, H-P
How Is Business NOW
Excellent
Good
Fair
Poor
The newer the equipment
… the more business …
New Machine Owners
Deskjet printer. Although the old
printer ran perfectly, I couldn’t
download things off the Internet
and I couldn’t print in color. It didn’t
stop me from doing my job, but
it was a terrible inconvenience
and cost me
a lot of time
in handcopying
things off the
Internet that I
needed when I do research.
As our survey indicates, things are
pretty good out there. A lot is
being done at the technology end
to help mold shops improve their
productivity. Taking advantage of
new technology is paying off for
those shops that make the
investment.
For more information on the
American Mold Builders
Association, please contact:
Annmarie Parisi
Membership Services
Coordinator
630-980-7667
americanmold@aol.com

www.charmillesus.com
Fall 2000 Business Forecast Results
(Compiled by the American Mold Builders Association)
The following AMBA Business
Forecast survey was developed
to provide AMBA members
with a projection of business
conditions in the upcoming
months. The October 2000
forecast survey resulted in a
26% member response rate.
The results disclosed the
following:
How is business NOW
Excellent 18%
Good 43%
Fair 27%
Poor 10%
Bad 2%
What is the average mean age of
your machines
Excellent
Good
Fair
Poor
Bad
Projection for the next
three months:
3.33 years old
4.12 years old
4.54 years old
6 years old
6 years old
Increase substantially 5%
Increase moderately 37%
Remain the same 47%
Decease moderately 9%
Decrease substantially 2%
Current level of business vs.
3 months ago:
Quoting
Up 32%
Same 41%
Down 27%
Shipment
Up 32%
Same 50%
Down 18%
Backlog
Up 34%
Same 32%
Down 34%
Current level of business vs.
3 months ago:
Profits
Up 25%
Same 45%
Down 30%
Employment
Up 25%
Same 58%
Down 17%
Current average work week:
Shop Hours: 49
Design Hours: 48
Current plant employment:
Shop Employees 21
Design Employees 4
Average number of hours per
week, per machine:
CNC EDM
71 hours
WIRE EDM
62 hours
Machining Center
73 hours
More or less than one year ago:
More 62%
Less 29%
Same 9%
Did you request the lead listing
from NPE Yes 53%
RFQ’s:
Yes 7%
Not yet 21%
No 69%
No response 3%
Why Not
Can’t handle more work 7%
Wasn’t aware/forgot/send 27%
Not interested 20%
Too many 18%
No response 11%
Other 17%
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Charmilles’ Robofil 6030SI Fuels SEKAM’s
Explosive Growth
Kaveh Vafaei is a man of the
world and he’s building a worldclass
business. Born in Iran, reared
in France, and educated in
Canada, the 29-year-old Vafaei is
one of four partners at SEKAM
Technologies based in Waterloo,
Ontario. SEKAM specializes in
fine blanking production, a metal
stamping process that utilizes
hydraulic presses.
One of the keys to SEKAM’s
explosive growth has been the
prowess of Charmilles’ Robofil
6030 wire-EDM. Indeed, when
Vafaei took delivery of the 6030 in
October 1999, just one month
after starting SEKAM, he became
the first operator of the machine in
Canada.
One of the first phone calls Vafaei
made was to Charmilles distributor
Darren Carroll, a vice
president of Ossco Machine Sales
in Newmarket, Ontario. The two
met for lunch and Vafaei quickly
steered the conversation towards
wire EDMs and the machine he
The Robofil 6030SI has been a key
to SEKAM Technologies’ explosive
growth.
wanted: the Robofil 4020. He had
used the Robofil 4020 extensively
and liked the way it worked.
“One of the things that I liked
about the machine,” Vafaei said
of the 4020, “was that it was very
user-friendly. The tank was very
accessible. Everything was very
simple and obvious. It was the first
Charmilles machine that we
bought and our operators were
very happy with it.”
But Carroll had other ideas and
communicated them to Vafaei. He
mentioned a bigger machine, the
Robofil 6020SI, as perhaps being
what Vafaei’s new business
needed. In
fact, Carroll
said, there
was a brandnew
model
coming out,
the Robofil
6030SI, which was the new and
improved version of the Robofil
6020SI.
Carroll said, “Being a start-up
shop, he wanted to deliver to the
customers in a timely fashion and
be right the first time. And some of
the new features on the Robofil
6030SI – with the threading and
ability to search for a hole – were
going to lend themselves to what
he was trying to do. At the start,
with only himself and one other
guy, he wanted to automate
things as much as possible.”
The Robofil 6030SI is the largest
machine in Charmilles’ 1030 series
of wire-EDMs and Carroll felt this
was an important feature for
Vafaei. “I think the larger machine
gave him the ability to initially
take on any work that came in,”
Carroll said. “There was no work
that he had to turn down – he
was able to accommodate it all.”
And with the Robofil 6030SI,
SEKAM was ready to hit the
ground running. “When the
Charmilles’ technician was done
installing the machine,” Vafaei
said, “it was ready to go. We didn’t
have to do any test cuts.”
The Robofil 6030SI has many
One of the things that I liked
about the machine was that it
was very user-friendly.
qualities that make it perfect for
SEKAM. Its surface integrity generator
leads to longer tool life.
Moreover, it boasts high cutting
speed for improved productivity
and a faster threading cycle for
improved throughput.
SEKAM grew quickly. Vafaei
started with three employees. A
little over one year later, he had
24. Vafaei and his partners are
blowing by their revenue goals,
too. Compared to the original
projection of $2.6 million
(Canadian), Vafaei expects the
business to earn $6 million.
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“Every time I go out there,” Carroll
says, “he’s added more employees,
more presses, and he’s got
more work going out the door. He
started in a small physical space
and now it seems he’s always
knocking out a wall and taking
over the unit next door. I must
have walked through four units
yesterday that are now all his
where he knocked the wall out
and expanded. He’s pretty much
taken over the whole complex that
he’s in. It’s tremendous growth in
such a short time period.”
Most of SEKAM’s business is tied
to the auto industry. They are a
Tier II supplier, meaning that they
are supplying North America’s top
auto suppliers such as Magna
International and the Ventra
Group. SEKAM is also developing
what Vafaei terms a “niche
market,” and that is in the area
of micro-electronics where the
company makes mechanical
support plates for computers. This
is a growing segment of the company’s
business and an important
buffer if the auto business slows
down.
Through it all, the selection of the
right wire-EDM was critical,
according to Vafaei.
“If the wire EDM is done correctly,
then the rest falls in place,” he
says. “We’re after very tight fits in
the die so the EDM has to be very
accurate. That’s why we went
after the Robofil series. These are
the only machines that can hold
our tolerances. We need their
consistency and their accuracy.”
Dimensional tolerances on
wire-cut pieces must be kept to
about 2/10ths of a thousand,
Vafaei says.
The Robofil 6030 has performed
very well for SEKAM. It runs 24
hours a day, seven days a week.
Much of that running time occurs
during off-hours when SEKAM is
closed for the evening or the
weekend. If the
EDM operator
needs to be called,
a modem connected
to the
machine dials his
pager.
Vafaei and his management
team are
currently discussing
the purchase of another
Charmilles wire-EDM machine.
That of course is fine with Ossco’s
Carroll. “We see ourselves as a
long-term partner with him. We
plan on being there for Kaveh, to
offer him the latest and greatest
that Charmilles has to offer that’s
applicable to his industry.”
SEKAM’s Ricardo Joseph works on the Robofil 6030SI.
Ricardo Joseph, an EM Technician at SEKAM Technologies works on the control
of the Robofil 6030SI.
New Ideas In EDM
11

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What’s New
Charmilles Technologies has
changed its name to Charmilles.
A host of changes accompany
the new corporate identity,
including a creative new
“We Push the Limits of EDM”
ad campaign:
The Charmilles Parts Catalog is now available on CD ROM.
This disk contains valuable machine part photos and lists for
your Charmilles EDM Machine. If you have not received your
copy in the mail, contact Charmilles Customer Support at
1-800-CTC-1EDM.
You Can See Your Ad in New Ideas In EDM
Call Steph Meyers at DGS Group • 317-479-3155
• New Charmilles logo
• New Solutions logo
• Chamilles calendar, new year
card, and catalogues for new
products
• Machine badging
• “We Push the Limits of EDM”
ad campaign
12

Charmilles Technologies recently revamped
its web site, www.charmillesus.com, to
become more customer-friendly. One of the
best examples of this new focus is the site’s
ability to interface with customers wishing
to purchase, sell or trade a used
Charmilles EDM.
“We wanted to be more customer-focused,”
says Gisbert Ledvon, Charmilles’ marketing
manager. “We wanted not to just have a web
site with product information but to have a
web site with useful information for customers
which would include a used machine trade
section.”
The web site itself lists the advantages of
purchasing a used Charmilles EDM. The system
allows buyers and sellers to list machines
www.charmillesus.com
Revamped Charmilles Web Site Features
Used Machine Section
Used EDMs
that they would like to purchase or to sell. The
software will then try to match buyer and
seller in the U.S. – with no broker involvement.
Similarly, a trade or sale is enhanced
through web site commerce at
www.charmillesus.com/prod/used_edm.cfm.
Since Charmilles finds the buyer, the seller
should realize a higher value without an
equipment broker’s participation.
The site also allows for customization.
Sellers can list the attributes of their current
machines and buyers can list the qualities
they are seeking in a Charmilles wire or sinker
machine.
And there’s more to come. “Eventually we’ll
build a database that will allow us to match
up buyers and sellers,” Ledvon says.
New Ideas In EDM
13

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Charmilles Pushes the Limits
with Groundbreaking
EDM’s at Open House
An enthusiastic audience of 300 customers,
distributors, and journalists
glimpsed the exciting future of EDM at
Charmilles Technologies Open House,
held at the company’s North American
headquarters March 23-24, 2001 .
Titled ‘We Push the Limits of EDM,’ the
new product rollout was attended by Dr.
Kurt E. Stirnemann, President and CEO of
Agie Charmilles Group.
The product presentation didn’t disappoint
as Charmilles’ product managers
unveiled a bevy of new products. “Our
expectations were certainly met,” said
Gisbert Ledvon, Charmilles’ marketing
manager. “Everybody was excited about
the new products. Customers were
astounded about the new products,
especially the twin wire machine and the
Charmilles Millennium Control.”
The unveiling of the revolutionary twin
wire machine, the Robofil 2030SI-TW,
was a highlight of the two-day event.
Product manager Bill Boehmert did the
honors of presenting the details of the
first wire EDM to feature a fully automated
dual-wire system. The Pentium
PC-based control, featured on the new
Form 20 ZNC machine, was presented
by the product manager, Eric Ostini. The
control is simple to use because of the
touch-screen interface, the first of its kind
in this class of machine. The only variables
that need to be entered into the
system are the material to be cut, the
surface finish desired, and the depth of
the cut.
Ostini also presented the Robofil
240/440, two of the world’s most versatile
submerged wire EDM machines with
the new Millennium Control and a fast
wire threading system. Damien Carron, a
product manager from Geneva, offered
his insight into the speedy Roboform 35P,
54P and 55P. All three models offer
speed enhancements when compared to
current models. The acceleration speed
is two times as fast, the axis speed is
three times faster, and the pulsation
speed has doubled, too.
After the product launches, Charmilles’
President Harry Moser facilitated a lively
question-and-answer period that was
much appreciated by distributors and
customers.
Charmilles’ New Robofil 240 and 440
Support a Wide Variety of
Applications
With its “CT-Millennium” numerical control,
Charmilles Technologies’ new Robofil
240/440 are two of the world’s
most versatile submerged wire
EDM machines. These
machines, the product of
Charmilles’ many years of
experience as an industry
leader, support a wide variety
of stamping tools, moldmaking
and mechanical engineering
applications.
The new Windows NT-based
control makes the machine
much more user-friendly and
drastically shortens the learning
cycle. An easy-to-use touch
screen greatly facilitates and
accelerates operator input. The
operator is guided by drawings,
which illustrate the
available options. Despite its
modern and clean look, it
remains very compatible with
previous Charmilles systems
and is easy to link to other
computers and robots. The
control also supports Ethernet
communications.
The fixed table of the Robofil
240/440 will support heavy
loads as it’s made of thick
stainless steel and rests directly
Charmilles’
Robofil
240/440 are
two of the two
of the world’s
most versatile
submersed wire-
EDM machines
on a rhenocast main frame. The Robofil
240/440 also come equipped with Integrated
Collision Protection (ICP). The ICP prevents
damage to the machine if a workpiece or
clamping device, for example, is in the path of
the machine’s operation. This can prevent
downtime and repair expense.
Charmilles has developed a unique and
exclusive process to widen the range of available
applications with the design of
symmetrical XY and UV tables. These travels
are X (U) 13.77 x Y (V) 8.66 on the Robofil
240 and X (U) 21 .65 x Y (V) 13.77 on the
Robofil 440. A programmable Z-axis allows
several workpieces of varying heights to be
worked on simultaneously without operator
intervention.
With more and more industrial sectors making
use of wire EDM for machining tall workpieces,
the Robofil 240/440 deliver
continues on pages 16 & 17 …
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30 degrees of taper irrespective of Z position.
The Robofil 240/440 achieve angles of 30
degrees across the entire length of Z travel
programmable from 0 to 8.66” (Robofil 240)
and 0 to 15.75” (Robofil 440).
Another outstanding feature of the Robofil
240/440 is their new, unique, and fast wire
threading system, which stretches the wire
and cuts it under the effect of heat. A cooling
air flow inside the tube allows it to accurately
control the cutting point’s exact location. The
wire cutter is maintenance-free since it has no
parts that are subject to wear. It leaves no
burrs and a tapered wire tip makes it easy to
pass through the wire guides.
Robofil 2030SI-TW Revolutionizes
Wire EDM with First Automatic Wire
Changer
Charmilles Technologies revolutionizes the
wire EDM field with the world premiere of the
Robofil 2030SI-TW (Twin Wire) Electrical
Discharge Machine. The Robofil 2030SI-TW is
the first wire EDM to feature a fully automated
dual-wire system. Now it is possible to
perform a quick changeover without operator
intervention.
The productivity gains from this unattended
ability are significant. Depending on the
application, productivity can reduce machining
times from 30 to 50 percent because the
large diameter wire can be used for pocketing
in the rough cut and the small wire is
applied for small-radius finishing. Total
machining time is reduced in this process
which boosts productivity.
The Robofil 2030SI-TW does not require any
special technologies or programming.
Installation of the two wires does not complicate
the use of the machine since the set-up is
automatic for both. During machining, the
Robofil 2030SI-TW automatically switches to
another wire as needed. This changeover
takes less than 45 seconds.
The revolutionary Robofil 2030SI-TW, the
first-ever EDM that comes equipped with an
automatic wire changer.
Charmilles’ Form 20 ZNC Combines a
Manual Machine with a Pentium
(trademark of Intel) PC Control
Charmilles Technologies’ new Form 20 ZNC
is the perfect marriage of a manual machine
with a touch-screen, Pentium PC-based
control.
The control is simple to use because of the
touch-screen interface, the first of its kind in
this class of machine. The only variables that
need to be entered into the system are the
material to be cut, the surface finish desired,
and the depth of the cut. From there, the control
automatically generates the program.
Because the control’s logic operates with the
use of graphics and icons, and not text, the
learning curve is very short. The Form 20
ZNC’s international appeal should be great
as non-English speaking personnel can operate
the machine easily.
The control’s performance is very sophisticated.
The control manages the optional
orbiter, which enables the machine to cut
intricate parts. There is also the capability of
performing measurement on the control,
which will split the distance of two points in
half so the operator can find the center of a
workpiece very easily.
The Form 20 ZNC has a Charmilles generator,
available in either 32 or optional 64
amps with Microfin II, which gives great surface
quality of RA 0.4 µ m and performance.
Glass scales are present on all axes. The
Form 20 ZNC comes equipped with copperto-steel,
graphite-to-steel, and copper
tungsten-to-carbide technology and has a
very high pulsation speed of up to 1 .18
inches/second, especially important for deep
rib burns.
Charmilles Form 20 ZNC combines a
manual machine with a Pentium control.
Andrews Machine Parts
Approximately two years
ago, Charmilles
Technologies sent out a
mailing that we are
maintaining Andrews
parts inventory on a
non-restocking basis.
We still have most parts
in inventory, but since
these parts are being
maintained on a
“non-restocking” basis,
we would like to encourage
you to contact us to
ensure availability. Please
contact our Customer
Service Center at
1-800-CTC-1EDM to place
your parts order today.
We hope you continue to
use your Andrews
machine for years to
come and will think
“Charmilles” for all of
your EDM needs.
16

www.charmillesus.com
Speed is the key for the new
generation of Charmilles Technologies’
Roboform machines – the Roboform
35P, 54P, and 55P.
Acceleration Speed Doubles on New
Roboform Series
Speed is the key for Charmilles Technologies’
new generation of Roboform machines – the
Roboform 35P, 54P, and 55P. All three models
offer speed enhancements when compared
to current models. The acceleration speed is
two times as fast, the axis speed is three times
faster, and the pulsation speed has doubled,
too.
See the Roboform 35PQCRi, and Robofil 240
in action at Charmilles’ EASTEC booth #5345
at the Eastern States Exposition Grounds in
West Springfield, Massachusetts.
The speed increase means greater productivity.
Because of the advancements in
acceleration speed, tool change time is 35
percent less than it used to be on the
Roboform 35 or 55. There is also a 27 percent
time savings for measuring cycles.
The Roboform 35P and 55P come equipped
with drop tanks. This enables the operator
easy access to the machining table from
three directions. The drop tank design also
yields quicker fill-and-drain time. Time is also
saved because the drop tank can be programmed
to match the height of the
workpiece.
Accuracy has not been sacrificed at the
expense of speed, however. All of the
machines have glass scales for life-long accuracy.
The machines can also accommodate
the Quick Change Robot (QCRi) feature. The
QCRi allows operators to further boost their
total hours of EDM productivity because one
CNC controls both the robot and the
machine.
All models come equipped with the Sinker
Programming System (SPS). This new offline
system allows the operator or mold designer
to program complex diesinking applications
with a few mouse clicks. SPS will also enable
the operator to utilize command programs
widely used for the efficient automation of
Roboform diesinking machines.
New Ideas In EDM
17

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Plansee Tizit is an international company with over 75 years of
industry experience in the production of carbide. The company
is headquartered in Reutte, Austria and employs
approximately 4,000 people worldwide. Plansee utilizes its
experience and expertise in numerous collaborations with
both wire EDM machine producers and die builders, to assist
in the improvement of wire EDM technology in the cutting of
tungsten carbide.
With so many variables involved in the wire EDM process,
general rules are difficult to establish. However, Plansee makes
every effort to inform customers of specific problems and
mistakes that commonly occur in the industry. The following
are four problem areas with wire EDM that Plansee has
repeatedly encountered:
• Surface Damage
• Thermal Cracking
• Electro-Chemical Reaction (Pitting)
• Corrosion
Surface Damage
Generally, the examination of any wire EDM roughed, or
pre-cut, surface will display three zones. The rough cut that is
generally accompanied by the highest electrical power and
feed rate, creates a white zone which comprises a mixture of
residue from different materials. Most of the residue, or recast
layer, comes from melted material from the work-piece and
the wire. This is Zone 1, and it is approximately 3 – 5 µm
deep.
The heat-affected area, immediately beneath the white zone,
is Zone 2. The same high power/high feed condition
described above creates thermal disturbances (approximately
27,030° F) generally about 9 µm deep. However, many examinations
of customer-supplied specimens over the past few
years have shown damage that goes much deeper than 9
µm. This is a serious problem, because if this cobalt-depleted
region is not fully removed by finish passes on the wire
machine, the results in the die will be disastrous.
Zone 3 (figure 1) is the undamaged carbide area that must be
reached through sufficient re-cutting if the important mechanical
properties of tungsten carbide are to be seen. It is
absolutely essential that this zone be reached. The number of
passes it takes to accomplish this is gained by experience in
wire EDM, but each employee involved should be fully aware
of the (Zone 1 and 2) condition and the need to remove it.
Figure 2 clearly illustrates the situation that all die makers must
18
fig. 1
fig. 2
W-EDM of Carbide from the View of a Metallu
be aware of. They also must know that good surfaces result in
longer tool life; but good surfaces cost money to achieve.
Thermal Cracking
fig. 3
Thermal cracking and cobalt depletion occur because the
high power of the generator can create very high temperatures
that the surrounding carbide cannot adequately transfer
away from the work area. The problem is compounded by the
high feed rates and poor electrolyte flushing, combined with a
corresponding increase in the dielectric conductivity. When
thermal cracking occurs, the user frequently says there is
something wrong with the carbide’s quality. (See figure 3 for a
description)
Spark erosion machines, sometimes called “drill devils”, are
frequently used to quickly “shoot” holes in carbide blocks.
Blasting, shooting, and devil are good words to describe this
process in carbide. Thermal cracks and chips up to a depth of
0.02” are the results of too much power, too much feed, and
poor flushing. Judging by the number of failures Plansee has
seen, they recommend reduced power and the allowance of
at least 0.01” between the start hole and a finished surface
position.
Electro-Chemical Reaction & Corrosion
The topics of electrochemical reaction (pitting) and corrosion
must be considered together, since both reactions occur simultaneously
on both eroded and non-eroded surfaces. These
effects become evident on the entire workpiece, not just the
wire-cut surfaces. The spots, or small holes, that appear on the
surfaces, are called pitting. Often, it is not possible to see the
pits (actually cobalt depletion) during the first stages.
However, they become very evident as the machining or polishing
of the workpiece continues, or even worse, during the
blanking application. (Figure 4 shows typical pitting, which is
visible to the unaided eye)
As described above, the pits will appear on non-machined
surfaces as well. This is because the cobalt binder that literally
holds the tungsten carbide together is magnetic. Therefore, the
magnetic cobalt draws particulate matter to itself from the
dielectric, which results in mechanical wear and increased
corrosion.
Some mechanical wear actually occurs the instant the wire
passes a given area, due to the energy of the spark and the
oscillation of the residues that it causes. The pitting of the

www.charmillesus.com
fig. 4 fig. 5 fig. 6 fig. 7
gist
binder is due to an electrochemical process that is taking
place in the dielectric, which affects the surfaces to a depth of
approximately 20 µm. This process occurs to a far greater
degree if flushing is poor and/ or the conductivity of the
dielectric is too high. It is important for a Wire EDM to control
the water conductivity and warn if the level is exceeding the
pre-set value. (Figure 5 shows a cross section of the effects of
pitting)
Every toolmaker would like to put a large carbide block on his
wire EDM machine on Friday afternoon, do the programming
and take out 30 or more ready to use die inserts on Monday
morning. But chemical corrosion has been setting up barriers
to this practice. Parts produced over the weekend or some
other extended period often did not meet a customer’s
requirements due to poor wear characteristics, chipping, and
poor surface finish (pitting) on die parts.
The composition of carbide contributes to the aforementioned
problems. Carbide consists of tungsten carbide and cobalt.
Cobalt is used as the binder and provides fracture toughness
to the modern carbides. From the electrochemical view, cobalt
belongs to the non-noble metals. Due to the contact with the
dielectric (water H2O with high (H+) ion concentration) you
get electrochemical corrosion in the form of pitting. Corrosion
in this case the binder (Co) is dissolved.
Therefore, it would be ideal to choose wire EDM carbide
grades which resist corrosion by using binders with noble
alloys. Cobalt could be replaced, for example, by Nickel. That
would eliminate the corrosion problem. However, it is not wire
EDM that assures good tool performance — it is the mechanical
properties of the carbide grade used. Because of the
outstanding wettability that exists between cobalt and tungsten
carbide, there is no better solution with regard to
mechanical properties.
Plansee Tizit has announced a new carbide grade for the tool
and die industry. Plansee has achieved mechanical properties
identical to traditional grades, but with better susceptibility to
corrosion and an improvement in corrosion velocity of 80 –
100 times.
With traditional carbide grades you see signs of corrosion
appearing on tungsten carbide after approximately 8 hours in
dielectric. According to theoretical measurements in their laboratory,
Plansee predicted that the onset of corrosion could
be delayed up to 800 hours.
In order to achieve high performance surfaces, there are
several important factors that must be carefully considered:
• temperature affected zone
• conductivity of the dielectric
• flushing
• water change
• water quality: pH-value, chlorine content, etc.
After designing an electromechanical corrosion test for this
special application in Wire EDM machines, the potentiodynamic
current density potential curves in an aggressively
corrosive medium (dielectric pH

560 Bond St.
Lincolnshire, IL 60069
www.charmillesus.com
Tel: (888) CTC 1EDM
AGIE CHARMILLES Group
GEORG FISCHER GF Manufacturing Technology