New applications for micro-EDM

With the development of the WEDG (wire-electrodischarge-grinding) it became possible to produce very small electrodes or products like e.g. ejection pins or cores for mould inserts. A new field for the WEDG is the production of milling tools for micro-cutting. The Institute of Production Science (wbk) of the University of Karlsruhe and the Institute of Industrial Science of the University of Tokyo, Center for International Research on MicroMechatronics, developed together a way to produce these milling tools in tungsten carbide with CNC-controlled EDM machines. This research has shown the potential of the machining of micro-cutting tools with a diameter smaller then 100 μm—which is at the moment the size of the smallest commercial milling tool in tungsten carbide—by micro-EDM.