Wire EDM / Laser / Waterjet - Artists, are you there?

[Othatvideo]

Hello everyone.
Ever since I ran my first "novelty program" that came with our first Mitsubishi Wire EDM back in the late 80's - I was hooked. I absolutely LOVE making (cough cough) artistic items for myself, friends & those I love. I have always believed that somewhere, somehow, there HAS to be a way to make a buck or two using the machines that I'm pretty decent at.
Everyone in this forum who is familiar with Wire EDM, Laser & Waterjet knows the limits of the different machines.
Wire EDM is expensive, but has the best quality with the smallest cut path. Cuts very fast in aluminum but filters don't last very long at all, needs predrilled startholes, blah blah blah.
Laser cuts circles around EDM through the thinner materials, but leaves witness marks as compared to EDM in thicker materials - sometimes recast, etc. requiring secondary processes to clean up.
Waterjet cuts very clean but cuts a path 3 times wider than Wire EDM but like Laser, does not require a dedicated workpiece with startholes.

I've seen EDM magazines in the past where they've tried to get the artists going & nothing ever seems to float.
I've hunted through different forums looking for a gathering of not only CNC Artists...but CNC Artists that specialize with the 3 machine types mentioned above.
CNCzone.com to date is about the most organized and "happening" place that I've found through all these years....hence, this first post from me of this type.

I'd like to see this thread develop into being a gathering place for others that run these same machines. This thread could also become a resource for others to come to help find artistic & utility programs either in .dxf format or possibly programs specifically written for their machines...just like those novelty programs that we all got years back when we bought our first machines.

Hi all, the name is Brent.
Me?... I'm personally looking for programs of EDM-able collegiate logos & mascots in .dxf format at this time.

[Via-cnc]

For grins and giggles, I'll do a DXF toolpath for you because I've never worked with anyone cutting on a wire EDM machine before. So you will hve to educate me...

Yes we can do complex shapes... Tell me what your wire diameter is and I'll keep stay bigger then that as a minimum radius. DXF is a 2 dimensional CAD language and wire EDM has a three dimensional characteristic by offsetting the top or bottom XY stages controlling the wire. How do you program for this? Do I create two different files for both tool paths and the determines the wire angle? I can see doing an "M" for UofMichigan with a wide base, making it look like it has draft angle..., or a Michigan "M" on one side of the part with a Wisconsin Badgers "W" when you flip the part over on your desk.

So tell me how your Wire EDM tool is programed and I'll send you out something to play with.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Are you a Waterjet guy? I always thought that whom ever runs one of those machines should sell art cut tiles to every floor tile installer and every fireplace installer in his greater area. Cutting stone or tiles into itricate fitting shapes to inlay fancy floors or fileplace surrounds is one of those things that homeowners having fancy floors installed would gladly pay money to have...

[Othatvideo]

Originally Posted by Via-cnc So tell me how your Wire EDM tool is programed and I'll send you out something to play with. ...

I always referred to it as "poops & smirks".

Regarding the 3rd & 4th axis...In Mits EDM terms, it's the U & V axis. If you reference the photofile that I've attached. You program the 2 different tool paths on top of one another (different layers in your CAD system). I program with Esprit2003 from www.DPTechnology.com. VERY easy to provide "match edit lines" to where you tell the post processor, "When the top head is here on the toolpath, I want the bottom head here at the exact same time." The brass Indiana-to-Basketball that you see is cut from the exact same setup that I made a copy for a certain ex-Indiana coach that used to work in the state.

Your on the right track when you state that 1 end has to be bigger than the other when you wish to get creative with a 4-axis program. It's no fun whatsoever when your finished part looks like an hourglass and is stuck inside of your workpiece. I did that one time when trying to make a Michigan Block M on one end, and a Number 1 on the other and have it twist 5 degrees from one end to the other. Nice piece of scrap that was.

Me?...all I need is a .dxf or .esp (Esprit) geometry file to do what I do. Fonts are not an issue at all (Esprit again). The Denver Bronco, Washington State Cougar, Arizona Cardinal Head. These and others are very popular with high schools as logos on football helmets that are friendly for Wire EDM or Waterjet (Laser too) that are the ones that I'm looking for.

Regarding the "size of the wire"?...I cut using .010" wire that cuts about a .014" or so wide path. I'm getting friendly with a company that has a Mits Waterjet. Without being a pain to them - how small of a path can a waterjet cut? I'm seeing like .045" or so. Seems so huge compared to wire.

And I agree wholeheartedly about your statement on the flooring & waterjet.

Best Always,
-Brent

[ProductionPal]

I drug this dxf into Sigmanest and touched up the geometry a little to remove as many entity segments as possible...threw it on the waterjet and presto. I tried to post the nc file here as well and got an invalid format error. Reverse nc would have worked for some. The waterjet post is a little different though and would take some tweaking...

[Othatvideo]

Excellant post P.Pal. That's EXACTLY the type of .dxf files that I was hoping would make it to this area. Leaving the entrance segments actually helps one to visualize what parts fall out and what stays. Would've been lovely had the NFL actually designed a logo that's completely EDM'able. (You can only upload certain types of files - if all else fails, put it into a .zip).

Here's a little file that I converted to .dxf (cleaned it up some) from the novelty disc that I received from way back in 1988. I have no idea who the original programmer is.

I'd also like to invite posters to post the websight addys of different places that they've found on the net for sharing. Me?...I'd like to go first by putting www.cec-waterjet.com out there. Very impressive products. I can only dream of being that professional looking at this point.

-Brent

[Othatvideo]

Here's a font file that "think" that I've posted before in another area of "theZone". It's looking more and more like it's a router area though.

So, for my new soon to be friends here in the EDM / Laser / Waterjet area... I submit a font file named BANCO.dxf as deciphered through my Esprit v2003 CAD software. It's not bad but does not have "simple line geometry" but rather a bunch of short segments that you will most likely want to put an automatic chamfer of about .015" per every inch of height of the letter to be cut. At 1" high with Wire EDM?... .015" works nicely without editing manually. At 6" high?... I'm assuming that .09" is where you'd want to be.

-Brent

[Othatvideo]

Well, it's been 7 months since my last post & I had hoped that a few more people would've found this thread interesting. Quite a few views, but no contributors. Hmmmm....Honest people, I didn't mean for this to become my own personal blog section.

In an effort to get 'er going yet again... I will submit another little ditty of a program written originally for Wire EDM.

You Mitsubishi Wire people from the late 80's early 90's might remember this as the Eagle silouette that was Label #8318 from the novelty disc that Mits used to hand out as a freebie back in the day. I do not know who the original programmer is. I've taken the .nc file and backplotted it into Esprit v2003 and created the .dxf file that I'm submitting today. Sometimes the .dxf filter for this programming system doesn't work and play well with other programming systems...but most of the time it works just dandy.

I've used this geometry for a couple of different projects. Should any of you add highlight lines to this file, please contact me as I'd like to have a copy of it.

If you're reading this, then please contribute to the thread!

-Brent
www.videotech.me