As you might know, this is a big project. I am working on other components at this time. Such as the XY UV table, power supplies, motor controllers. When I get something more relevant to the EDM process its self I will be sure to post it.
The X-Y table is about to hit fabrication. I will start there and add UV to it later. I might use a sinker tool first and a Wire later, depends on what’s going on at the time I get there. So I hate to be a slow DIY but there are things that one cannot help without therapy!
Dear friends: years ago I build a type Lazarenko machine, it runs ok but I want to optimize or reform it for its better performance, and I wonder if you can send me sketch of your circuits. I can send you mines, if you like. It would be grateful to me to share it. Thanks a lot. A hug, and sorry my grammar, I’m not American: Luis Blaugen.
I had almosed forgotten about this project, we moved about a year ago and my projects were sent into disarray, as I said earlier I was trying to make a servicable XY table. and my motor controllers were not working up to my standards. so I have just about decided to buy the controllers. I have done alot of research on precision linier control and am putting it to use. I have a box ways slide that I am making right now for a mill project. currently I am scraping it in and the results are promising. I was over complicating the whole thing. so I am going to redesign the EDM machine. also I would like to say that for anyone trying to do precision work, get a flat standard. it makes so many things simple. especially if your going for a rolling element rail and block setup.
Hi llilrex, thanks for coming back on line.....been following this thread since day one.
I bought the Ben Fleming book and circuit board to make a sinker type EDM, so the WEDM is a very interesting project.
I hope you'll keep us up to date with your progeress as an EDM in any form is a valuable tool but more so for a wire type.
BTW, in the first circuit diagram in the beginning you showed the mains power from the wall socket coming in to two sets of relay contacts.....in the top set you show the power line going to the NC contacts.
Shouldn't this be to the centre moving contact, same as the other relay contacts, so that when the relay activates and the contacts change over from NC to NO the power circuit is made?
At this moment when the relay activates the NC top set of contacts (which are open circuit) still go open circuit when the contacts change to the NO position.
I'm totally new to EDM, although I've been in engineering for 50 years, so the mechanics will be of interest too, and I'm going to have a go at the sinker type as soon as the 12 volt 100 rpm geared motor for the head drive arrives from China......got the linear bearings and chromed steel rod to make the head slide, as I didn't like the design using the drawer slides as in Ben Fleming's book.
The other reference previously to this WEDM being a "slow" EDM and the fast EDM being developed in China has me thinking......does this mean that in a fast EDM, a low voltage and low amperage are being fast switched to give many more burn flashes as opposed to the high voltage high amperage mode slow rate of the slow EDM's?
I would think that low power fast burn would be preferable to the high power slow rate purely on the component size, and secondly for the electric shock risk reduction, or am I reading this wrong?
I would also have to think that the fast burn type would be difficult to employ for sinker type EDM's as the head would have to bob up and down at a very high rate....probably vibrate more than actually move up and down.
I hope we can hear more from you on this design you have.
Ian.
I got a new controller at a very good price from China for my Chinese wire EDM machine. I would not try to make a controller. This thing came complete with the stepper drives, the spark generator, the controlling software and a cad cam program. I did not like the cad cam program that came with this controller I am still using the one that came with my original machine.
This controller is for what the Chinese call fast machines. It’s a more economical machine it uses a steel or molly wire and the wire travels much faster than on machines using a brass wire. The wire runs up and down on a rotating drum. If I would make a wire EDM machine I would buy this controller and only make the mechanicals. Making an X Y CNC sinker is very different from a normal sinker. It will require special software that would be difficult to control. I would not recommend that for a DIY project
I am having a problem replying to your private message. It keeps on telling me I’m not registered. See CNC Wire Cut EDM Control System(Desktop Type) - Wangping Technology Group Limited that’s the controller I got. Someone in China is making just controllers many manufacturers then use that same controller. I would buy the stepper motors with the controller that way you know everything is right.
Have you done any more work on the controller power supply for this project, I am interested as i am in the process of converting a edm into wirecut , Just waiting for the motors to arrive then i will be fitting them up ,I have made the wire head and it works but slow ,So that is why i am on this thread , Waiting for you to get back into it so i can also make up a wiz bang power supply
I have that fast pc driven chinese wireEDM, reciprocating type wireEDM and it got broken ( the software somehow got broken down and the spark won't work anymore . ) So I decided that I would go for Linuxcnc to run my machine, I did install stepper motors to the same machine, and the machine is moving, yet now I have to figure out how to control the pulse in order to make the spark work.
There is a polish guy on youtube that have installed linuxcnc to a reciprocating wireEDM. yet his machine was not originally running through pc except for sending orders to the motors. I mean that his machine was controlled by pc in order only to move the motors and not to control spark.
Here is a link for my wire edm schematics and photos of the generator:
Here I share my mechanical design as open source and sell the required arc generator as finished product. With the combination of the BaxEDM arc generator and Dynomotion control solution, the electronics of a wire EDM machine become quite simple. The only challenge then lies in the mechanics, of which my entire CAD design is provided for free on the BaxEDM website.