Small Hole EDM
EDM Small hole drilling is the production
process for the forming of holes in hardened and exotic materials such as Inconel
and Carbide.
EDM drills bore holes with a long brass or copper tube electrode that rotates in
a chuck with a constant flow of deionised water flowing through the electrode as
a flushing agent and dielectric.
Drilling can be between 0.5mm and 4mm in diameter and up to a maximum depth of 400mm.
Examples of the work that has been carried out by our small hole drillers include
microscopic components for implantation in bio-mechanical hearing devices and complex
vertebrae used in medical probes.
Small hole EDM is also used to drill rows of cooling holes into the leading and
trailing edges of turbine blades used in jet engines. The high-temperature, very
hard, single crystal alloys employed in these blades makes conventional machining
of these holes extremely difficult, if not impossible.
