Wire EDM Services – Outside Processes
They go hand in hand with the manufacturing of just about anything that must be produced to be assembled into a product or device. Whether it’s a medical device, a satellite, an electronic device, gun or a toy, their component parts can or must be deburred, heat treated, plated, penetrant inspected, welded, brazed or laser marked. AND, in many cases, it takes multiple of these processes to complete the part to print. Springs, clips and gaskets can get heat treated, deburred and plated before they’re ready to function.
Wire EDM Services – Deburring
An extremely common manufacturing operation to make sure that all of the sharp edges are blunted and dulled so that they can’t possibly hurt an assembly operator of the device or the ultimate end user who might be installing a set of batteries in a product. There are many ways to approach this end goal. The most common procedure is the use of a ceramic or plastic media in a special machine to tumble and vibrate with some liquids and soap while the parts rub all over each other. Like polishing rocks, the sharpness will disappear and the surfaces will be matted or polished depending upon what’s needed for the application. In some cases, sand blasting or shot peening with tiny steel balls can also smooth the edges and burnish the surface to the desired result. Typically, blueprints will say break all sharp edges or radius all edges .005″ max to specify this operation. The key is to find the perfect combination of the right media, vibration speed, time and cleaning. Delicate parts must be handled with extra caution because the energy of this process can bend the parts out of print and ruin all of the work up until that point. The next blog will go into similar details about heat treating.
