A Newly Developed Technique to Fabricate Complicated Dies and Electrodes with Wires

Abstract

This paper treats with a newly developed technique to fabricate complicated dies for press work and electrodes for electrolytic machining, which is characterized by high productivity, low cost and extreme simplicity. A number of thin wires are bound together by a retainer into a bundle so that each end of wire, which will be a surface element of an expected contour, may be pushed in with an ultrasonic vibrator to be located at a desired position. The positioning of each wire end can be controlled by utilizing a numerically controlled milling machine for instance, and the accuracy of the positioning is in the order of 5/100 mm. As the die surfaces which are constituted by a number of wire ends are not smooth, a rubber sheet is inserted between the blank and the die so that the surface of the blank may not be scratched. In electrolytic machining with a wire electrode, the surface of the product is as smooth as the one with an ordinary electrode, if the diameter of wires is less than 0.5 mm.