Small-Hole EDM With Automation for Moldmakers

Belmont Equipment & Technologies highlights its SY series high-speed CNC EDM drills for customizable, small-hole drills. The SY-4060 has X, Y and W travels of 23.6″ × 15.7″ × 13.5″. EDM drills are useful in moldmaking for vent holes and ejector pin hole applications.

Belmont is demonstrating the drills’ automation feature by leaving one unattended during operation. The drill, equipped with the company’s Automatic Tool Bank (which holds 60 electrodes and 30 guides), functions to maximize unattended operation. The drill can keep track of each electrode and when an electrode is spent, the machine automatically loads the next one to continue the programmed operation.

An LCD display, attached to the Automatic Tool Bank, depicts the status of each electrode holder. Electrode diameters from 0.3 to 6.0 mm can be utilized via the Automatic Tool Bank. The maximum electrode length is 400 mm. To increase productivity, the drill will operate alongside a FANUC collaborative robot (cobot). The cobot will select from a mixture of parts in a random tray, present the part to a camera to determine which part to load into the drill and the part program to match the part will then be selected and run automatically. Once the part is complete, the cobot will place the completed part in a select bin.

The SY-4060 offers a variety of features, such as automatic depth control, multi-tasking abilities, three-step control of EDM parameters and conversational G- and M-code programming.