Page 18 - EDM Today Spring 2025

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function may also incorporate 1 or 2-Axis Rotary Table
Probes, as these systems do not apply any electrical
power to the part for touch sensing.
confi gurations on the machine. For Wire EDM machines,
probing can include the ability to pick-up the workpiece
in the Z-Axis to perform 3D Leveling of the part where the
machine calculates a U/V-Axis shift so that the wire is
perpendicular with the workpiece conditions.

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For Sinker and EDM Drill machines, probes are usually
located on the centerline of the Z/C-Axis, which place
the probe on the same axis that machining will be
performed. This confi guration allows probing to be
that is very useful for setup and part alignments, but this
performed anywhere on the workpiece that the machine
point-cloud data is minimal and low in quantity. In-Pro-
will be able to access. For these machines, the Trigger
Probe is normally assigned and stored in the machine’s On-Machine Trigger Probes generate location point data
cess probing of parts is a valuable tool to measure basic
feature sizes for judgement before a part is removed
ATC (Automatic Tool Change) system, and the Probe
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from the machine, but it is important to understand that
Body interface utilizes the same Tooling Chuck system
this basic point data is insuffi cient for a formal inspec-
that is on the machine. Designs for Wire EDM probing
systems do vary, as some manufacturers place the probe tion. A full-blown CMM is still FAR more capable than
Trigger Probes used on a machine tool, as CMM’s can
to one side of the Upper Head, whereas others place the
probe on the same centerline as the wire.
perform full Point Scanning that captures thousands of
data points that plot the entire geometry form of a part.
Regardless of EDM machine type, the use of a Trigger
Probe requires the establishment of an internal Offset
within the machine. This internal Offset is used as a
Vision Systems
reference point that all probing measurements will be
sourced from. On Sinker and EDM Drill machines, a Table
Ball is placed within the work tank that is used as a
inspection and setup of parts, and these solutions can
range from simplistic to complex fully integrated systems.
common reference base point for all locations, including There are various options available for magnifi ed vision
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the probe, electrode(s), and workpiece. For Wire EDM’s
confi gured with a probe, a special alignment device is
used to establish an internal Offset between the probe
Simple Systems
and the center of the wire.
Many tooling manufacturers, such as System 3R, Erowa,
For most EDM machines, probing routines piggy-back
Hirschmann, and others, offer special optical mea-
and utilize the standard canned Pick-Up Cycles within the surement tools that utilize a machine’s Tooling Chuck
machine’s Control. This does provide some convenience
System. These special Tool Holders contain mounted
and familiarity to the operator, as most modern machines microscope reticle objectives that are manually loaded
feature user-friendly graphically driven pick-up routines.
Probing routines can also be programmed using G &
levels that can range from 20X to 50X. This style of tool
M codes, which are attractive for repetitive production
is mostly used on Sinker EDM and can be used to manu-
applications. A key advantage of Trigger into the machine, and they employ useful magnifi cation
ally measure a feature by jogging the machine axes, but
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they also offer useful visual inspection of the surface
quality of a part.
Probes is the ability to per-
form more complex Pick-Up
functions. One such exam-
ple is 5 or 6-Point Nesting
location pick-ups found in
the aerospace industry. This
probing function allows
the machine to locate the
workpiece in 3D space
and calculates locations
based upon the 6 degrees
of freedom (X/A-Rotation,
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Y/B-Rotation, Z/C-Rotation),
and this higher-level setup
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