The many possibilities of automatising the handling of electrodes

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Small changes make a huge difference

Walther Wolf is a company that always tries to go further. Dorlöchter is particularly proud of certain added features that are – as he says it – ”not available on the free market”. One of these projects is an automatic correction function he was able to implement in the existing software. As Dorlöchter explains, the advantage of this correction is that it had to be programmed only once. This feature is able to make modifications on the calculated sparkgap. The necessity to control the electrode individually and to adjust the machining process is therefore gone.

But Walther Wolf's innovative spirit has not stopped there. One part of the process of machining electrodes had been particularly time and cost-consuming in the past: Whenever a new electrode was needed, first of all, a graphite blank had to be ordered to size. What's more, the graphite needed to have varying dimensions for different applications.

Gallery

The part that took up most of the time in this process was the incorporation of every single graphite bar. Once it was ordered, the graphite needed to be installed into the system including its measurements. Once the electrode had been used, it had to be removed again. So the company came up with a new way of dealing with this process. Dorlöchter started to order graphite bars that were three times the size of what was needed. According to calculations, this was the largest size that was still machinable in every one of the many units of the process. The longer graphite bar is installed in the same way as it had been in the case before.

The huge difference is that the graphite can now be used an average of three times. After it has been used for the first time, the electrode is not removed from the system but stored in one of the cupboards. There it sits and waits until an electrode is needed that fits to the dimensions of the remaining graphite bar. Thanks to the aid of the software that stores all important information about the graphite bars, this is an automated process without the need to monitor the bars. Each electrode additionally can keep its original registration in the system. The software is capable of identifying the electrode that fits best the requirements for the next project.

According to Dorlöchter, the same graphite bar can be reused three times. Additionally, the set-up time of each electrode has been reduced. Before, it took roughly ten minutes per electrode to install it in the system. This time was cut in half because it is not necessary to install the graphite part over and over again. Instead, it can remain in the system.

The advantages of wet-milling electrodes

When Dorlöchter is asked whether he will ever complete his project of automation, he just smiles and remains silent. Then he points to the end of the machining centre and explains: “Well, it is obvious that we ran out of space for extending the length of this automated cell a while ago. To have enough space for installing it on around 23 metres we even had to tear down a wall and now there is no room for an expansion here. But I can promise that I haven’t run out of ideas yet.”

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