The search continues: graphite or copper – which to choose?

Related Vendors

HASCO Hasenclever GmbH + Co KG

BORIDE Engineered Abrasives

Meusburger Georg GmbH & Co. KG

Poco Graphite, Inc. an Entegris Company

Significant difference in electrode costs

According to the test results, a copper electrode could be more economical than a graphite electrode when only the blank material is taken into consideration. However, when the cost component of machining is factored in, the story changes considerably. For this test, the cost of each EDM-3 graphite electrode was $15.50, while the C110 copper electrodes cost $95.00 each. For the purposes of determining value, the total cost for the EDM-3 graphite electrodes was $46.50 and $190.00 for the C110 oxygen-free copper electrodes.

Non-destructive automatic testing

In the project, all three EDM sinker brands programmed the copper electrodes at much higher on-times than the graphite electrodes. Taking into account the average burn times for all three tests, the copper electrodes completed the burn in 4 hours and 29 minutes, whereas EDM-3 had an average burn time of 1 hour and 54 minutes.

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