CNC machining steel with a welding inverter and sparks

[@Stoeckermann]

I missed you so much! Have forgotten about you totaly!

[@HomoFaciens]

I'll always be back!

[@lumotroph]

Absolutely agreed. So glad to see you again!

[@torbensbeautypalace5682]

Einfach beeindruckend deine Arbeit!

[@Fahnder99]

Nice to hear of you! You seem to get deeper and deeper into EDM. I took the other route, printing resin. But no DIY. I still owe you a lot because of your videos and hints. Keep up the good work!

[@HomoFaciens]

Thanks, I'll be back!

[@Fahnder99]

@@HomoFaciens 😆

[@truthcam1]

Fantastic - I think that the way you have done this, is great for backyard builders like myself, where you have used existing parts to create a very use-full, clever tool ... might have to be a future project for me :)

[@micultimy91]

Next time use a rotating electrode and study the circumference of the bore. It should be better, if the runout of the electrode is smaller. Also, why not using brass rod (messing rundstange) as an electrode? Brass it's usually the industry standard for EDM. Thank you for this video!

[@HomoFaciens]

You are right with both of your hints. But as told in the video: I am in the process of upgrading the machine with a rotating electrode. 1.5mm brass tubes meanwhile have arrived. This was just a quick look if the welding inverter is suitable for spark erosion. More on this machine, soon. Stay tuned!

[@hotfilament]

The lathe EDM could be useful for custom pellet extruder screws. The electrode erosion might work as a feature, not a bug there.

[@HomoFaciens]

The wood screws used as auger in my extruder aren't bad. I will build custom extruder tubes, first.. If you'd like to use electrode erosion as feature you have to do some test runs to get the erosion rate of various electrode/workpiece material combinations.

[@RoboArc]

I love the sketchy vibes this gives off 😂

[@HomoFaciens]

It is in a sketchy phase of experimenting, yet. It was just to prove if the welding inverter works in principle. Now that I know it does, I'll remove some (but surely not all) of the skechyness ;-)

[@TheLophius]

There is an Opensource EDM project where you can build power source and use 3d printer for EDM cutting.

[@HomoFaciens]

Which one do you mean? A Link would be nice.

[@TheLophius]

@@HomoFaciens Rack-Robotics on GitHub

[@HomoFaciens]

I came along the Rack Robotics machinery before. Definitely worth a look at.

[@tkelker]

Great work. Really like this project

[@lumotroph]

I want to make a water pump in the same fashion - how did you do it? Greetings from Johannesburg

[@HomoFaciens]

The pump design is relatively straight forward: Inlet is at the bottom at center of the axis with a diameter of 10mm. The outlet is radial mounted with a diameter of 6mm. The rotor has 8 straight, slightly tilted flaps. I will publish the design files as soon as the next video of this machine is recorded. Stay tuned!

[@TuttleScott]

as long as you're cutting iron type metals you could use a magnet to capture larger particles in the water.

[@HomoFaciens]

Yes, but: Stainless steel (which I have in mind for my 3D printer parts) isn't magnetic and even the tiny iron type, magnetic particles oxidize quickly in water and so no longer stick to a magnet. The brown color is an indication of rust rather than iron. A sponge should do better.

[@TuttleScott]

@@HomoFaciens most hackers have neodymium magnets laying around, wont hurt to toss one in somewhere the water moves. you could make a settling tank too along the line.

[@HomoFaciens]

Yes, a settling tank could be a simple solution, too. Keep in mind that the electrode erodes, too. Tungsten or brass aren't magnetic. A filter is what you won't come around. A sponge is easy to implement and does the job. No need to make things complicated ;-)

[@FixDaily]

That's a very slow driller

[@HomoFaciens]

But also a precise one considering the cheap setup. I will speed up the process with the next iteration of this machine. Stay tuned!

[@FixDaily]

@@HomoFaciens well not cheap on the electric bill

[@HomoFaciens]

Well, the classic CNC routers that are capable of cutting hardened steel consume not much less electric energy. They use spindles in the kW range. I might have a closer look at the energy consumption in one of the coming videos. It definitely is from interest.

[@acroduster]

The power draw of this process is 600 watts or less. Which is an order of magnitude less than used to conventionally drill materials, however speed or energy are not the real advantages of edm. This process can drill through and shape any conductive material to close tolerance with no machine frame loading in materials too hard for other machining methods