Two Wire EDM machines in Malaga — a Seibu (Seibu invented the wire-cut EDM; ours is the first Seibu wire-cut machine in Australia) and a Sodick for tall hardened work to 300 mm Z-height. ±0.005mm tolerance. Burr-free, stress-free, no thermal distortion. Up to 300mm material thickness on parts already heat-treated to final hardness.
Wire Electrical Discharge Machining cuts metal by sparking a thin charged wire (typically 0.25mm brass) through the material under deionised water. There is no mechanical contact and no significant heat transfer to the part — which is why it can hit tolerances and finishes that turning, milling and grinding cannot, and why it can cut a part already heat-treated to 60 HRC without warping it.
If the geometry has tight inside corners, the part is hardened, the surface needs to be burr-free or the tolerance is below ±0.01mm — Wire EDM is usually the answer. We run it as the finishing step on parts that have already been turned or milled to rough size and heat-treated.
A representative slice of work that came off the Wire EDM in the last 90 days. Most ride on top of CNC turning or milling — Wire EDM is rarely the only operation, but it's almost always the operation that holds the tolerance.
Sharp inside corners, ±0.01mm profile, burr-free. Heat-treat-then-cut workflow — the part went straight from the heat-treat shop to Wire EDM with zero rework.
316SS valve seat for a high-pressure manifold. Surface finish drove the choice — required Ra 0.4µm without a follow-up lapping step. 40 pieces, dim report on every part.
Tungsten carbide tiles for a screen panel. Internal slot geometry impossible to mill with a stack-up of corner reliefs. Wire EDM cut the lot in a single nested program.
Gauge fixture in 4140 hardened to 42 HRC. Original spec called for grinding — Wire EDM hit the same tolerance with cleaner inside corners and no risk of grinding burn.
If you can do the job on a mill, do it on a mill — it's faster and cheaper. Use Wire EDM when the mill can't. Here's the shortest decision guide we know.
Pick when: material is unhardened & geometry is mill-friendly
Pick when: hardened & tight tolerance & complex profile
Pick when: large flat surface & tight thickness tolerance
Anything electrically conductive, in any state of hardness. The wire doesn't care. We don't cut ceramics, plastics, MMCs or other non-conductive composites.
Air-hardening cold-work tool steel, common to 58-62 HRC.
General-purpose tool steel, well-suited to Wire EDM.
High-speed steel for cutting tools and dies.
Hot-work tool steel for moulds and dies.
Wear inserts, dies, gauge work — any binder %.
Valve internals, sealing faces, hygienic gear.
Precipitation-hardening, common in oil & gas.
High-temp nickel-based superalloys.
Marine and chemical-process alloys.
EDM electrodes, bus bars, thermal blocks.
Aerospace fixtures, gauge bodies.
Light-weight, high-strength components.
Read this like a data sheet, not marketing. If your part falls outside, we'll say so at quote stage rather than waste your week.
DXF is preferred — it imports cleanly into our nesting and programming software. STEP and IGES also accepted. Note material, hardness, thickness and quantity in the email.
Programmer reviews and nests the layout for material yield. Pricing and lead time back inside 48 hours. Per-piece price drops sharply on multiples — we'll show you the curve.
PO approved by email. Cut, inspected, dim-reported. Combined with turning, milling, heat-treat or coating into a single delivery if your part needs more than just EDM.
Wire EDM (Electrical Discharge Machining) cuts conductive metal with a thin charged wire. Use it when conventional machining will cause heat distortion, leave burrs, or can't achieve the tolerance — typical cases are hardened tool steel, carbide, intricate aerospace and tooling profiles, and finishing operations on parts already heat-treated.
Any electrically conductive metal: hardened tool steel (D2, A2, M2, H13), carbide, stainless steels, titanium, copper, brass, bronze, aluminium, exotic alloys including inconel, hastelloy and monel. We don't cut ceramics, plastics or non-conductive composites.
±0.005mm on profile, ±0.002mm achievable on fine work with multiple passes. Surface finish to Ra 0.2 µm. We use Wire EDM for tolerance bands tighter than turning or milling can hit.
Yes — that's the dominant use case. Heat-treat the part to its final hardness (40+ HRC, 60 HRC, carbide), then Wire EDM the precision features. The process doesn't transmit heat or stress to the part, so dimensions stay true.
Up to 300mm material thickness on the production machine. Thicker work quoted on a case-by-case basis.
5-10 working days on a typical part. Programming time depends on complexity. Send DXF or STEP at quote stage to get an accurate lead time back inside 48 hours.
Yes — single PO, single delivery. Most Wire EDM work runs as a finishing operation after CNC turning or milling and a heat-treat cycle. We sequence the workflow and you receive the finished part.
Roughing operation before Wire EDM finishing — bring the part close, then EDM the precision features.
WorkflowMany reverse-engineered hardened parts pass through Wire EDM as the final tolerance-holding step.
IndustryCarbide tiles, hardened gauges, screen wear — common Wire EDM applications on the shop floor.