A third Sodick machine at Anotronic is tackling extremely challenging wire EDM work.
The Leighton Buzzard company offers subcontract machining services and also manufactures its own range of EDM fast-hole drilling and EDM die-sinking machine tools.
Martin White, Managing Director of Anotronic Ltd, says: “My father started the business in 1982, and I joined the company in 1985. We tend to machine a lot of difficult materials such as inconel, titanium, and special stainless steel, and everything is difficult to machine. We take on the worst jobs because we can - and we have all the machines and processes in-house to do what we need.”
The Bedfordshire manufacturer currently operates three Sodick machines, with the latest ALC600G Premium wire EDM with linear motor drive technology, supplied by Sodi-Tech UK, arriving recently.
The new machine has X, Y and Z-axis of 600 by 400 by 500mm and the U X V-axis travel of 120 X 120mm, which gives the company an edge on capacity.
“We always buy premium machines, and as the company has become more experienced, we always look to buy better machines. This always comes down to reliability and the ability to run unmanned. We have a Sodick AQ35L die sink machine that we’ve had for a very long time, and Sodi-Tech UK has looked after this machine for us for over 20 years.”
The reliability and performance of the Sodick AQ35L meant that when Anotronic was in the market for another EDM machine, it once again turned to the Sodick brand. Martin recalls: “We bought a Sodick AG 600LH around seven years ago. That machine enables us to do tool work up to 500mm high, which we regularly do. We have a large bobbin on this machine, enabling us to run 70 to 80 hours unmanned.”
“We bought this latest machine because we had a project with a sister part. The project typically consists of 40 parts that would maybe take us three months to complete. We suddenly had an order placed on us last year for 300 parts. We couldn’t have done this without another machine, as we knew we would have had to have been machining 24 hours a day to get the parts done.”
Sodi-Tech UK Sales Manager Richard Bailey says: “Martin and Anotronic don’t just take on run-of-the-mill CNC jobs. This company tackles the higher end of the industry and often the parts that companies don’t want to tackle themselves. Anotronic looks at jobs from an application perspective rather than a ‘machining time’ point of view. With the Sodick technology and the special characteristics within the machine, Anotronic can utilise this to run all of its applications and do jobs that are unique and out of the norm. In this instance, the application that Martin has been working on requires some very steep table angles.”
Martin White adds: “We are using a very complex 4-axis programme to cut a rotary part with 45° slots in it. The only way we could do that was to use the software we currently use, and without it, we couldn’t manage to do the part. So, we used the on-board software within the CNC control of the Sodick machine to take control and create a 3D model and a tool path to cut the part. This is machining at extreme angles. We are cutting at 45° and machining up to 40 to 50mm in the U and V-axis to create this particular part. We also had to specify wide nozzles and wider guides to machine this part, and the ALC600G did a brilliant job.”