foerstar

You wont EDM burn the block first and wire cut them after you would loose 0.1-0.2 mm of your diameter in the middle and so your geometry is not round anymore after putting those two halfs together and also your electrode wont fit inside the block. The diameters of the biggest geomerty is way bigger than the entry hole diameter. Way to go it pre machine the 2 mold insert halfs and then finish edm burn them. For a detailed electrode like this one needed you will go on a hsm 5axis and cut either a copper or graphite electrode (most common is graphite for milling or copper but here you will have disadventages for the cutting peocess) after the electrodes are done (of course you need 2 sets of electrodes each for one insert (and for each set you probably go with 2-3 electroded for rough and finish edm burn the inserts) the burning process will be quite tricky because you cant just burn vertical you also need to go side ways and be careful not to burn geometry away by accident. Just to prepare the pre machines block with cooling lines and so on needed will take 1-2 days plus heat treating. Electrode programming and milling will take 1-2 days as well plus the burning process. ( most of those mld get edm finished because you can see a surface finish you wont get from a milling machine as well sharp corners are quit impossible to machine withous leaving a radius in the corner) ... Bilding molds is fun :) cheers

Well first you need to programm and cut your electrodes used on the edm process this alone takes a lot of time for the tiny detail. (If you have a hsm 5 axis machine you can cut your electrodes there or use a 4th axis on a refular hsm mill) the inserts you can pre machine but there is no need to run them on a 5 axis cnc and on the end you burn both inserts with the electrodes you made. The burn will be quite tricky because you also have to go side ways and make sure you dont burn the details away by accident. 5-10k$ for both insert halfs are realistic you also need to heat treat those inserts and use a mold steal so there are some extra cost right away ... Looks like a cool job at ODI ;)