Dialing up precision holemaking: Drilling Performance

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END USER: 1-866-Dial-EDM, (866) DIAL-EDM, 1866dialedm.com. CHALLENGE: Produce a high volume of 0.006″-dia., 1/16″-deep blind-holes in an exotic material. SOLUTION: An EDM drill. SOLUTION PROVIDERS: Britton Machinery Sales Inc., (585) 241-3267; GF AgieCharmilles, (800) 282-1336, www.us.gfac.com

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The combination of precise, dependable EDMs and the ability to produce tooling solutions, when needed, has enabled a small shop to develop and maintain a thriving niche business. After founding EDM Express in 1997, company President William Utter later adopted the name 1-866-Dial-EDM, Orchard Park, N.Y.

The shop provides prototype to production-level EDM services, primarily using wire machines, and has developed special expertise in EDMing small features and parts, according to Utter. He has considered expanding the three-person shop, but feels the current arrangement benefits his customers. “When someone talks to me about a job, I’m the one who is going to machine it,” Utter said. “People know that information isn’t going to get lost.”

William Utter, president of 1-866-Dial-EDM, examines the setup in the AgieCharmilles Drill 11 EDM for producing a 0.006 “-dia., 1/16 “-deep blind-hole with a ±0.001 ” tolerance. Inset: The Drill 11 creates the 0.006 “-dia. hole with a 0.0045 “-dia. tungsten-carbide rod.

In its early years, the shop’s capabilities were “run-of-the-mill-type stuff,” Utter noted, with differentiation coming in the areas of service, reliability and turnaround time. As the trend toward smaller features emerged, the shop moved into small-hole drilling. To this end, it added a Drill 11 EDM drill from GF AgieCharmilles, Lincolnshire, Ill.