Automated Wire Erosion for the Manufacture of PCD Tools

In tool manufacturing for the aerospace industry, companies rely on high-precision wire EDM machines and automation technology to produce complex cutting tools for machining modern composite materials.

Activity and Operational Challenges
Founded in Coventry in 1979, Exactaform develops and manufactures cutting tools. Initially, the focus was primarily on carbide tools for the automotive industry. With the increasing use of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRP) and other composite materials in aircraft construction, the technological demands on cutting tools rose significantly. Conventional tools quickly reached their limits when machining these materials.

Improvement Goals
Exactaform was looking for a technological method to manufacture tools made of polycrystalline diamond (PCD) economically and with the highest precision. The primary goals included the development of special tool geometries that minimize delamination and reduce cutting forces when machining sensitive composite materials. In parallel, production capacity was to be continuously increased through automated processes with long unmanned runtimes while ensuring the high quality of the tools.

Selected Technical Solution
To achieve these goals, the company chose technology partner Vollmer and invested in wire EDM machines, beginning with the QWD 760 model. Over the years, this grew into a modern machine park with a total of 21 Vollmer systems. This fleet includes systems from the QWD and QXD series, the VPulse 500, VGrind grinding machines, as well as hybrid solutions like the VHybrid 260. These technologies enable the highly productive manufacturing of PCD tools.

Deployment and Support
The decision for the first machine in 2000 marked the beginning of an over 25-year technological collaboration between Exactaform and Vollmer. The engineering team utilizes the installed systems to design customized special solutions, which account for roughly 80 percent of all manufactured tools. Customers often provide just a component drawing, after which Exactaform takes over the complete development, with each tool being comprehensively measured and tested.

Measurable Results
Through the use of EDM technology and advancing automation, Exactaform now produces around 7,000 PCD tools per month. In some cases, the systems run up to 160 hours per week with minimal downtime, with a single employee able to monitor several machines simultaneously. Today, around 40 percent of the business comes from the aerospace industry, whose customers include leading OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers. This transformation has enabled the company to grow to more than 130 employees, serving over 500 international customers with more than 30,000 developed tool solutions.

Written by Maria Brueva, Induportals editor – adapted by AI.

www.vollmer-group.com