{"id":45708,"date":"2021-07-29T11:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-29T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pappp.net\/?guid=f353e23413e0c6dc4f11a3ce63f94509"},"modified":"2021-07-29T11:30:00","modified_gmt":"2021-07-29T15:30:00","slug":"3d-printed-tooling-enables-diy-electrochemical-machining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pappp.net\/?p=45708","title":{"rendered":"3D-Printed Tooling Enables DIY Electrochemical Machining"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: Hack a Day<\/a><\/p>\n

Article note: Neat!\nI read some stuff about people trying DIY ECM for internal features like barrel rifling a while back, but this looks markedly more sophisticated, even though there's nothing terribly complicated or inaccessible in the setup.<\/div>
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When it comes to turning a raw block of metal into a useful part, most processes are pretty dramatic. Sharp and tough tools are slammed into raw stock to remove tiny bits at a time, releasing the part trapped within. It doesn’t always have to be quite so violent though, as these experiments in electrochemical machining<\/a> suggest.<\/p>\n

Electrochemical machining, or ECM, is not to be confused with electrical discharge machining, or EDM. While similar, ECM is a much tamer process. Where EDM relies on a powerful electric arc between the tool and the work to erode material in a dielectric fluid, ECM is much more like electrolysis in reverse. In ECM, a workpiece and custom tool are placed in an electrolyte bath and wired to a power source; the workpiece is the anode while the tool is the cathode, and the flow of charged electrolyte through the tool ionizes the workpiece, slowly eroding it.<\/p>\n

The trick — and expense — of ECM is generally in making the tooling, which can be extremely complicated. For his experiments, [Amos] took the shortcut of 3D-printing his tool — he chose [Suzanne] the Blender monkey — and then copper plating it, to make it conductive. Attached to the remains of a RepRap for Z-axis control and kitted out with tanks and pumps to keep the electrolyte flowing, the rig worked surprisingly well, leaving a recognizably simian faceprint on a block of steel.<\/p>\n

[Amos] admits the setup is far from optimized; the loop controlling the distance between workpiece and tool isn’t closed yet, for instance. Still, for initial experiments, the results are very encouraging, and we like the idea of 3D-printing tools for this process. Given his previous success straightening his own teeth<\/a> or 3D-printing glass<\/a>, we expect he’ll get this fully sorted soon enough.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When it comes to turning a raw block of metal into a useful part, most processes are pretty dramatic…<\/p>\n

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