Starting off the NEW Year 2021 with a difficult but fun subject to debate. The subject of what is the BEST WEDM in the industry it is a bit subjective to the person who is using the machines. So please understand this is my prospective and my 30 years of being in the industry studying the art of WEDM. I will start with my bottom and work my way up to the number one choice. So, what do you think of when you are thinking bottom brands?

#11 BROTHER WEDM

Very Basic 2 Axis & 4 Axis work – Great for a Garage Shop or starter WEDM! Service is hard to find these days in USA.

https://www.gip-edmwire.com/wedm-tech-wize

#9. Accutex & #10. Exectek

I have been unimpressed with the older models, they are lower priced option of course. They seem to be copies of the other brands and I would not pick them for high accuracy work. They do seem to be improving the systems and I have very limited knowledge/experience so take this with a grain of salt. General shop work – lower accuracy jobs.

#8. ONA

This Spanish brand has had very limited exposure to the USA market. They just never caught on from what I saw. Their niche was LARGE work machines (Also some aerospace). Plus, very hard to get service because you could not keep track of who was the distributor of the brand in USA. Per LinkedIn they are the oldest EDM machine manufacturer in the world!

#7. Mitsubishi

This is a tough one for ALL the Mits users (sorry) the reason is the older non-Linear machines. I think they are much better now then the ball screw era machines. Why – well it comes from the knowledge of service techs needing to do a ball bar test and set/tweak parameters to get the WEDM to cut a round dowel holes. This was done on new machines on every set-up. Just not impressed with the rigidity of the old machines. New Linear machines seem much more rigid and a better design, matching the e-pack technology that was always good and seemed to make the machines so popular! The Linear motors have in fact made the construction more ridge than the old ball screw models per an industry expert – it is correcting the construction errors in the machines design!

#6. Fanuc

This WEDM is Very popular, and I have no negative notes on the machine. The users like the machine and they run it seems much longer than you would expect. Great for progress dies & general WEDM jobs. Service is also really good as I never hear customers complain about getting help.

#5. Sodick

Sodick machines are equipped with in-house developed NC controls, linear motors, and motion controllers. They have produced with their proprietary linear motor drive systems 45,000 units shipped worldwide. The industry’s only 10-year positioning accuracy guarantee has now proven itself for 20 full years since its inception. Sodick changed the industry of machine tools world-wide with the Linear motion. Their cutting conditions are the weak point in the past. Technology in the machines is good they just need more of it.

#4 Seibu

Seibu is a name that not all in USA know. Seibu high precision wire EDMs are 100% made in Japan. They are the only EDM manufacturer who guarantees a pitch accuracy down to +/- 1 micron. Although new to the U.S. market, Seibu has a long history. They created the world's first CNC wire EDM in 1972. Their wire EDMs are built in Seibu's ISO certified factory in Koga City, Fukuoka Prefecture which is located in southern Japan. Seibu machines target the high-end precision wire EDM market which requires a quality machine designed to last and produce consistent results for 25+ years.

Only 50 machines are individually handcrafted per month. Seibu’s manufacturing philosophy is about quality and not quantity. All machine castings are hand scraped, which uses a blade to remove high spots left behind during the machining process resulting in improved part geometry, repeatability, and surface finish. Guideways are checked for flatness, lasered for straightness, and test cuts are performed on all machines which are checked on a CMM for accuracy. Since Seibu wire EDMs are manufactured in Japan, they are built for precision and will outlast and outperform the competition. (This came from the Seibu website)

#3 Makino

In the machining world Makino is a world leader in technology & WEDM is no exception - getting their start working with Agie due to a flood at their Switzerland factory.

They have grown from a niche machine to a powerful player in the industry. Their WEDM machines are built just like their milling machines. (solid as a Rock) Makino is the world leader in both Sinker & Wire EDM. With more than 140 patents, a Makino EDM means faster processing times and superior surface finishes for even the most complex part geometries. Makino turns innovation and technology into increased production and a lower cost per part for there customers.

#2 Charmilles

Charmilles started in the EDM business in 1952 in Switzerland, debuting the first machine in 1955 in Milan Italy. In the 1980’s & 1990’s they innovated the WEDM industry with CNC controls. Their controls were simpler to understand, but still powerful. They made many models during those two decades. They had a HIGH accuracy model and a HIGH Taper model – Both great machines in their respective applications. True leaders of the industry! Merging with Agie at the end 2006 – Lead for 22 years in the USA by Harry Moser.

Always ahead of the curve and looking for the next big improvement! Service and Parts were top notch as well.

#1 Agie

Agie is the world leader for many years the Benchmark of all OEM’s.

What can be said about Agie machines? They are the most accurate WEDM in the marketplace and everyone was chasing them for many years! Were they the perfect machine? Not in my opinion the control was the most difficult to understand and the number of pages that were used to run the machine, was far more than any of the others. The results though were as perfect as it could get!

I never run an Agie so my experience is from talking with others who did. Some of the innovations – 1. 1979 Automatic Wire Threading 2. 1987 CONTROL SYSTEM FOR OPTIMIZING AND MONITORING THE EDM PROCESS 3. 1993 AGIE FUZZYTRON HSS + HSF GENERATORS 4. 1996 AGIECUT EVOLUTION AND AGIEVISION 5. 2001 AGIECUT VERTEX 6. AGIECUT PROGRESS, AGIETRON HYPERSPARK just name a few.

Currently now joined together as one company Agie & Charmilles manufacturer 4 grades of WEDM”S 1. Micro Machining 2. High Speed Machining 3. Top End Accuracy 4. General Purpose – An Adding a NEW machine in 2020 the CUT AM 500 for cutting off additive manufactured parts. The WEDM is a Horizontal cutting machine that uses distilled water with additives to increase conductivity. While the conductivity of dielectric for a standard wire EDM application is typically between 20 and 5 micro siemens per centimeter, the conductivity of the CUT AM 500’s dielectric is almost 2,000 micro siemens per centimeter. AgieCharmilles is always looking to the future and so should we all!

All the brands have a place in the market, or they would not be made!

There are many pros & cons to look at when evaluating the brands.

What is important to you is the applications you are tackling. So, focus on the

goals you have and the work you are doing. The best machine for that application is

sure, to be found in the price range you can afford.

I did a little survey to see what user’s Think and here are the results!

I hope the above information is helpful to you and is taken as one person’s opinion – I am sure everyone has their perspective, and it is okay to like something different than I do. Just like the Chevy, Ford, & Dodge debate it is up to you! An what works for some does not work for others!

Let’s do something fun next time and look at WEDM art on the NEXT edition of WEDM Tech WIZE. “May your Sparks always be ON-TIME!”+

WEDM Tech Wize

Best Wire EDM Machine (WEDM) for each EDM Application