2001 2

Extrusion Tool Seminar, September 11 & 12 North Carolina, October 9 & 10 Chicago
Fall 2001
www.charmillesus.com
Inside This Issue:
Stolle Case
Study..............................2
Roboform 35QCRi
Enhances Stolles
Efficiency.
New Machines ............4
Introducing the Form
20ZNC, the Robofil
240/440 and CT
Millennium Control.
Charmilles Joins Forces
with Penske ...................7
WIN 4 TICKETS TO THE
DAYTONA 500.
Charmilles Expands
Customer Service..........8
Bucks industry trend of
cutbacks.
Upcoming Events .........8
EDM 01, Extrusion Tool
Seminar.
Robofil 2030SI-TW ....10
EDM twin wire technology.
Baldor Case Study.....14
St. Louis company relies on
Charmilles expertise.
Building a Skilled
Workforce....................18
Charmilles has the tools
to help.
Fall 2001
Charmilles ROBOFORM 35QCRi

Enhances Stolle Technologys
Efficiency
A balmier climate led Manfred Stolle to the Carolinas,
broadening his career path as well as establishing a
reputable organization in the plastics industry.
Charmilles equipment and performance has contributed to the success

of the company. Manfred founded
Stolle Technology, Inc. in 1991 after
having been in the plastics and
mold-making field for the past 25
years. Manfred, originally from
Germany, served a four-year
apprenticeship then moved to
Canada in 1981 to work with
several mold-making companies.
He then was presented an opportunity to move to the U.S. and apply his
skill set in the Carolinas. After 11
years in Canada, I did not care for
the snow anymore, Manfred says.
After working in the U.S. for 5 years,
Manfred decided to take the opportunity of free enterprise and start his
own business. I wanted to deliver a
quality tool with integrity. Manfred
says, defining his companys mission.
I also wanted to create a stateof
theart facility where employees can
build a tool with the most
up to date
equipment
Charmilles has
been an integral
part of our success
and its evident
through the roster
of equipment we
own, Stolle continues. Stolle owns
HD8
six Charmilles machines: two

Roboform 35s, a Roboform 35QCRi,
two Robofil 290s, and an HD8 hole
popper.
Stolle says that Charmilles has been
a vital cog in his companys growth.
Theyve been a very large part of
our success, Stolle said. Im not saying that other companies wouldnt
support us but my experience has
been absolutely terrific with
Charmilles. Weve grown over the
past few years and I really expect
them to be part of our success in the
future.
Stolle purchased the first Charmilles
machine in 1998, a Robofil 290 Wire
EDM. There were certain things that
I really liked about the 290, Stolle
says. The machine has an ICP
System (Integrated Collision
Protection) which protects the
machine if the upper or lower
machine heads run into a workpiece.
This reduces the risk of error on the
operator as well as the machine.
A submersible machine adds time to
the process of cutting parts, Stolle
says. Buying the 290 was
a very good decision
because the 290 is not an
average non-submersible
machine. It has a unique PILOT-EXPERT
enclosed design to keep the working
zone temperature stable. With its
high-performance adaptive generator (PILOT-EXPERT), the wire wont

break if the cut is interrupted or when
you cut into a workpiece from the
outside.
As a non-submersible machine it can
cut a lot of parts in a very short
Robofil 290P
period of time. Tolerance-wise, thanks

to the enclosed machine design, its
been an excellent machine, too. The
controls are very user-friendly. And
the machine has been absolutely reliable. We have not had any problems
with the machine in three years.
Stolle uses the Robofil 290 to cut
copper electrodes. Often in this
process, they use the smallest wire
that they can run 4/thousandths of
an inch in diameter.
Stolle is convinced that Charmilles
Robofil 290 has helped his competi-
tiveness and was a wise investment.

Every serious mold maker today has
a wire EDM because a tool cannot
be built without one, he says. We
design our molds around the capabilities of our machines. For instance,
in the past, mold pockets and bases
were milled. We use the wire EDM
for speed and accuracy. Its a perfect
match. Using the 290 has helped us
tremendously to hold accuracy in the
tools that we build.
The next stage of growth for Stolle
was adding diesinkers to his mix of
equipment. After extensive research,
Manfred decided on a Charmilles
Roboform 35. This selection was
based on the performance and the
service he had received with the 290
and the reputation of the Charmilles
organization.
We did test cuts and the Roboform
35 was very easy to operate and the
cutting speeds that we achieved on
that particular test burn were great,
Stolle says now. Compared to
another machine that we looked at,
the Roboform 35 cut it in one-third of
the time.
Charmilles Southeast District
Manager Fred Holzmacher says the
Roboform 35 can cut so rapidly
because it adjusts on the fly even in
poor flushing conditions. It actually
looks at the good and
bad sparks and makes adjustments

on the generator settings during the
cut to optimize the cutting condition
for the specific application,
Holzmacher says. When the
machine encounters a poor flushing
condition or when the electrode has
dirt on it, it will actually be able to
change the type of spark or use the
SPAC generator feature to adapt to
that without having to stop machining
or pulsate the electrode like other
machines will have to do.
Based on increased volume and limited hours experienced through
machine constraints and labor force,
Manfred surged into automation as a
solution to future growth.
That automation took the form of the
Roboform 35QCRi, the diesinking
EDM that comes equipped with the
Quick Change Robot. The single
CNC and remote control for the
machine and the robot is easy to use
and the QCRi can change both the
electrode and workpiece.
Holzmacher says, I knew he had
some manual die-sinker machines
and I also knew he was working a
tremendous amount of hours. I knew
that the automation would be able to
help him get more work out and work
fewer hours. So I thought it was a
definite marriage there.
We became much more efficient
after the purchase of the
Roboform 35QCRi, Stolle
said. Prior to the 35QCRi
it took 8 to 10 hours to
complete a job on the
manual 35. The beauty of
the QCR is it only takes 2
hours to set up and the
machine runs all night or
weekend long unattended.
Business is stable in this declining

market. Stolles customer base is
diversified into the electrical, medical,
automotive, and furniture industries.
The company officially moved into
their newly remodeled 18,000
square-foot facility in Winston Salem
in May 2001 . The building used to
be a tire distribution center. (This is
the only mold making facility that has
a sprinkler system installed, Stolle
laughs).
Stolle has found Charmilles to be
very supportive after the sale. In our
industry, service is critical, Stolle
says. Time is money, customers need
their tooling ASAP. If a machine goes
down we do not have a week to
allow for a repair or to bring it
online. This is most important when
a company only has one machine.
Charmilles service has been exceptional and is a very critical link to our
success.
Due to Charmilles service and support as well as superb machinery,
Manfred says, I will automatically
look to Charmilles when adding
another piece of equipment. He
plans on purchasing an additional
Roboform 35QCRi in the near future.
I think its a great relationship we
have with Manfred, Holzmacher
concludes. Hes very successful, and
Charmilles focuses on our
customers success with support
and innovative products like the
Roboform 35QCRi.
Roboform 35QCRi
New Ideas In EDM
Whats New
Form 20ZNC
power setting of the integrated technology. Overall,

the new design will make the
Form 20ZNC simpler to understand and easier to operate.
The major asset of Charmilles

new Form 20ZNC is the Pentiumbased, touch screen Human
Machine Interface (HMI).
The new
HMI uses
icons
instead of
text on a
14 color
touch
HMI
screen
monitor.
With the
integrated
PROGRAM-EXPERT
Program Expert,
the Form 20ZNC also is easy to
program the burn, including orbiting if the optional ISOCUT E100
orbiter is installed. The HMI can
also store up to 100 different programs, making multiple cavity
burns as easy as loading in the
next program and touching the
start cycle. Digital readout of the
glass scale X, Y, and Z location is
displayed in the upper right hand
corner of the touch screen where
it can be set to zero or to a specific value after measuring the
workpiece, or manually moving X
or Y to a certain location.
The Form 20ZNCs new design
can hold a workpiece weight of
1,102 pounds and has manual
travels XY of 11 .8 x 7.87 and a
motorized Z of 11 .8. The standard V-block chuck can hold up
to a 60 pound electrode, as well
Form 20ZNC
as be substituted with a System

3R, Erowa, or Hirschman chuck.
Plus, with a high-speed Z pulse of
1 .18 per second, and the new 32
or 64 amps (optional) auto-step
generator, it steps the amperage
in smaller amounts. This constantly
optimizes the burn. The newly
designed Form 20ZNC is not only
fast, but also accurate in the burn,
because of the glass scales and
the monitored gap size for each
New Wire EDM with a

New Control
Eric Ostini, Product Manager
Recently, Charmilles Technologies

introduced two new machines into
the United States. In March 2001,
at the Charmilles Open House,
the Robofil 240 and the Robofil
440 were on display. These
machines have advanced EDM
with their new design and
CT-Millennium control.
"
"
Robofil 240/440
CT-Millennium Control
Robofil customers expect great

accuracy and the Robofil 240 and
440 continue this tradition. The
new machines have several of the
same standard features as the old
ones. One such standard is glass
scales. They maintain
the positioning, pitch,
and circularity accuracy
for the life of the
Accuracy
machine. They are Linear Glass Scales
found on all axes
(X,Y,Z,U,V) of the machine. In order
to verify the accuracy, Charmilles
has preformed tests on several
groups of Robofil 240/440s and
can guarantee an accuracy
repeatability on a shop floor of
.00012 for circularity, which is the
toughest test for machine accuracy. Also, the tests showed a
positioning accuracy of .00012
from cavity to cavity.
New Ideas In EDM
Another feature is the material used for the base of the

machine. The Robofil 240 and
440 have a Rhenocast base,
which is
made of
polymer composite. This
gives the
Robofil 240
Rhenocast base
and 440 several distinct advantages over
other machines that use cast iron
machine base materials. Some of
these advantages include
increased vibration dampening for
shop floor durability; chemical,
corrosion, and conductive resistant
for longer life; improved accuracy
as a result of a much greater ability to resist temperature changes.
The Rhenocast machine base of
the Robofil 440 can support workpieces of weights up to 3,307
pounds and maximum workpiece
dimensions of X47.24 x Y27.55 x
Z15.75. The Robofil 240 can handle workpieces of X39.37 x
Y21 .65 x Z8.66 with a maximum
weight of
1,654
pounds.
Today, wire
machines
have many
features.
However,
ICP
the quality
of the
crash protection is one feature
every operator hopes never to
find out about. With the Robofil

240 and 440, however, damage
to the machine, workpiece, or the
reference location is completely
avoided thanks to the integrated
collision protection (ICP) incorporated in the machine. From rapid
moves to cut moves, the ICP gives
security not only to the first time
operator, but to experienced professionals as well.
The U and V travel is exactly the
same as the X and Y travels. This
means that a cut of + or a 30
degree taper angle is possible up
to a maximum workpiece height
without changing nozzles or losing quto-threading capabilities.
Larger taper angles can be
achieved with guide extension.
This is a great feature for companies that produce molds, extrusion
dies, form tools, or any other
application that needs taper
capability.
In order to optimize
speed without wire
breakage, Charmilles
installed an ISO PULSE PILOT-EXPERT
generator with Pilot
Expert and Profil
Expert to automatically adjust flushing
pressure, power,
PROFIL-EXPERT
servo speed, and
wire tension. This
maintains geometry accuracy of
corners and small details as well.
continues on page 6
Whats New: ROBOFIL 240/440
Also added in the new design of

the Robofil 240 and 440 is a new
automatic wire threader called
ThermoCut. ThermoCut can
thread wires from .004 diameters
to .012 diameters, whether the
wire is
brass or
coated.
With 20
seconds
to cut
the wire
and 10
seconds
ThermoCut
to
thread, ThermoCut reduces
threading cycle times greatly over
earlier Charmilles models.
Time is not the only advantage
however. Its new design cuts
maintenance and mechanical failure to zero because it has no
moving parts.
Another benefit of the Robofil 240
and 440s new design is that they
are automation ready. With
optional auxiliary M functions, the
Robofil 20 and 440 can be interfaced with pallet loading robots,
such as System 3Rs WorkMaster
or Workpal. The Robofil 240 and
440 are submerged machines so, for automation, a side sliding
door can be installed on the side
of the work tank so that pallets
with tall or heavy workpieces can
be placed on the worktable without interfering with the upper
machine head. In order to use the
robot, everything that is done

manually must be done
automatically.
The removal of slugs after the
rough cut is a manual job.
However, Charmilles solves this
manual procedure with
the optional Eject 100
system. This system,
which can be installed
EJECT-100
at anytime, removes
slugs by first cutting the
cavity so that the slug is held in
place by a small triangle of material. Then, while the lower arm is
out of the way and the wire is cut,
the slug is tapped with an air piston hammer, knocking the slug out
of the cavity and into the work
tank. Once the slug has been
removed from the cavity, the lower
and upper arms move back to
program position, threading the
wire either in the next cavity or in
the same cavity in order to finish
with skim cuts. With auxiliary M
functions, a sliding side door, and
the Eject 100 system, the Robofil
240 and Robofil 440 are ready
now or whenever full automation
is needed.
The new design creates upgraded
technology to the machines computer system. The Robofil 240 and
440s new CT-Millennium control
contains a Pentium III 333MHz
with a 10-gigabyte hard-drive,
3.5 HDD floppy drive, one serial
port, one parallel port, and a full
101 PC keyboard. The control
also includes a 14 TFT touch

screen monitor, Ethernet standard
with a RJ45 connection, and
Windows NT operator system.
The CT-Millennium control interface continues to use the easy to
understand Charmilles concept of
PREP, EXE, INFO, and GRAPH
modes. These modes are specific
to what an operator wants to
achieve. For example, in PREP,
which stands for preparation, you
will find an editor, a file management system, and CT-Expert an
easy to use technology and offset
creator for a specific job. The EXE
mode, which stands for execution,
includes measuring cycles, user
parameters, and the cycle start of
a specific job in program execution. Also, new features have been
added, such as a maintenance
screen that counts down and
warns an operator when it is time
to do maintenance. In addition,
there is an on board documentation with text instructions and
actual pictures for error messages,
step by step maintenance, wear
item identification, and G & M
code definitions.
PENSKE RACING & CHARMILLES

A WINNING COMBINATION!
CHARMILLES A Penske Performance Partner
It was time to push the limit and get on
board with Winston Cup racing! Soon after,
Penske South received their Robofil 330F
which is now located in their brand new
engine facility. On May 19, 2001 a group of
CT customers had the opportunity
to visit the Penske facility and attend the
Winston race on Saturday night at the
Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte NC.
At the Daytona 500 in February of 2000

William Boehmert, Product Manager at
Charmilles, met with Wally McCarty,
Marketing Manager for Penske Racing South.
Charmilles had a long history with Formula 1
racing teams such as Benetton, McLaren and
in CART with Penske England.
Robofil 330F
Penske Race Shop Tour
Wally McCarty gave an informative and detailed tour of the two race shops
that house the #2 Rusty Wallace, #02 Ryan Newman and #12 Jeremy
Mayfield Winston Cup race cars.
Our group was able to see up close the

different cars being built from the ground up.
Engine being tested

on a dynamometer
The Winston Race
Everyone learned a lot and had a great time!
#2 car leaving final inspection.
New Ideas In EDM
Rusty Wallace #2 car in the garage area.
Dark evening skies caused a 2 hour rain delay.
Can you find the Charmilles logo?
Rustys trophy + $50,000 for

winning the pole position.
Go to www.charmillesus.com/racing.cfm to find out how you

can win 4 tickets to the DAYTONA 500 race in 2002
7
Charmilles Technologies has

increased its service department
by 42% since 1999. With 68 technical service employees,
Charmilles shows a continued
commitment to meeting the needs
of its customers. This large service
department allows Charmilles to
offer quick responses because a
majority of customers are located
within a one-hour drive of a
trained Charmilles service
engineer.
With an emphasis on technical
innovations, Charmilles service
engineers are equipped with laptop computers. These laptops can
remotely access the company network for troubleshooting machine
problems. The service engineers
can obtain their schedules on a
computerized scheduling board
and update customer call information in real time. During 60 hours
of a typical workweek, 94% of
Charmilles customer calls are
answered live, by a trained service engineer, with an average
queue time of only 35 seconds.
No. Service Personnel
As Others Cut Back,

Charmilles Expands
Customer Service
EDM 01
80
60
40
20
0
1999
1st Half
2000
2nd Half
2000
1st Half
2001
24 hours a day, seven days a

week. The CD contains all 7000
CT-US stocked parts for current
and older models.
Hyatt Regency,
downtown
Indianapolis
October 17th, 18th,
& 19th
Modern Machine Shops
EDM 01 Conference
will focus on the latest
technologies that keep jobs
moving at top speeds.
EXTRUSION
TOOL
SEMINAR
Service engineers can obtain
their schedules on a computerized scheduling board.
More than 98% of parts orders

are shipped the same day from
Charmilles. The remaining one to
two percent is shipped from
Geneva, Switzerland, directly to
the customer. Customers can now
identify parts for machines from a
free-parts CD or online on
Charmilles website
www.charmillesus.com/prod/parts.cfm,
Upcoming
Events
Customers can now identify

parts for their machine from a
free-parts CD.
October 9 & 10
Chicago
Charmilles Technologies is
offering a die seminar to help
Wire EDM owners realize
their machines full potential.
The seminar will provide
information on extrusion die
technologies and vacuum
sizer designing.
Two Wires One Machine.

An EDM World Premiere!
Until now, the choices available for machining operations that required two
different wires were limited. They performed both roughing and finishing with
the same 0.004 diameter wire thus slowing down the manufacturing
process. Or they manually switched wires thus cutting productivity as a result
of a tedious change-over process. But now this is a thing of the past.
Charmilles is proud to present its new Robofil
2030SI-TW to provide operators the flexibility and
versatility they want without the need for manual
intervention or change-over. Designed with a fully
automated dual-wire system, the new Robofil
2030SI-TW provides ample opportunity for
unattended machining.
No longer dedicated to a single wire, it allows operators to achieve time savings of up to 60%, has a
dramatic impact on productivity and simplifies the
manufacturing process.
The worlds first wire EDM tool changer

Prompted by the need for applications involving
small parts across a variety of industrial sectors such
as connectors, electronics and micro-machining,
Charmilles launched its Robofil 2030SI-TW designed
to provide automated tool change during the same
machining operations. With two wires of different
diameters available to them on the same machine,
operators can switch from one to the other with one
easy setup.
added advantage of unattended machining may be

equally important for a large number of operators.
How long do they normally need to remove a slug?
Three to four minutes, provided they are in front of
the machine. However, they are seldom, if ever, in
front of the machine. The time to remove a slug is in
fact much longer, especially with multi-aperture
tools. With a single setup
cycle and automatic setup
switch from one wire to the
other, the new Robofil 2030SITW accommodates increased
loads and provides for unattended night time and
weekend operation.
To cover the vast majority of workshop applications,

24 twin-wire technologies have been added to the
56 standard technologies already available.
Ideal for unattended machining

Fast pocketing and the availability of two different
wires enable the twin-wire machine to cut in automatic mode two cavities in the same time it would
take a single-wire machine to cut only one cavity.
The time savings obtained with a twin-wire EDM
machine are considerable since it reduces cutting
speed by up to 60%. (see illustration 1) But the
With a considerable reduction in the amount of time

the piece remains in the water, there is also less corrosion. What does
this add up to for
the operator?
13 cavity die
Greater flexibility in
organizing output
schedules and
higher productivity.
Single wire mode = 8 h 42 min
Twin wire mode = 3 h 30 min
10
Ilustration 1
Time savings of up to 60%

So what are the numbers behind Charmilles' claims
of reduced cutting speed and greater performance?
Field-tested by a number of industrial customers (see
below), the new twin-wire Robofil 2030SI-TW cuts
machining time in half. And since machining speed is
proportional to the diameter of the wire, it is the time
required for roughing that makes the difference.
When comparing single-wire operations with the
twin-wire method in punch machining operations, for
example, the time savings achieved with the Robofil
2030SI-TW are close to 60 %.
The automatic wire
changer allows
you to rough thepiece with 0.010
(0.25mm)
wire,achieving a
dramatic drop in
cutting time. In
fact, time savings
increase with
workpiece height.
On a punch of
1 .57 (40mm)
height, the twinwire Robofil
2030SI-TW cuts
twice as fast as a
single-wire machine
(see illustration 2).
As one renowned manufacturer found out when testing the equipment during pocketing operations, the
new Robofil 2030SI-TW increased speed by 45%.
As a result, pocketing and finishing the piece with
twin-wire technology turned out to be three times
faster overall!
Manufacturing made simple

Without the need to change wire guides or to perform dual pre-settings, operators no longer run the
risk of losing precision by manually switching wires.
Instead, the Robofil 2030SI-TW chooses for each
cavity the optimum solution in terms of productivity
and work schedule. And since operators now have
a choice how to best optimize the performance of
their machine, they enjoy the kind of flexibility they
never had before.
2 wire circuits - 1 guidance system

Two separate wire circuits are located side by side
on the front panel to bring the two wires down to
the upper head guiding zone. A guidance system
WITHOUT any moving parts is used for both wires
to ensure perfect machining accuracy.
Easy to program
Illustration 2
New Ideas In EDM
Charmilles' CT-Expert features a complete CMD program for both wires. It automatically generates the
technology file for the application as well as the
command program with automatic selection of the
correct wire and wire parameters. Operators find that
twin-wire programming is as easy as it is with the
standard Robofil 2030SI.
continues on page 12
11
Two Wires One Machine. An EDM World Premiere!

Increased Productivity
A market leader doubles productivity
One graphic illustration of a simplified manufacturing process is a comparison of single-wire and

twin-wire mode when machining trimming punches
for the semi-conductor industry. Rather than grinding
the location notches and wire cutting the fine details
with 0.1 mm wire, twin wire technology erodes the
location B notches with 0.25mm wire and automatically switches over to 0.1mm for the A details in a
single setup.
The world's second largest connectors supplier has

achieved time savings of 50% in punching operations and of 30% in die machining. Above all, this
market leader finds that it is much better equipped to
optimize machine workload by scheduling jobs
overnight or on weekends.
What's more, it reports no problem on the part of

operators to switch to a twin-wire machine since it
operates just like a single-wire unit. The new Robofil
2030SI-TW requires no extra maintenance and maintains operating expenditures at the same level as a
standard single-wire machine, adds the company's
Managing Director.
B
Twin Wire Versatility
The Robofil 2030SI-TW optimizes the wire diameter
and cutting method for each cavity and completes
the die in fully automatic mode. Rather than machining all cavities with a 0.004 wire, manually
switching to a larger diameter, aligning the wire, taking piece references and finishing the piece with a
0.010 wire the Robofil 2030SI-TW does all of this
in fully automatic mode with time savings of 30%,
explained William Boehmert, Charmilles Product
Manager.
Automatic wire change-over on one and

the same machine for flawless roughing
and finishing in half the time.
Just 1 second to change from one wire
diameter to the other for a combined
threading and change-over time of no more
than 45 seconds: much less than manual
intervention or switching to another machine.
Multi-cavity
die with
different
minimum
radii and
surface
finish
requirements.
Sequence
Roughing
Pocketing
Pocketing
Pocketing
+ 1 skim with 0.010 wire

+ 3 skims with 0.010 wire
30% Time saving
comparing to 0.004 machining
12
TW BENEFITS
Precision remains unaffected by changeover whether operations involve roughing

or finishing.
Maximum versatility allows operators to
schedule unattended machining jobs as they
see fit (i.e. overnight, weekends).
Baldor Relies on Charmilles

Expertise in St. Louis
Baldor Motors and Drives stocks over
4,400 different models of AC and DC
motors and drives. Theyre basically
an American institution, says Dick
Wolf, Charmilles district manager.
Every tool room has a Baldor motor
in it.
Baldor sells its products worldwide in
more than 55 countries. Baldor products are available from 40 sales
offices/warehouses in North America
and 25 offices serving international
markets. These products are produced at 11 U.S. plants and one in
Bristol, England.
2000 was a banner year for the company. Sales hit $621 .2 million, up six
percent from 1999. Earnings were a
record $46.3 million, also up six percent. Earnings per share were $1 .34,
up 13 percent over the 1999 figure.
Finally, 2000 marked the ninth
consecutive year Baldor set records
for operating and gross margins
and earnings per share.
400 of Baldors over 2,000 employees call St. Louis home. The Gateway
City plant manufactures progressive
carbide lamination dies. Baldor has
relied on Charmilles expertise for
years to get the job done. Baldor
purchased a Roboform 40 sinker in
the early-90s and then bought a
Robofil 4020SI wire machine a few
years after that.
Charmilles has really performed well
for us, says Greg Sutphin, Baldors
tool room manager in St. Louis. Both
machines have given us excellent
service. We have no problems with
them they run!
Baldor purchased the Roboform 40
to build die-cast molds. It has done a
14
great job in that endeavor and the

machine is also used now for putting
through holes and threads in
carbide.
It does a wonderful job on mold
parts, says Mike McDonald, Baldors
tool room supervisor, I really like it.
Its a lot more efficient and it made
the electrode manufacturing much
simpler with the CNC than it was
with a non-CNC EDM.
A manual machine can burn in only
one direction straight down,
Charmilles Wolf says in explaining
the value of CNC. A CNC machine
can burn in three or four different
directions. It streamlines and simplifies the electrode manufacturing
process. And at the same time, it
increases the speed, increases the
wear performance, and increases
free time because it runs by itself and
doesnt need an operator. CNC
machines have answered an ocean
of dilemmas within mold and die
shops today.
The Roboform 40 has evolved into
the Roboform 35P, 54P, and 55P. All
three models offer speed enhancements when compared to current
models. The acceleration speed is
two times as fast, the axis speed is
three times faster, and the pulsation
speed has doubled, too. Because of
the advancements in acceleration
speed, tool change time is 35 percent less than it used to be on the
Roboform 35 or 55. There is also a
27 percent timesaving for measuring
cycles.
The Roboform 35P and 55P come
equipped with drop tanks. This
enables the operator easy access to
the machining table from three directions. The drop tank design also
yields quicker fill-and-drain time. Time
is also saved because the drop tank
can be programmed to match the
height of the workpiece.
Baldors Sutphin and McDonald
report that the Roboform 40 has
been super-reliable, too. There have
been only two machine stoppages in
eight years and on both occasions,
Charmilles sent parts overnight to
Baldor and they were up and running the next day.
A few years after their success utilizing the Roboform 40, Baldor plunged
into the Charmilles wire market with
the Robofil 4020SI. Baldor uses it for
making carbide die parts and
segments for carbide lamination dies.
Wire-burned guides for the lamination dies are also made with the
Robofil 4020SI. And all of these dies
need to be made to less than onetenth tolerance.
The Robofil 4020SI has performed
excellently for us, McDonald says.
Weve been making replacement
parts for these dies with these tolerances since day one, and we havent
had a problem.
The Robofil 4020SI runs virtually all

the time at Baldors St. Louis facility.
Often, it runs unattended. Its
hooked up to separate air compressor so when the plant air is shut off
over the weekend, the Robofil
4020SI continues to run. McDonald
raves about the precision and reliability of the machine.
Charmilles latest innovation to this
series of machines is the twin wire
option available on the Robofil
2030SI-TW. The Robofil 2030SI-TW is the first wire EDM to
feature a fully automated dual-wire system, making it possible to perform a quick changeover without operator
intervention.
The productivity gains from this unattended ability are
significant. Depending on the application, productivity can
reduce machining times from 30 to 50 percent because the
large diameter wire can be used for pocketing in the rough
cut and the small wire is applied for small-radius finishing.
During machining, the Robofil 2030SI-TW automatically
switches to another wire as needed. This changeover takes
less than 45 seconds.
Charmilles is succeeding in a tough environment. Almost all
of Baldors work is carbide and
carbide stamping dies represent the toughest stamping die
work thats out there, Wolf says. The laminations for the
motors that Baldor stamps are made of thin material so you
have thin material, you have very small punch-to-die clearances, and the carbide is the hardest stuff in the world to
cut. The surface finish requirements are through the roof.
They have to be very fine surface finishes. Its a very difficult
set of parameters.
With both machines, Baldor took advantage of Charmilles
extensive training and sent a team of four employees up to
Charmilles North American headquarters in Lincolnshire, IL,
to get better acclimated to the machines. Sutphin termed the
training excellent.
Baldor appreciates Charmilles service, too. Its outstanding, Sutphin says. Not only service but support, too.
Anytime we have a question, anytime that we have a new
material that were cutting or a new wire were using, theyll
help us out.
continues on page 16
New Ideas In EDM
15
Baldor Relies on Charmilles Expertise in St. Louis
You Can See Your Ad in New Ideas In EDM

Call Steph Meyers at DGS Group 317-479-3155
extension 121
And more Charmilles machines may

be ticketed for St. Louis, soon. Baldor
plans to significantly expand its tool
room in the next year. With the
expansion of the tool room, Baldor
expects to build 100 percent of its
progressive dies and possibly begin
to build its own diecast molds as
well, saving 10 to 15 percent over
what it costs to have an outside
vendor build them.
Its probably been four or five years
since weve built a mold, Sutphin
says. We still have the personnel to
do it, the know how. Hopefully, with
the expansion of the tool room well
be able to take some more of that
work.
16
Charmilles Tools to
Help You Build a
Skilled Workforce
By Harry Moser
REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF MODERN MACHINE
SHOP, COPYRIGHT 2001 GARDNER PUBLICATIONS,
INC., CINCINNATI OHIO USA
Last April, in a column I wrote for this

page, I proposed actions that shop
owners, skilled machinists and government leaders could take to help assure
a strong U.S. manufacturing workforce.
But preaching is one thing, practicing
is another. This month, Im providing a
list of support materials and services
that Charmilles Technologies has
developed to strengthen the U.S. manufacturing workforce. The point is not
only to show how one company can
make a difference, but also to encourage readers to respond by choosing
from the list below which items will aid
in their own efforts to bolster our
workforce.
Promotional Materials:
1 . Career Opportunities Chart:
We have distributed 50,000 copies of
the "Career Opportunities Chart,"
which shows that the income of precision machinists is equal to that for
workers with four or more years of college. Many machining instructors say
that the chart is their single best
recruiting tool.
2. A Career in Toolmaking:
This 48 page PowerPoint presentation,
"A Career in Toolmaking: The Right
Choice for Students, Community and
Country," provides, in paper or CD
form, sourced arguments showing the
importance of the metalworking industry and its income and entrepreneurial
opportunities. For example, one table
compares the lifetime cash flow for an
apprentice to that of an English major.
18
If the machinist invests at 7% per year

half of the difference in their annual
incomes, he will have $1 million more net
worth than the English major by the age
of 49.
Charmilles also provides the "Career in
Toolmaking" presentations live to appropriate audiences throughout the United
States and Canada. The presentations
last up to an hour and are most effective
with regional groups of guidance counselors, educators, politicians, instructors
or parents. Call us for a schedule of
upcoming presentations in Indiana, Ohio,
Pennsylvania and Washington.
3. NTMA Annual Apprentice Contest:
For ten years, Charmilles has provided
the Grand Prize for the shop whose
apprentice wins the annual National
Tooling & Machining Association
(NTMA) Apprentice Contest. This prize is
an EDM machine, worth as much as
$100,000.
This years contest, the 29th annual competition, was held at Lake Michigan
College in Niles, Michigan from May 8
May11 .
The winner this year was Daniel
Jorgensen. Daniel is a moldmaker at
Omega Tool, Inc. in Menomonee Falls,
Wisconsin. He represented the
Milwaukee chapter.
Live Promotional Presentations:
Ohio, organized by the Cincinnati

and Dayton NTMA Chapters
Future Events Include
1 . October 4 at the Mid-Atlantic
Machine Tool Show in Ft.
Washington, Pennsylvania, organized by AMTDA
2. February 8, 2002 at Lower
Columbia College, Longview,
Washington (tentative)
The presentations last up to an hour
and are most effective with regional
groups of guidance counselors, educators, politicians, instructors or parents.
EDM Machines and Training
Materials:
1 . EDM Machines
Charmilles provides schools and training centers with wire, CNC and
manual EDMs at the lowest possible
prices. One hundred and nine schools
in the U.S. and Canada have 160
Charmilles EDMs, mostly recent models. The Charmilles wire and CNC
EDMs are especially well suited for
schools because all models have collision protection, a great confidence
builder for the trainees. Also, because
Charmilles has the largest US annual
sales of EDMs, the students training
fits the greatest number of job
openings.
Charmilles provides the "Career in

Toolmaking" presentations live to appropriate audiences throughout the U.S. and
Canada. The current schedule has
included:
2. Directory of EDM Courses
1 . April 6 at the NACFAM Annual

Conference in Washington, DC
3. When to EDM Course
2. April 25 at the Indiana Machine Tool

Show, for 200 local students, organized by AMTDA
3. May 21 and May 24, a series of presentations to the educational
communities of Cincinnati and Dayton,
This directory of schools and colleges

teaching EDM, die making, mold making, etc. helps schools to exchange
curricula.
In addition to learning "How to EDM"
it is important that trainees learn
"When to EDM." This course compares
the EDM to conventional machining
processes and identifies the workpiece
geometries and materials for which
EDM is the optimal process.
Standards & Credentialling:

Charmilles has supported NIMS
(National Institute for Metalworking
Skills) credentialling standards by:
1 . Helping develop the EDM standards.
2. Performing all of the EDM test verifications during Charmilles operator
classes.
trained workforce will flow, like a transfusion, throughout our manufacturing

industry.
How to Obtain Help:
All Charmilles items and support, except
the EDM machines, are free. Just call
Charmilles at 1 800 CTC 1EDM.
(1 800 282 1336), Ext. 170 or e-mail
harry.moser@charmillesus.com.
The future success of our companies, of
manufacturing in the U.S. and, finally, of
the U.S. economy depends upon convincing Americas youth to pursue a
career in manufacturing and upon providing them the necessary training.
Lets do it together!
3. Serving on the NIMS Board.

For information on NIMS certifying
your training program call
(703) 352-4971 .
Legislative Efforts:
Charmilles supports HR877, the Skilled
Workforce Enhancement Act, which
provides a maximum $60,000 taxcredit to a shop for each four-year
apprenticeship. Charmilles post cards
allow a citizen to express his support
of the Act to his local congressman.
HR877 currently is co-sponsored by 35
U.S. Representatives. The next effort to
advance this legislation in Congress
will be this summer when I will be
addressing the House Small Business
Committee.
The single most effective way to assure
a sufficient quality and quantity of
skilled manufacturing professionals is
to pass the Act. Rational self-interest
will motivate thousands of shops
across the country to start or expand
apprentice programs. As the number
of apprentices goes up, other shops
fear of losing, and not being able to
replace, new journeymen will come
down, causing many of these shops
also to have apprentices. I believe this
act is entirely justified because the
benefits will flow not just to the
employer of the apprentice, but to the
entire U.S. manufacturing industry and
economy. Unlike tax credits for
research and capitol investments, the
benefits of having a larger, better-
New Ideas In EDM
19
560 Bond St.

Lincolnshire, IL 60069
Tel: (888) CTC 1EDM
AGIE CHARMILLES Group
GEORG FISCHER GF Manufacturing Technology

2001 2

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Extrusion Tool Seminar, September 11 & 12 North Carolina, October 9 & 10 Chicago

Charmilles ROBOFORM 35QCRi

Charmilles equipment and performance has contributed to the success

six Charmilles machines: two

high-performance adaptive generator (PILOT-EXPERT), the wire wont

period of time. Tolerance-wise, thanks

tiveness and was a wise investment.

bad sparks and makes adjustments

Business is stable in this declining

New Ideas In EDM

power setting of the integrated technology. Overall,

The major asset of Charmilles

as be substituted with a System

New Wire EDM with a

Recently, Charmilles Technologies

Robofil customers expect great

New Ideas In EDM

Another feature is the material used for the base of the

find out about. With the Robofil

Whats New: ROBOFIL 240/440

Also added in the new design of

robot, everything that is done

also includes a 14 TFT touch

PENSKE RACING & CHARMILLES

At the Daytona 500 in February of 2000

Penske Race Shop Tour

Our group was able to see up close the

Engine being tested

The Winston Race

Everyone learned a lot and had a great time!

#2 car leaving final inspection.

New Ideas In EDM

Rusty Wallace #2 car in the garage area.

Dark evening skies caused a 2 hour rain delay.

Can you find the Charmilles logo?

Rustys trophy + $50,000 for

Go to www.charmillesus.com/racing.cfm to find out how you

Charmilles Technologies has

No. Service Personnel

As Others Cut Back,

24 hours a day, seven days a

More than 98% of parts orders

Customers can now identify

Two Wires One Machine.

The worlds first wire EDM tool changer

added advantage of unattended machining may be

To cover the vast majority of workshop applications,

Ideal for unattended machining

With a considerable reduction in the amount of time

Time savings of up to 60%

Manufacturing made simple

2 wire circuits - 1 guidance system

New Ideas In EDM

Two Wires One Machine. An EDM World Premiere!

A market leader doubles productivity

One graphic illustration of a simplified manufacturing process is a comparison of single-wire and

The world's second largest connectors supplier has

What's more, it reports no problem on the part of

Automatic wire change-over on one and

+ 1 skim with 0.010 wire

Precision remains unaffected by changeover whether operations involve roughing

Baldor Relies on Charmilles

great job in that endeavor and the