Microtec EDM Ltd, the Basildon-based precision sub-contractor, has recently invested in a new GF Agie Charmilles CUT 1000 wire EDM machine (www.gfac.com) equipped with a fast and responsive digital generator, a powerful AC Vision control and an AWC duo-wire system.

This is being used to machine a diverse range of complex micro parts for the medical-device, surgical-instrument, aerospace, defence, satellite and electronics sectors.

raham Cranfield, managing director of Microtec, says: “Since our creation in 2001, we have always made strategic investments in the most advanced EDM machine tools, and the high-performance CUT 1000 is the most recent example of this strategy. Its ability to machine parts to exacting tolerances is second to none. Through our investment in GF Agie Charmilles, we are now regularly machining intricate and complex parts down to 20µm in size, with geometrical tolerances of less than 3µm.”

The small and intricate parts manufactured by Microtec sometimes involve long and painstaking set-ups, but these can often be offset by exploiting the machine’s ability to run unattended — overnight and at weekends. This enables the company to increase machine utilisation, making seemingly uneconomic jobs viable.