MC Machinery Systems, Inc., a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corp., unveiled its completely revamped wire EDM line, featuring Cylindrical Drive Technology, offering a simple, but intelligent design concept. Until now, customers have had to choose between speed and precision when selecting an EDM machine. With the new MV Series, both can be accomplished on a single machine. Beyond the new cylindrical drive, the MV Series delivers design and engineering improvements to meet or beat any EDM specification or challenge.

More than 500 attendees descended on the showrooms at MC Machinery Systems' Wood Dale, Illinois, facility for the unveiling of Mitsubishi's newest EDM system. Attendees also witnessed demonstrations on other machine technologies, including sinker EDM, MC milling, waterjet, laser, and press brake.

"Our industry is experiencing a reawakening, and with this revitalization comes new energy and vigor," says Nick Giannotte, vice president of EDM, milling, and waterjet. "Manufacturing in North America is strong across all industries, and getting stronger, as evidenced by the biggest turnout of interested partners and machinists at this event. In unveiling this important new wire EDM technology, we aim to help increase productivity, profitability, and ultimately keep manufacturing in America on its upward trend."

The new Mitsubishi wire EDM MV Series features engineering improvements, many of which being industry firsts, and none is as poignant as the Cylindrical Drive Technology. The round magnetic shaft of the linear motor creates a 360-degree magnetic flux for no-contact design. "One of the negatives of a flat-plate system is that the plates are rather large and take special construction in the machine casting for mounting. With the shaft design, we've actually taken those permanent magnets, made them button shaped, and lined them up, end-to-end, inside of a stainless steel tube," says Mike Bystrek, wire EDM manager, MC Machinery Systems Inc. "So now a shaft replaces the ball screw, and when energy is applied, it pulls itself along from magnetic field to magnetic field."

The system works with commercially available Servo drivers, and is not affected by shop dust or metal grinding dust. "At Mitsubishi, we are always looking to improve. We always find it within ourselves to compare and make things better from our previous generation," Bystrek, says. "So with the new MV series, we looked to some of the items from the previous generation, what we can put in and make it better for our customers."

The T-casting on the MV Series, features both the X- and Y-axes mounted directly to a set of ways on the base casting. This means the table moves right and left on one set of ways, while the column moves in and out on the Y-axis and a separate set of ways. This type of direct axis mounting removes any squareness and repeatability issues that come with stacked table design, and provides better rigidity and smoother movement for more reliable and precise cutting.

The MV 1200 machines offer a hardened stainless steel table and larger travel size without a significant impact on machine footprint. This translates to larger submerged cutting capacity.