What Are The Advantages Of Graphite Electrodes?

Graphite electrodes are easier to process and the processing speed is significantly faster than copper electrodes. For example, the milling process for graphite is 2 to 3 times faster than other metal processing and does not require additional manual processing, while copper electrodes require manual grinding. Similarly, if a high-speed graphite machining center is used to manufacture electrodes, the speed will be faster, the efficiency will be higher, and there will be no dust problems. In these processes, choosing tools and graphite with appropriate hardness can reduce tool wear and copper breakage. If the milling time of graphite electrodes is compared with that of copper electrodes, graphite is 67% faster than copper electrodes. In general, graphite electrodes are 58% faster than copper electrodes in EDM. In this way, the processing time is greatly reduced, and the manufacturing cost is also reduced.

The design of graphite electrodes is different from that of traditional copper electrodes. Many mold factories usually have different allowances for rough machining and finishing of copper electrodes, while graphite electrodes use almost the same allowances, which reduces the number of CAD/CAM and machine processing. This reason alone is enough to greatly improve the accuracy of the mold cavity.

Of course, after the mold factory switches from copper electrodes to graphite electrodes, the first thing it should be clear about is how to use graphite materials and consider other related factors. Nowadays, some customers of Qunji spark machines use graphite electrodes for EDM, which eliminates the process of mold cavity polishing and chemical polishing, but still achieves the expected surface finish. Without increasing the time and polishing process, copper electrodes cannot produce such workpieces. In addition, graphite is divided into different grades. The appropriate grade of graphite and EDM parameters should be used in specific applications to achieve the ideal processing effect. If the operator uses the same parameters as copper electrodes on the spark machine using graphite electrodes, the results will definitely be disappointing. If the material of the electrode is to be strictly controlled, the graphite electrode can be set to a non-consumable state (loss less than 1%) during rough processing, but the copper electrode is not used.