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Frequently Asked Questions

What engineers and purchasing coordinators ask before sending work to our wire and sinker EDM shop in Garland, TX. If your question isn’t here, call Nolan at (972) 271-9028.

Questions

What materials can you cut, and how tight are your tolerances?

EDM of Garland machines any conductive metal. That includes tool steels (D2, A2, S7, H13), stainless steels, hardened steels up to 65 HRC, titanium, Inconel, carbide, aluminum, and copper alloys. If the material conducts electricity, we can cut it regardless of hardness.

Wire EDM holds ±.0002″. Sinker EDM holds ±.00075″, and we can go tighter depending on the part.

Surface finish on wire EDM usually lands around a 32 finish. We run skim passes on about 90% of jobs to get there, and a finer finish is available if you need it. Skim passes tighten both tolerance and finish as they go. On sinker EDM the finish depends on electrode preparation and the orbiting strategy Nolan uses for each cavity.

These numbers reflect what the shop holds in production, not theoretical machine specs. For a specific material or geometry, call with your print and Nolan will tell you what’s realistic for the job.

Details on our wire EDM and sinker EDM capabilities are on the service pages.

Wire EDM:

  • Mitsubishi MV2400: up to 41.3″ x 32.3″ x 12.0″, up to 3,000 lbs
  • Mitsubishi MV1200: up to 31.9″ x 27.6″ x 8.5″, up to 1,100 lbs
  • Charmilles 240CC: up to 24″ x 20″ x 8″, up to 1,100 lbs

Sinker EDM:

  • Chevalier 408: up to 40″ x 30″ x 30″, up to 3,000 lbs. This one is open-frame, so it has no hard size limit. What fits really depends on how the part can be held.
  • Mitsubishi SG12: up to 35.4″ x 25.6″ x 13.77″, up to 2,200 lbs
  • Charmilles Roboform 22: up to 15.75″ x 11.81″ x 10″, up to 750 lbs

The smallest wire we run is .007″. On sinker EDM, the smallest electrode is .03″, round or flat.

If your part is close to these limits, call before assuming it fits. Fixturing and submerge depth can affect what’s practical even when the work envelope technically covers the dimensions. Nolan can review your drawing and confirm whether the setup works.

The machines page has the full equipment list.

Wire EDM: Mitsubishi MV2400, Mitsubishi MV1200, and Charmilles 240CC. The MV2400 takes the largest work. The Charmilles is Swiss-built and holds position well for clean skim passes.

Sinker EDM: Chevalier 408, Mitsubishi SG12, and Charmilles Roboform 22. The Chevalier is open-frame and handles the biggest cavity work. The SG12 and Roboform 22 cover die details and smaller mold features.

Fast hole drilling: CURRENT EDM. This machine burns through hardened material where conventional drilling can’t go. It handles tap removal, obstruction removal, and dowel pin extraction from hardened dies and molds.

Nolan runs every machine himself. There is no outsourcing on core EDM work. All machines are listed on the equipment page.

EDM of Garland coordinates CNC machining, plasma cutting, and welding through partner shops Nolan works with regularly. You deal with Nolan. He manages the full job, coordinates the subcontractors, and ships the finished part.

This works well when a job needs both EDM and conventional machining on the same part. You send one PO, deal with one person, and get one shipment.

Call (972) 271-9028 or email your drawing. Include:

  • Material type and hardness
  • Quantity
  • Tolerance requirements
  • Delivery timeline

Accepted file formats: DXF, DWG, STEP, IGES, and PDF prints. Quotes are free.

Our minimum charge is $165. We work with customer-supplied material as a matter of course. About 99.9% of what we do is finishing parts the customer sends in.

If you’re unsure whether EDM is the right process for your part, call anyway. Nolan will tell you straight whether it makes sense or suggest a better approach.

Have a drawing ready? Contact us for a quote.

Turnaround depends on the job. Material, geometry, and what else is running on the machines all factor in, so there’s no single number that applies across the board. For availability, call the shop. Nolan’s schedule changes week to week depending on what’s running.

EDM of Garland ships to all 48 contiguous states via FedEx, with next-day delivery available. The shop serves customers across Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, Houston, Louisiana, and the rest of the country. Geography is not a barrier if the part ships in a box.

If your job has a hard deadline, mention it when you call. Nolan will let you know whether he can meet it.

Wire EDM cuts through the full thickness of a workpiece using a thin brass wire as the electrode. It works for die openings, extrusion profiles, punch shapes, and any feature that goes all the way through the material. Wire is typically faster and less expensive than sinker for through-cut geometry.

Sinker EDM uses a shaped graphite or copper electrode to erode a cavity into the workpiece. It handles blind cavities, 3D contours, mold impressions, and die pockets where the feature does not exit the opposite side. Sinker is the only option when you need sharp internal corners, because wire always leaves a radius equal to the wire diameter plus the overburn gap.

If you are not sure which process fits your part, call and describe the geometry. Nolan runs both wire and sinker in-house and can tell you which approach makes sense for the job.

EDM makes sense when conventional machining can’t get the job done. Typical reasons:

  • The material is too hard for milling or turning. Hardened tool steel, carbide, and Inconel machine cleanly on EDM regardless of hardness, because the process removes material with electrical discharge rather than mechanical force.
  • The tolerance is tighter than CNC can reliably hold.
  • The geometry has sharp internal corners, thin walls, or small features that would break a cutting tool.
  • The part cannot take mechanical stress. EDM is non-contact, so the workpiece sees zero cutting force and no induced stress.

EDM also introduces a smaller heat-affected zone than laser cutting or conventional machining. Skim passes reduce it further. The part comes off the machine without distortion or residual stress.

Wayne Jackson founded the shop in 1984. His grandson Nolan Jackson started working there at age 14 and became sole owner in 2007. The shop has been in continuous operation for over 40 years.

Nolan is a solo operator. He quotes the job, programs the machines, and runs every part himself. That means the owner is accountable for every piece that leaves the building. There is no handoff between a salesperson and a machinist because they are the same person.

Industries served: aerospace, oil and gas, defense, manufacturing and tooling, and pump and valve repair. Read more about EDM of Garland, see the industries we serve, or browse samples of our work.

EDM of Garland does not hold ISO or AS9100 certification. Nolan maintains precision through 40 years of experience on calibrated Charmilles, Mitsubishi, and Chevalier equipment, plus direct oversight on every job.

Call (972) 271-9028 or send us your drawing for a quote.