Pitt's Manufacturing Assistance Center Acquires RARE, High Precision Machine

PITTSBURGH, March 5 -- Machine tool manufacturer Agie Limited has donated a rare machining tool, one of only 14 in the world, to the University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering's Manufacturing Assistance Center (MAC) for use in its training and cooperative manufacturing programs.

The AGIECUT 200VHP wire EDM (Electric Discharge Machine), valued at more than $500,000, can machine extremely hard materials, to tolerances of .0001 (one-ten thousandth) of an inch, plus or minus four 100,000ths of an inch.

EDMs differ from conventional machining tools in that they remove metal by melting tiny amounts of material using an electrical arc created by a wire conducting hundreds of volts of direct current onto the workpiece.

"The AGIECUT 200VHP is an important addition to the MAC's line of machine tools and increases the value of the MAC to this area's manufacturers, especially the approximately 60 precision tool & die firms," said Bill Peduzzi, MAC plant manager.

The special mechanical and thermal features of the AGIECUT 200VHP include high accuracy feedback systems to sense and adjust for slight variations in position of the workpiece, and special circuitry to produce a finish finer than can be produced by any other EDM. To maintain its precision, the machine is housed in the MAC's climate controlled work area.

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