2mo ago

What is special about a power supply designed for basic EDM?

(Electrical Discharge Machining)
In terms of current, voltage, frequency, rise time, etc. What makes this one special for switching topologies?

4 comments

I am so drunk right now I thought you were looking for a power supply for Electronic Dance Music. Let me check back in like 10 hours
Update: I am back and I'm sober, and I know nothing about this.
- I thought the same thing, but I have no excuses.
I don’t know anything about EDM, but since it has to produce very high voltage high current pulses (enough to make plasma in a dielectric tank) and very quickly , the power supply is probably specifically designed for the machine.
- I've seen a project that used a 72v meanwell that wasn't but like 6-8 amps and an Arduino class controller with an old Cartesian gantry 3d printer. IIRC that was posted on hackaday within the last year but I don't recall if it was fully documented.
  There used to be a guy online selling old public domain and self published machine shop books like the old DIY gingery lathe shaper and mill plans and books. IIRC that had some kind of weird analog EDM plans that used a bucket of water and electrodes to create a large resistor or something odd like that.
  From what I have seen in the past, EDM is not actually like HV plasma or high current like welding. The electrode is super close but not touching and the process is fairly slow. It is more like an HHO generator setup but an order of magnitude more focused on a point source. I know a coin can be used as an example. If the coin the the electrode, the face can be machined into something like the stamping die for a minting run.
  I think it would be a cool process to integrate into 3d printed jigs and automation. Plus I like winding transformers and building power supplies out of junk.