Micromachining is an important branch of industry in our society. As even minor changes to small workpieces have a major impact, it is all the more important that micromachining is characterized by high quality. This means that small workpieces can be processed and customized using various methods.
Micro-erosion is used to produce the smallest bores and manufacture small parts. This is mainly done with workpieces made of ceramic or carbide, hardened steels, steel, alloyed steels, stainless steels (e.g. INOX) and non-ferrous metals. With the help of this process, the smallest bores with diameters of 0.13 mm, for example, can be eroded. Micro gear wheels for clockwork parts or injection molds for the production of plastic parts can also be manufactured. All this even in the smallest dimensions. When fine wire eroding micro parts, the need to clamp the micro parts results in self-produced clamping devices that are used to hold the small components in place. The accuracy of a part to be manufactured is therefore directly dependent on the accuracy of the clamping device. Tolerances of +/-0.001 and surface qualities of Ra 0.01 / N2 can be achieved with fine wire erosion. In addition, the smallest bores with a radius of 0.06 mm can be produced using start hole shooting. The smallest contours and parts with material thicknesses of 0.02 – 1.5mm can also be cut in the field of precision laser cutting. Precision laser cutting can be used to process many materials such as titanium, stainless steels, alloyed and unalloyed steels, non-ferrous metals such as copper, brass and bronze as well as various types of plastic.
The areas of application for the parts produced in micromachining are very diverse and range from the electrical industry, the watch industry and injection mold construction to the ophthalmic industry (eye surgery instruments) and many other sectors.
These can be gear wheels for a drive mechanism, for example, or injection-molded plastic gear wheels whose metal injection molds have the opposite shape of the gear wheel. Micromachining is becoming increasingly important in medicine in particular, as the instruments to be used should be as small as possible in order to avoid or minimize major surgical injuries to tissue, muscles, etc.