Hi-Tech Aerospace Components’ Coventry facility has eight Sodick wire erosion machines, including a brand new AQ300L wire EDM purchased at MACH 2008. This is used to machine the aero engine probe bodies in batches of around 40-off. The shaft-like components are approximately 200mm in length and feature a series of ‘chimneys’ at one end that accept the different sensors required by the customer. The parts arrive as turned blanks before a wire EDM roughing operation is performed on the Sodick.

The part is then transferred to a die sink machine for the creation of one particular feature before it comes back to the AQ300L for finishing operations. Finally the probe body has a few finishing details produced on another die sink model, which are followed by polishing. Dimensional tolerances are in the region of 0.05mm. The probe bodies, which have a net value of approximately £1,200 each, take approximately 2-3 days to produce.

“Although we’ve been manufacturing these engine probes for a while now, new variants are always being introduced to keep us on our toes,“ says Mr Duffin. “Our expertise and quality accreditations are also helping us win plenty of new business. I think we can now rightly call ourselves one of the largest EDM subcontractors in the West Midlands, if not the country.”

www.hi-techedm.co.uk