Other Products / Services #4961704

Precision Cutting and Deburring

MicroGroup offers a complete range of cutting methods to suit the most specific requirement from rough cuts to extremely precise, burr-free cuts with high quality edges and finishes.
The Cutting and Deburring Department can cut stock of virtually any O.D. but specializes in sizes under 1.0 O.D., and can cut stock as small as 0.005 O.D. metal stock can be cut to lengths as short as .010 up to 20+ feet, with tolerances of 0.0005 or better.

Materials include all alloys of Stainless Steel, Titanium, Aluminum, Copper, Nickel, Nitinol, Superalloys such as Hastelloy, Inconel, Monel, and precious metals including Gold, Platinum, Silver, Palladium, and others.

MicroGroup can also satisfy any capacity requirement, from one piece to millions of pieces, and offers exceptionally short lead times.

Cutting methods include:

Electrochemical Cutting(ECC)
Electrical Discharge Machining (Wire EDM)
Laser cutting
Electro Chemical Grinding (ECG)
Abrasive cutting & Deburring
A fully functional machine shop, MicroGroup can also cut using Band Saws, Cold Saws, Lathes and Shears for larger or unconventional shapes and sizes.

Deburring can be accomplished using a variety of techniques, from state-of-the-art cutting methods to traditional hand and wire wheel processes, as the size, shape, material, finish and quantity of your parts dictate.

Electro Chemical Cutting

MicroGroup maintains an entire electrochemical cutting (ECC) department that handles most of the companys extensive cutting volume, due to the exceptional quality and economy offered by the process.

The electrochemical cut off saw uses a copper abrasive blade in conjunction with a DC power supply and special salt solution. The combination produces a completely burr-free part with a zero defect level.

Electrochemical cutting has many advantages over other methods. Fixtures are designed to hold multiple tubes or wires to be cut, limited only by their diameters. For stock diameters of .012 (30Ga), fixtures will hold 121 lengths. For diameters of .203 (6Ga), fixtures will hold nine lengths. The computerized automatic feed mechanism, combined with high volume fixturing capability, makes this a production-friendly process. Due to the electrolytic action, the finish of the cut faces is excellent with all sharp edges typically removed, leaving a small radius of approximately .001 to .003.

The tightest length tolerance that can be held on the electrochemical saw is approximately .002. However, combined with a secondary electrochemical grind operation, it is possible to achieve a cut length to .001 on some stock. Unlike EDM and laser, which produce a localized heat-affected recast layer, electrochemical cutting will not induce heat or affect the metallurgy of the work piece. Both thin and thick materials can be electro chemically cut with similarly good results, unlike other forms of cutting, and they do not require a subsequent deburring step.

Electrical Discharge Machining

Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) is ideal for intricate burr-free cutting of intricate contours or cavities in hard materials, eliminating the need to soften the material before machining, and then re-harden it through heat-treating. The process can be used with stainless steel or other electrically conductive materials including titanium, Hastelloy, Inconel, nitinol and Kovar.

Also called spark machining, spark eroding, burning, die sinking, and wire erosion, the process uses electrical discharges between an electrode (the cutting tool) and the work piece, both immersed in a dielectric liquid to remove material from the part.

EDM offers consistent results and is particularly suited for parts requiring tight tolerances. Extra fine surface finishes can be obtained and near perfect perpendicularity achieved using EDM.

MicroGroup has proprietary fixtures, which permit the cutting of extremely small diameters (down to 0.005) and to very short lengths (

Laser Cutting

MicroGroups CNC-controlled Laser Machines generate a high-powered beam of light that delivers precise, repeatable cuts with optimized end face surface finish and edge quality.
MicroGroup has eleven YAG lasers in house, five of which are hitch-fed stent lasers, excellent for high volume production work. These lasers can repeatedly cut metal in thicknesses from.125 down to .001, and can cut slots as thin as .0008.

Laser cutting is typically selected for parts that are small in size, highly precise andor geometrically intricate. Since laser cutting is non-contact, it is ideal for the cutting of very thin-wall, fragile parts without distortion. It is also a clean process since cut faces do not contact a blade or cutting tool, which could impart contaminants. Laser cutting is an excellent complement to other MicroGroup cutting technologies, since laser cutting is often an economical alternative to electrical discharge machining (EDM) andor milling.

Electro Chemical Grinding (ECG)

Electrochemical grinding combines both electrolytic action (90%) and physical grinding (10%) to provide precision, burr-free and stress-free results. Owing to the electrolytic reaction, ECG eliminates the need for a separate deburring operation. It is also a low stress machining operation that avoids potential metallurgical damage associated with conventional grinding machines, including cracking and heat distortion. This makes ECG ideal for machining of delicate and thin walled parts. In addition, the electrolytic process can break sharp edges leaving a radius of .001 to .005 depending on the power settings.
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Electrochemical Grinding is often used when conventional machining proves too costly or difficult, and an EDM WireSinker is too slow. In most ECG applications, MicroGroup can hold tolerances of .001 using fixtures produced in-house by the Tooling Department.

Electrochemical Grinding is limited to metals that are conductive, such as: stainless steel, aluminum, copper , amorphous metals, Hastelloy, Inconel and nitinol.

Precision Cutting and Deburring

MicroGroup offers a complete range of cutting methods to suit the most specific requirement from rough cuts to extremely precise, burr-free cuts with high quality edges and finishes.
The Cutting and Deburring Department can cut stock of virtually any O.D. but specializes in sizes under 1.0 O.D., and can cut stock as small as 0.005 O.D. metal stock can be cut to lengths as short as .010 up to 20+ feet, with tolerances of 0.0005 or better.

Materials include all alloys of Stainless Steel, Titanium, Aluminum, Copper, Nickel, Nitinol, Superalloys such as Hastelloy, Inconel, Monel, and precious metals including Gold, Platinum, Silver, Palladium, and others.

MicroGroup can also satisfy any capacity requirement, from one piece to millions of pieces, and offers exceptionally short lead times.

Cutting methods include:

Electrochemical Cutting(ECC)
Electrical Discharge Machining (Wire EDM)
Laser cutting
Electro Chemical Grinding (ECG)
Abrasive cutting & Deburring
A fully functional machine shop, MicroGroup can also cut using Band Saws, Cold Saws, Lathes and Shears for larger or unconventional shapes and sizes.

Deburring can be accomplished using a variety of techniques, from state-of-the-art cutting methods to traditional hand and wire wheel processes, as the size, shape, material, finish and quantity of your parts dictate.