The EDM Handbook

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Summary: The first and only EDM book of its type.
Review: In The EDM Handbook, E. Bud Guitrau draws on over twenty years of experience to present a full picture of one of the fastest growing technologies in manufacturing. All aspects of electrical discharge machining (EDM) are covered, including EDM theory, part and tooling concepts, electrode and wire selection, set-up recommendations, machine operation, troubleshooting and preventive maintenance. In addition, little known strategies such as discharge-dressing, performance enhancing flushing procedures, advanced CNC EDM techniques and alternatives for machining that will result in savings in time, money, cutting tools and machine utilization. The book includes detailed information on how to select and justify an EDM machine, machine intelligence and "fuzzy logic", moldmaking, dielectrics and employment opportunities in the EDM industry. Nowhere will you find a more detailed yet understandable compendium of EDM technology and technique.

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Summary: This book is useless
Review: This book certainly did not live up to the advertising copy I found on Amazon.com. I found this book to be very poor in terms of usefullness of the contents. It was all fluff and appeared to be aimed, at best, toward management level people who don't have the competence to make factual based decisions on equipment purchases. It not only did not provide facts or data, it didn't provide many clues about how someone trying to make a decision would go about fact based decision making with respect to EDM. The text was highly repetitive in nature. I found its strong advocacy of relying on the manufacturers of equipment for everything from operations knowledge to purchasing evaluation, to be insulting to my inteligence.

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Summary: Great book!
Review: This book is one of the few and by far the best of all books on EDM. The author has obviously used EDM to make a living. The concept of discharge-dressing was new to me and now we use it in our shop. We sponsor and train apprentices and this book is mandatory reading for apprentices and toolmakers alike. We can't wait for the next update.

Joe Santana

Rating:
Summary: The best book of it's type anywhere
Review: This is the only comprehensive book on EDM written on a shop-floor level. It is easy to understand and offers many real-world examples and solutions. It is worth far more than $50. It is required reading for our entire staff of engineers, toolmakers and even for our sales people.

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Summary: Manufacturing Technology
Review: We use Mr. Guitrau's book in our Industrial Science and Manufacturing Technology classes. This book is clear and consise and written to be completely understood.
Although our Computer Science department has no need for an EDM book, they use the "Machine Intelligence" chapter from THE EDM HANDBOOK for it's easy-to-understand explanations of AI systems and Fuzzy Logic.