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EDM Setup 
Access: Open this function from one of the following locations:
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Select Electrode > Tools > EDM Setup from the menu bar.
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Select EDM Setup from the Electrode Guide Toolbar.
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Right-click a Component
, UCS 
, Folder 
, Electrode 
or Location 
in the Electrode Tree to display the popup menu and then select EDM Setup.
Define EDM parameters for electrodes and locations.
The EDM (Electrical Discharge Machining) Setup is an application for defining burning conditions, generating reports, and programming EDM machines for electrodes created within Cimatron. It is an interface between Cimatron and the EDM machine, automatically setting all the necessary machine parameters (similar to a post-processor).
The EDM Setup dialog enables you to set general parameters for Components , UCS , Folder , Electrodes , and Locations before creating a machine-readable file.
In addition to the data retrieved from Cimatron, there are machine-specific parameters that need to be initialized and passed to the machine. You can view and edit the various parameters before sending the job data to the EDM machine.
To suit your specific requirements, you can change the default values of existing parameters and save the EDM Setup Profile file under a different name. A Profile stores all the parameters (machine data and project data) and default lists and values for a specific EDM solution.
The EDM Setup can be customized for different machines and different customers. Customization involves new parameters and values, specific user interface, and the format of the output file. This type of customization (creating new Profiles, or editing/adding parameters) is created by your Cimatron Provider or Reseller.
This Help describes the interaction displayed using the Standard EDM Machine Profile.
The EDM Setup dialog enables you to set general parameters for Components , Electrodes and Locations .
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The parameters defined in the EDM Setup are available as symbolic text (used in Drafting and PMI). |
EDM Data Flow and Management
EDM Setup Entities
All data in the EDM Setup is associated with one of the following entities:
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Component (part or work piece to be burnt)
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Electrode, with one or more sub-entities as follows:
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Electrode Tool (Generic, Rough, Semi-Finish, Finish or Polish)
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Locations where this electrode is to be used
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Operation (the use of a given electrode tool in a given location).
An electrode contains one or several electrode tools. For instance, if the process defines that Rough and Finish electrodes are used to burn the specific location, then the electrodes contains two electrode tools, one for each operation.
In addition, each electrode contains one or more locations, indicating where the relevant electrode tools should be used.
These entities are closely related to the electrode hierarchy as displayed in the Electrode Tree (Component > UCS > Electrode > Location).
In EDM Setup, Operations represent burning operations in given locations, using given electrodes tools. Part of the EDM Setup application is process management – defining the order of burning operations of the entire project, and choosing which ones to do or ignore.
Each entity has a set of EDM machine-specific parameters which are important to the EDM process. Part of the EDM Setup application is viewing and editing these parameters before they are used on the EDM machine. Many parameters are machine-specific, and constitute a part of the EDM Setup customization process.
The parameters of an electrode apply to each one of its electrode tools. However, electrode tools may have additional parameters that differ per process type (for example, the spark gap may be different for the Rough and Finish operations).
EDM Setup Parameters
Most data in EDM Setup is kept in parameters, which can be numeric or alphanumeric (strings).
Data Flow
The following diagram illustrates the data from inside EDM Setup:
Some of this data comes directly from the Cimatron Electrode application (the electrode project ELT file), specifically:
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Some of the Component/Part data (for example, part name).
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List of electrodes with some electrode-specific data (and electrode tool data).
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List of locations per electrode (XYZ and Rotation).
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Electrode motion information (per location), if used (vectorial motion + rotary motion).
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Predefined geometrical information (such as workpiece dimensions, section area and so on) required for some EDM machines.
Additional data and parameters come from the EDM Setup Profile file (below), where machine-specific and customer-specific parameters (and their default values) are stored.
Using the EDM Setup, you can view and edit all the information (created in the electrode project ELT file and the Profile file), making specific modifications as required by the specific job. You can change defaults normally saved in the Profile file by saving the new defaults back.
Finally, the edited data is post-processed in EDM Setup, following the process definition and using the various parameters, to create the output data file and any necessary EDM reports.
EDM Setup Profile File
The EDM Setup Profile file contains information related to the EDM sinking process (but was not required or created in the ELT file). A single EDM machine may have more than one profile.
The profile file is created and edited by your Cimatron Provider or Reseller. The user, can make the following changes to the profile:
Add values to the dropdown menus, such as materials.
Change the default values of existing parameters and save the profile under a different name.
However, only your Provider or Reseller can add new parameters or change parameters on an existing profile or create a new profile.
The EDM Setup Profiles are located in the following folder:
...\ProgramData\Cimatron\Cimatron\2026.0\Data\templates\EdmProfiles
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