Wire EDM cutting a hardened steel die plate submerged in dielectric fluid

EDM for hardened steel, sharp internal corners, and features a cutter cannot reach.

Illuminious is a U.S. NPI engineering company. EDM erodes material with controlled electrical discharge rather than cutting force, which reaches hardened steel, sharp internal corners and features no cutter can enter. Engineered in San Francisco. Prototype builds, DFM and mass production in our own factory in Shenzhen. Upload your files, get a free engineering review, and pay only the official quote that review publishes.

Electrical discharge machining erodes material with controlled sparks instead of cutting force. Hardness stops mattering, and the corner radius comes from the electrode, not a tool diameter. It is the process to choose when milling has run out of answers.

Two ways in: configure it online and a specialist prepares your official quote within 24 hours on business days, or send the job to an engineer. Engineering review is free either way and comes before you pay.

Payment: Official price after free review
Review target: Within 24 hours on business days after you submit

Talk to an engineer Get an official quote in 24 hours

No CAD yet? Our design team can take it from a sketch or a spec.

The configurator opens with this configuration preselected. An engineer reviews every order. Account required; engineering review is free and comes before payment.

When does a feature need EDM instead of milling?

Hardened tool steel that cannot be milled economically
Sharp internal corners with no tool radius
Narrow slots, small deep holes, and intricate profiles
Die, mold, and punch features

Typical orders: Prototype and low-volume precision work. Every EDM line is routed to engineering review before production.
Accepted files: STEP or STP geometry, plus a dimensioned drawing (PDF or DXF/DWG) whenever tolerances, threads, finishes, or datums matter. IGES, STL, and native SolidWorks files upload as supporting references.
Payment basis: Official price after free review
Not ready to configure?: How CNC machining works
Preparation workbook: Download the intake workbook

The choices that decide the part.

Each of these is a real configuration decision with a cost and a consequence, not a feature list. Where one of them constrains another, engineering review is the step that resolves it.

Wire EDM

A traveling wire cuts a through-profile of any shape at a constant kerf. The right answer for die plates, punches, and profiles that must be sharp all the way through.

Sinker EDM

A shaped electrode burns its own form into the workpiece, producing blind cavities and true internal corners that no rotating cutter can leave.

Materials

Any conductive metal, including hardened tool steel and stainless. Hardness is irrelevant to the process, which is the main reason to choose it.

Combined routes

Most EDM parts are milled or turned first and finished with EDM. That sequence is scoped in review so the whole part is priced, not just the discharge work.

What the configurator accepts, and where review takes over.

EDM capability bounds
Parameter	Supported range
Process	EDM, declared in the configurator and always routed to engineering review.
Materials	Electrically conductive metals, including hardened tool steel. Specific grade confirmed in review.
Configurator envelope	0.1–2500 mm per axis with declared finished volume up to 1,000,000 cm³. Larger stock is quoted through review.
Quantity	1–100,000 parts per line. Where quantity changes the sensible process, review says so.
Tolerance bands in the configurator	General ISO 2768, ±0.10 mm, ±0.05 mm, and ±0.02 mm or tighter. The two tightest bands always route to engineering review.
Internal corners	Set by the wire or electrode rather than a cutter radius — the usual reason EDM is specified. Achievable radius is confirmed against your geometry in review.
Recast layer	Inherent to the process. Where fatigue life or surface integrity matters, review scopes the finishing needed.
Inspection	Standard inspection, dimensional report, or CMM report. CMM routes to review. Material certificates are a per-line option.

EDM is quoted through review, because the electrode or wire strategy — not the shape alone — determines the cost. Requesting an official quote opens the project and puts the geometry in the queue; a specialist prepares the official quote within 24 hours on business days.

Boundaries

EDM is slow compared with milling; where a cutter can reach the feature, review will usually recommend milling instead
The recast layer left by the discharge matters for fatigue-critical parts and is a review conversation
The workpiece must be electrically conductive

Why is EDM priced by an engineer rather than a calculator?

Quotation by a specialist. Quotation within 24 hours on business days. A specialist prices your exact CNC Machining scope from your files and specifications. You submit your request online, and the quotation arrives in your account and by email. Review is free. Nothing is charged until you accept a quotation.

Cut length and material thickness, which set discharge time
Whether the part needs wire, sinker, or both
Electrode design and manufacture for sinker work
Any preceding milling or turning operations
Tolerance band, surface requirement, inspection level, and requested lead time

What engineering reviews

Customer approvals may include

A recommendation to mill rather than EDM where that is the better answer
Electrode or wire strategy where it affects a critical surface
Any itemized price or lead-time revision

Whether milling could reach the feature more economically
Wire or electrode access, threading holes, and start points
Internal corner radii against what the wire or electrode can actually produce
Recast layer implications for fatigue-critical or sealing surfaces
The full operation sequence when EDM follows conventional machining

Free review first. Keep every later decision explicit.

The model and the drawing are read together. Where they disagree, review asks rather than guessing — and the version that was priced stays in your project history when a corrected file creates a new revision.

Create your account
Verify your email before the persistent quote workspace opens. Every file, estimate, message, and payment stays attached to that account.
Configure and upload
Provide service-specific inputs and place technical files in private project storage. Saved drafts remain available across sessions.
Free engineering review
Submit the configured cart at no charge. A reviewer checks the exact file and specification revision, then prices it or opens a documented question or correction request.
Official quote
Review publishes an itemized quote with lead time and a validity window. That is the binding figure; anything shown earlier was a preliminary estimate.
Accept and pay
Accepting opens payment rather than charging you. Lead time is counted from settled payment, and any later itemized revision needs your approval first.
Produce and deliver
After all commercial, technical, and customer gates are complete, the project moves through the service-specific production or design milestones.

Commitments the order system actually enforces.

Official quote prepared by a specialist, engineering review

EDM is the clearest case for review before price: the geometry alone does not set the cost, and the engineer who plans the electrode strategy is the one who confirms what the part actually costs.

Drawings and models stay private

Geometry, drawings, and revisions live in per-project storage reached through short-lived authenticated links, tied to your account rather than an email thread.

Review target

Machining projects are targeted for review one business day after you submit them. Review is free and precedes the official price.

Answers before you upload anything.

When should I ask for EDM instead of milling?

When the material is already hardened, when an internal corner has to be sharp, or when a slot is too narrow or deep for any cutter that would survive it. If none of those apply, milling almost always costs less and needs less machine time, and review will tell you so.

Can you EDM a part you also machine?

Yes, and that is the common case. Upload the model and drawing and describe the sequence you expect; review scopes the whole route so the price covers the finished part rather than one operation.

How does payment work if review changes the price?

The free engineering review comes first. Depending on the service you see a live supplier price, a published fixed price, or a price from a specialist within 24 hours on business days, and nothing is charged when you submit. After the review we publish an official quote with an itemized total, lead time and a validity window, and that is the amount you are asked to pay. Accepting the official quote opens payment rather than charging you. If a later correction changes scope or price, you see an itemized revision and can approve, question or decline it. We never silently charge an increase.

How are my drawings protected?

Your technical files are stored in private project storage and accessed through short-lived authenticated links. Files, prices, replacements and approvals stay tied to your account and keep their revision history.

Open an EDM project and get an engineer on the geometry.

The configurator opens on EDM. Upload the model and drawing, describe the features that need it, and review confirms strategy, sequence, and the official price.

Three lead-time tiers, each with its trade on the line: Economy lengthens the quoted target range and takes a discount line; Standard is the quoted target range at the quoted price; Express shortens it and adds an expedite line. You see the line before you commit, and every range is a target, not a promise.