[logos]

I have never been around a edm, but if a new commer were to start what would be some ground rules to understand before buying. No jobs for it so wire or sinker either one just want to start.

[lakeside]

this is a specialty area you need more than just a machine for sinker you will need support machinery for your sinkers for wire you will need ad least a good mill for starter hole and for both you will need some inspection equipment even if you had an order it might be cheaper to farm it out

[PeteZ28]

What do you want to do? Are you looking to get one for cash work or just to play with? From your post it sounds like you're just looking for a new toy If you're looking for a machine to kick around at home, definately go with an old sinker. I've seen some of the really old capacitor type machines go for a few hundred bucks on Ebay. They're slow and non CNC but there's pretty much nothing to really break on them, nothing that couldn't be replaced or retrofitted inexpensively enough. The best thing about starting out on an old machine like that is it forces you to really learn the EDM process, unlike the newer CNC's that you can pretty much set a few simple paramaters and go, you really need to know exactly what to do on an old style machine.

As far as wire's go, they don't make good toys. There is no such thing as a cheap wire though really, they are consumable whores and require a ton of maintenance, new or old. If you've got work for them, they can be cash cows since the actual cost-per-hour to run is fairly low compared to what can be charged for labor, but again it sounds like you're looking for a toy to learn on; not something for serious work.