This paper presents a new approach of contouring electric discharge machining (EDM) by means of the on-machine measuring and dressing of a ball-nosed cylindrical graphite electrode. The on-machine measuring is done in order to detect electrode wear by a laser range sensor. The on-machine dressing is carried out by turning the electrode with a disk shaped cutting tool fixed in the EDM machine. Machining experiments by contouring EDM have been performed and their results are compared with those by diesinking EDM in terms of the total machining time, electrode cost and machining error. Their results support the efficiency and validity of contouring EDM.
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