“For the most part, EDMing is an unattended, or at least lightly-attended process. Unlike CNC lathes and machining centers, where a broken cutter during the night can make for a truly bad morning, sinking a mold cavity or cutting a trim die requires little in the way of babysitting—why wouldn’t you let the machine run on its own after everyone’s gone home for the day? If the wire breaks, the EDM will simply thread a new one. If the ‘trode shorts out, the control will do its best to recover or just shut everything down until its human master comes to the rescue. No big deal. Making EDM truly lights-out, however, requires much more than auto-threaders and smart circuitry.”