Patent ID: 7730597

Claim:
A method for manufacturing a metal molding member, comprising: machining a material to be processed by electric-discharge machining to obtain a metal molding member; manufacturing a tool by a wire electrical discharge grinding method; and after the electric discharge machining, eliminating a molten residual layer formed on a surface of an electric-discharge machined portion of the metal molding member by using the tool to cause grinding removal of the molten residual layer without abrasive grains, to cause abrasive removal of the molten residual layer by ultrasonic machining or to cause both grinding removal with no abrasive grains and abrasive removal by ultrasonic machining of the molten residual layer; and the method further comprising: providing a molten residual layer elimination apparatus comprising: a wire discharge grinding unit configured to perform a wire discharge grinding process, a processing tub configured to contain a workpiece, and a tool setter configured to hold a tool for processing the workpiece; placing the metal molding member in the processing tub, wherein the metal molding member comprising a minute structure including said surface having the molten residual layer; placing a tool material in said tool setter; said manufacturing a tool comprising forming a molten residual layer removal tool by moving the wire discharge grinding unit and the tool setter relative to each other such that the wire discharge grinding unit forms the tool material into the molten residual layer removal tool which is held by the tool setter; and said eliminating comprises removing the molten residual layer from the surface of the minute structure by moving the tool setter and the processing tub relative to each other such that the molten residual layer removal tool which is held by the tool setter removes the molten residual layer from the minute structure by a grinding method.