Method of machining gas turbine engine components

1. A method of forming a gas turbine engine component including an airfoil and at least one shroud comprising the steps of:

(1) forging an oversized or near-net airfoil shape;

(2) machining a workpiece having an airfoil and flow path surfaces of said at least one shroud to provide an input geometry for an electrochemical machining (ECM) process using a non-ECM process;

(3) utilizing at least one ECM process on said airfoil;

a cathode is moved at an angular direction with a non-zero component towards said at least one shroud and a non-zero component towards said airfoil during step (3);

wherein said angular direction being between 5 and 40 degrees offset from a normal line to a stacking axis of the airfoil;

wherein step (3) includes using a process in which a DC current is pulsed and a linear oscillation of the cathode occurs with a frequency of between 10 and 50 Hz and a constant stroke length is applied in a cathode feed direction; and

wherein the cathode machines a surface of said at least one shroud while moving in said angular direction.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein a second cathode is utilized to provide an ECM machining process on said airfoil on an opposed surface of the shroud, and also while moving in an angular direction with a non-zero component toward said at least one shroud, and a non-zero component towards said airfoil.

3. The method as set forth in claim 2 , wherein the non-ECM process of step 2 is one of milling or grinding.

4. The method as set forth in claim 3 , wherein a cathode feed rate of between 0.05 and 0.75 millimeters per minute is utilized during step (3).

5. The method as set forth in claim 3 , wherein the workpiece has two of said at least one shroud, and steps (2) and (3) machine both said shrouds.