This paper presents the tension control of a wire-cut discharge machine using electrorheological(E,R) fluid based brake system. On the basis of the tension level required in the machine, an appropriate size of the ER brake which features design simplicity, fast response and salient controllability is designed. Considering the Bingham property of ER fluid and actuator response time, the governing equation of the ER brake is derived. And a tension propagation of wire electrode is modeled via frequency response. The tension control performance of the discharge machine is simulated by using a robust sliding mode controller.