waterjet cutting

Waterjet technology has significant advantages over other cutting methods. Depending on machine capabilities, any idea, design or concept that can be drawn on a computer can be cut by waterjet. The waterjet can cut cleanly and efficiently through materials considered "unmachinable" by conventional methods and achieves a high level of accuracy and precision on complex shapes.

The waterjet is a cold-cutting technology that is an accelerated erosion process. It does not heat, harden, distort or exert pressure on the working material. The waterjet generates 55,000 psi to cut foam, wood, rubber, plastics and resilient floor coverings.

When cutting harder materials, a garnet abrasive is fed into the waterjet stream to increase the erosion process. The waterjet is a cost effective way of cutting complex shapes in materials such as stone, porcelain, glass, aluminum and stainless steels. Difficult designs with inside corners, notches, and architectural shapes can be cut with ease with a high level of precision and repeatability.

Alloys

• No heat zone effect, does not change the molecular structure.

Laminates

• Can be difficult if not impossible to cut with other methods.

Composites

• No problem cutting materials that typically gum up or delaminate using traditional cutting methods.

Plastics

• Are easily cut and may be stacked and cut to reduce costs.

Rubber

• Depending on the durometer, can be cut with water pressure only. Harder rubbers use abrasive along with the water in the cutting process.

Gaskets

• Can be cut from any material thus eliminating the need for costly tooling.

Fiberglass

• No hazardous airborne particles dispersed as in traditional cutting methods - particles are trapped in a water tank below the cutting table.

Glass

• Can cut shapes from glass for decorative and/or commercial applications.

DIE STRIPPERS

• The waterjet is more cost effective in making Die Strippers over maching or using WireEDM.

DEVELOPING STRIPS

• The waterjet cuts sample strips without heat related distortion and without hardening the edge. These benefits give the strip a truer representation of a die cut blank. Adjustments to the strip profile are made easily and quickly to meet your needs.

PROTOTYPES

• The waterjet is perfect for prototype parts. The parts can be nested to get the maximum material usage and revisions are easily made from one sample run to the next.

PRODUCTION RUNS

• The waterjet is a great method for production parts, eliminating the up-front tooling costs and again getting the maximum number of parts from the material.

MARBLE, STONE AND CERAMIC TILE

• The waterjet is capable of cutting intricate logos and designs into tile or stone for the home or business.

ARCHITECTURAL METAL

• The waterjet can cut steels, aluminums, brasses, and coppers. This application can benefit metal fabricators, architects and sign companies.

TERRAZZO

• Creating the metal forms for poured-in-place Terrazzo is done easily with waterjet. Any design can be made with a variety of materials. Pre-cast Terrazzo designs can also be cut with special attention to detail.

DECORATIVE HARDWOOD INLAYS

• Medallions and custom borders can be created with the waterjet to add beauty to any wooden wall or floor design.

COUNTERTOPS

• Unique countertops can be created from laminate, solid material, granite and marble.

• Cost effective
• No warping
• No heat damage
• Intricate shapes
• Numerous materials
• All industries served