Water Jet Cutting Enables:

Wide Range of Materials - Cut wide range of materials from hard brittle materials such as hardened stainless steel, inconel, hastalloy, ceramics, glass, stone, and marble to soft materials such as rubber, foam, composites, laminates, and plastics.

Rapid Programming - Easy to draw parts or import standard DXF files from any CAD program. Parts can also be scanned and traced if a drawing does not exist. By inputting the material and thickness, a computer program determines the abrasive jet speed for accurate high tolerance cuts. Rapid programming is ideal for short prototype runs.

Quality Finish with Minimal Deburring - Edge finish of waterjet machined parts is a smooth sandblasted finish with no rough edges, slag, burrs, or jagged edges. The as-cut edge finish for abrasive water-jet is ideal for metals that require secondary welding operations.

No Thermal Distortion - Unlike other cutting techniques, heat is not generated during water jet machining. As a result, abrasive waterjet is ideal for metals that are deformed by heat such as titanium and low melting point materials such as plastic and rubber.

Complex Shapes -Ideal to cut complex 2-dimensional shapes and some simple 3-d shapes. Our tilting head allows us to add intentional taper if desired. Ability to have small kerf (.015”-.030”). Several thin materials can be stacked and cut simultaneously with water jet.

Water Jet Versus Other
Machining Processes:

Abrasive Water Jet vs. Milling - Rapid clean-up, faster and easier programming; ability to machine a wider range of materials ranging from brittle hard materials to soft, 'gummy' materials; no tool change-out.

Abrasive Water Jet vs. EDM - Much faster and therefore less expensive machining; process non-electrically conductive materials such as plastics, glass, ceramics, and stone; does not require pre-drilling pilot holes; no heat-effected zone; capable of processing larger parts.

Abrasive Water Jet vs. Lasers - Abrasive jets do not cause thermal distortion or require post cutting heat treating; lower capital equipment cost reducing machining price; ability to process reflective materials; no scale on edges reducing clean-up cost; no potential dangerous fumes are generated using abrasive water-jets; safer operation; ability to cut thicker materials.

Abrasive Water Jet vs. Plasma or Flame - No thermal distortion or heat effected zone; no scale on edges reducing clean-up cost; cut wider range of materials including plastics, foams, and rubber.