Guide To Waterjet Cutters – Power and Precision

For many industrial applications, waterjet cutters are an invaluable tool, cutting materials with accuracy, speed and precision. Whether you wish to cut wood, concrete, metal, marble or wood, they perform the task admirably, cutting costs and overheads whist saving time. Many everyday items, from the meat that you eat to the countertops that you prepare it on rely upon this technology.

How Waterjet Cutters Work

Whatever the exact application, waterjet cutters all work upon the same principle. In a similar way to the familiar portable pressure washers, waterjets rely upon firing a high-speed jet of water through a fine nozzle. Of course, the cutters are much more powerful and focused than pressure washers and force the water through a jeweled nozzle at more than 900 mph. This provides the power and intensity to cut through most substrates. They have been a feature of CAD driven businesses for many years, especially in precision engineering workshops, but new and novel uses for this technology are constantly under development.

The vast majority of engineering companies use waterjets as an integral part of the Computer Assisted Design (CAD) process, to facilitate the design and fabrication of complex and intricate shapes. The technology is now more efficient and reliable than most other methods and carries a number of distinct advantages.

• Waterjet cutters do not produce swarf and dust, making it much easier to keep the workshop clean and tidy.
• The jet contains no moving parts, so it does not overheat or wear out.
• Waterjets are expensive to buy and install, but they are extremely durable and do not need expensive diamond blades or gas tank refills.
• Waterjets produce no heat, so the substrate will not be damaged, or structurally altered, by the intense temperatures generated by plasma or laser cutting technology.
• For shaping hard substrates, such as granite and steel, an abrasive compound can be added to the jet to add extra cutting power.
• Waterjets have the finesse to cut substrates a few thousandths of an inch thick, but have the brute force to make cuts up to six inches deep, depending upon the exact substance cut.
• Waterjets are exceptionally versatile, and they are even used in the meat processing industry, to butcher meat without damaging the bone. This results in less wastage and extremely high sterility, and an overall reduction in costs.

The clean cut delivered by waterjet cutters needs no further machining to make a perfect edge, reducing the handling time and facilitating, with CAD software, intricate designs and complicated shapes. The power of the waterjet is adjustable, and this allows a very fine amount of control over the depth of the cut. This is perfect for engraving and is fine enough for scribing the finer details of electronic circuit boards.

CAD waterjet cutters allow such a fine degree of control that they are an invaluable tool for a range of applications, from tooling mechanical parts to engraving wooden address plaques. In heavy industry, waterjets are at the forefront of mineral exploitation, replacing the expensive diamond tipped bits used for drilling exploratory oil wells.

The technology has allowed precision engineers and prototype manufacturers to embrace the modern age of high-speed communications, important in a world used to outsourcing. A designer can send exact specifications by e-mail and have the manufacturing and machining performed offsite. This facilitates refinements and fine-tuning without endless journeys back and forth and slashes costs and lead times. Waterjets can also aid mass production by using multiple nozzles to create multiple pieces, quickly and efficiently.

Waterjet cutters involve a large initial outlay of capital, but the efficiency and savings resources soon cover this investment. Waterjets save time and create less wastage of material, ensuring that they pay for themselves many times over. The lack of moving parts ensures that they require little maintenance and they are much safer than traditional cutting and drilling technologies. The precision of these machines ensures that little secondary machining is needed, further saving time and resources.

With the finesse for circuit board engraving and the brute force for cutting granite countertops, waterjets are an excellent addition to any workshop. Waterjet manufacturers constantly invest in researching new and novel uses for this technology, ensuring that waterjets will endure well into the 21^st century.