What is Waterjet Cutting?
Waterjet cutting is the perfect production medium for applications where precision parts need to be created from hard-to-cut materials. The process mixes a garnet abrasive into a stream of water pressurised to 55,000,psi (379,000 kPa) and directs this force in a controlled fashion to cut virtually any material to extremely fine tolerances. Aside from straight profile cutting, waterjet technology can also be used as an alternative to standard methodologies for the purposes of curve cutting, drilling or punching holes, slotting, profile milling, gasket making etc. A large cutting area (bed size) of 4000mm x 2000mm allows for the processing of all standard size sheet type materials.
Why Use Waterjet Cutting?
- Versatility
- Most materials can be cut using this technology. Our waterjet cutter will cut the following materials into any shape and up to a thickness of 100mm!!!
- Marble, Granite, Mild steel, High tensile steels, Titanium, , Tungsten, Stainless Steels of any grade, Aluminium, Brass, Copper, Glass, Plastics, Acrylics, Rubber, Wood, Ceramics, Cork, Foam, Polystyrene, Vinyl's, Leather, Laminates, Composites.
- Accuracy & Cutting Tolerances
- Waterjet cutting is highly accurate. It is quite possible to obtain levels of precision for most materials of up to +/- 0.1mm, allowing for intricate detail work and perfectly mated cutouts and inserts - even with shapes of an extremely complex nature. Furthermore many items can be nested far more efficiently than possible with conventional cutting technologies, allowing for significant material savings and reducing waste overall.
- Finish Quality
- Waterjet cutting provides one of the best quality cutting solutions available. The finished cut is smooth with a clean edge free of heavy burrs or jagged areas, ensuring that in many cases parts can be used directly, with no additional sanding, grinding or secondary operations required to "dress up" cut materials.
- Speed
- Suitable for either "one off" items or large production runs, the speed of the cutting and setup time allows for significant cost savings to be made over traditional cutting methodologies. In some instances multiple items can be "stacked" and cut simultaneously to create additional savings.
- Heat Free
- As the cut materials are not heated during the cutting process, waterjet cutting is ideal for materials that will be physically altered or by heat during the course of other cutting processes (or require additional machining post cutting to be straightened). Waterjet cutting is also an appropriate methodology for dealing with products such as plastic or rubber that have low melting points.
- Ease of programming
- Any 2 dimensional shape can be created. Our computer software allows for the job information to be transferred via the import of standard CAD or DXF files, either from disk or by email and for the tracing of images from pictures, plans or the digitisation of physical objects and samples.
- Environmentally friendly
- Waterjet consumes only garnet sand and water. No oils are used and no fumes, smoke or toxic gases are generated during the process.