Adding the power and versatility of a water jet to your shop floor opens a whole new range of material processing opportunities. Deciding which tool to purchase requires a detailed evaluation of your options. It can be an especially daunting task for first-time water jet purchases. This 4-step buying guide is intended to help evaluate water jet cutting in your shop and hopefully guides you in your efforts.
When the spent garnet and debris (“sludge”) reaches the bottom of the slats that the work pieces are held on, or when the sludge has accumulated in the tank to a degree in which an increase of water turbulence occurs while cutting, it should be cleaned by removing the spent garnet and slug material.
Waterjet cutting starts with bringing an incoming water stream up to ultra-high pressure, usually 60,000 psi, and then directing it through high pressure lines to a cutting head. That cutting head can be mounted to a motion system gantry that travels over a “Catcher Tank” filled with water.
Waterjet cutting delivers ultra-high water pressures ranging from 60,000 psi up to 90,000 psi. And while the incoming water is not under high pressure, the jet stream produced by the pump is, and needs to be routed with specialized high pressure tubing and high pressure tubing fittings for both safety and performance.
There is a lot of information on the web about water jet cutting systems, their applications, and the companies/brands that serve the industry. However, it’s hard to know what to trust. What’s accurate? What sources contain accurate information?
Everyone understands the value of timely routine maintenance for all high-precision cutting and machining tools, including waterjet cutting equipment and high pressure pumps. Done correctly, per a recommended schedule, you experience higher uptime and lower total maintenance expense which provides a higher ROI on the tool’s investment.
Nature has been cutting and carving stone for billions of years. Nothing can resist the unrelenting force of water. Take the Grand Canyon, for example. Now that is a masterpiece of stone cutting with water. However, as a fabricator working with stone, you don’t have the luxury of 6 million years, give or take a few millennia, to fulfill your client’s order.
The water used in a waterjet cutting system serves two distinct and different purposes, the cutting process and hydraulics cooling. Poor water quality, as measured by the volume of suspended solids, reduces component life and increases the system’s maintenance requirements, both unnecessary and avoidable costs. By taking some simple steps to implement an optimized filter replacement practice you can maintain the high water quality you have achieved and increase the tool’s performance and operational life. Let’s explore the best practices for making this happen.
Water jet systems utilize two different technologies, water-only and abrasive cutting and each of those come in two basic cutting versions, 3-axis and 5-axis. Let’s look at the differences and advantages of each type.
The ever-growing list of materials water jet systems could process led to widespread adoption in practically every industry. Factor in the integration of CAD/CAM capability in recent years and you now have arguably the most versatile cutting solution available. Where it was common 30 years ago for people to say, “You can cut that with water?!,” today is common to hear, “You produced that 5-axis cut with those beautiful edges using water?!.” Yeah, you can cut that with water jet systems.
INTRODUCING THE NEW PERMALIGN ARROW SL
The Jet Edge 5-Axis Abrasive Waterjets just got updated... you're going to like the performance even more!
