What is Waterjet cutting? Waterjet cutting has been around for many decades and the machines are made by many different companies. They use water and garnet at high pressure anywhere from 35,000 PSI to 90,000 PSI at the tip of the cutting head which achieves an amazing cutting tool. The water jet cutting head is coupled with a CNC controller which travels in an X, Y and Z axis giving you the option of cutting many basic and intricate parts to any design using a DXF file or DWG file. Once the CAD file is loaded into the computer its a matter of choosing the material type and thickness and the cutting can begin.
At Weldpro Fabrications we use a Flow Mach 100 waterjet cutter which has a bed size of 2 meters wide by 4 meters long, the thickness of the materials can be from 1mm up to 150mm in thickness.
What materials can a waterjet cut?
The following Metals detailed below can be cut along with the different grades of hardness and many uses and industries that use them. Waterjet cutting of these materials can be slow when compered to other methods such as Laser, plasma or oxy but they are all limited by there cut quality, cutting thickness and edge quality after cutting.
- Mild steel sheet and plate in grades 250 and 350 which are used in general fabrication of many metal parts and structures such as gates, cleats, base plates, brackets, fire pits, screens, automotive brackets and car parts.
- Hard wearing plate such as Grade 80, Grade 400, Grade 450, Grade 500 in many different thicknesses. Some of the Industries that use these materials are Mining, Earthmoving, Agricultural, transport and Recycling. This material is commonly used for Crushing equipment, Hoppers and feeders, wear liners, Grapples, Sieves and screens, Shredders, Earthmoving buckets and ground engaging tools.
- Stainless steel in 304 grade and Marine grade 316, this material has excellent corrosive resistance and is commonly used in food manufacturing, marine fabrication, chemical plants, cladding, and signage.
- Aluminium sheet and plate in Grade 1100 used for general sheet metal work, Grade 1200 used for general sheet metal work , Grade 3003 Chemical equipment and sheet metal work, Grade 5005, Grade 5052 used for Boats and marine applications requiring resistance to marine corrosion , Grade 5083 used for Marine, pressure vessels and structures.
- Tool steels used for die making and cutting tools.
- Brass used for signage, marine, hinges, electrical, bearings and plumbing.
- Titanium is a silver metal that is strong, inert and resistant to corrosion, commonly used in aircraft spacecraft and chemical plants.
What is Waterjet cutting Steel Advantages?
- No slag.
- No heat effected zone.
- All thicknesses.
- All grades.
- No edge burn.
- No fumes.
What is waterjet cutting Composites Materials?
- Fibreglass.
- Carbon fibre – light weight and very strong.
- Kevlar – light weight and extremely strong.
- All these above composites can be found used in Aerospace, marine, automotive, sports equipment, construction and light weight panelling.
What is Waterjet cutting Composites Advantages?
- Fast Cutting.
- No delamination.
- No Heat.
- high-quality parts.
- Satin smooth finished edge.
Other products that can be cut with a waterjet cutter.
- Plastics used in manufacturing, signage and industrial applications. The waterjet cutting process is preferred because of its ability to cut quickly without producing fumes and virtually no heat to the workpiece, they can produce very accurate plastic parts.
- HDPE used for cutting boards, signage, marine products, gaskets and transport.
- Ceramic, cutting ceramics is quick safe and a dustless cutting process with a great edge quality cut. Some of the different ceramics a Weterjet can cut are Marble, Porcelain, limestone, Cement and Mosaic.
- Rubber used for gaskets, sealing, flooring, weathering in the building industries, transport industries, chemical industries, automotive, marine, agriculture, earthmoving, mining. Waterjet cutting of rubber is fast clean and accurate and can be cut to all shapes and sizes.
- Foam- Fast cutting with only water.
- Wood- fine detail and fast cutting.
- Leather.
So Why a waterjet machine over a Laser, router, Saw, plasma or oxy?
Waterjet cutters are a one stop machine shop and the ultimate cutting tool as one machine is able to cut many different and difficult to cut materials as described above, to cut these products on any other machine would require many machines or relying on many different business.
Please feel free to get in contact with the team at Weldpro Fabrications to see if we can help cut your next project.