Waterjet machine, ultimate goverment job machine

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Wes

Waterjet machine, ultimate goverment job machine

Post by Wes »

I thought it might be of interest to see some pics of a waterjet machine and some examples of what it can do. While a waterjet is probably out of reach for the home shop machinist, it is interesting to see.

It uses high-pressure water (40,000 psi.) mixed with garnet abrasive. It can cut through just about anything, metal, plastic rubber, stone you name it. This one will cut up to about three inches, though I saw one at a show that cut through a piece of metal 12 or 13 inches thick!

It is also quite easy to program and run. It is especially good for sheet metal work, all you have to do is draw you’re part in CAD the way you want it, use “unbend” function to get the flat blank, send the DXF file to the waterjet and cut it out, then bend it on the break. No need to mess around with bend tables.

It is probably the most versatile and most often used machine the shop, it has made low speed gears and sprockets, rough cut steel and aluminum plates cut rubber and plastic sheet and a lot more.

Here are some links to some pics of the waterjet machine and some examples things I have made on it.


Pic of machine
http://home.attbi.com/~nonsense91/wsb/m ... te1038.jpg

Pic cutting sheet metal bracket.
http://home.attbi.com/~nonsense91/wsb/m ... te1034.jpg

Pic of brass horse clock
http://home.attbi.com/~nonsense91/wsb/m ... te1035.jpg

Pic of paintball gun grip frame
http://home.attbi.com/~nonsense91/wsb/m ... te1036.jpg

Pic of aluminum clamp
http://home.attbi.com/~nonsense91/wsb/m ... te1039.jpg
AndrewMawson
Posts: 286
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 5:46 pm
Location: Battle, East Sussex

Re: Waterjet machine, ultimate goverment job machine

Post by AndrewMawson »

Oh boy - if only . . . . !

Ultra versatile toy there I think - I suppose one day they will appear at junk prices in clear out sales, but I expect that the pump & orafice are very stressed and probably don't last too long.

Maybe I ahould build another workshop in anticipation ?
Andrew Mawson
Battle, East Sussex, UK
Doug_C
Posts: 1254
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 6:48 pm

Re: Waterjet machine, ultimate goverment job machine

Post by Doug_C »

They sure can be an asset for saving time. Perfect for prototype and tooling components.

I took one consumable piece of tooling that is very intricate in profile from a 20 operation run on the mill to 4 total.

This part was vary small and difficult to hold. I cut the profiles of the part as teeth in a comb and zipped them all off with the bandsaw. Drilled some holes in a special fixture and they were ready for HT.

We have an Omax. A locally made machine. Flow International is made local also. With all the rain we have in the Pacific NW, these guys figured out how to use all this water for something useful. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/blush.gif"%20alt="[/img]

http://www.omax.com/

This is a stepper motor driven machine. Great application in engineering and reliable considering the conditions the hardware is subjected to. It will hold within .005 most of the time.

I have been thinking of making some inlaid stone tile art of a photo I took on the beach. With polarizing images and transfering into Cad for an overlay, the image could be broken into a few base colors and still be viable as a scenery. Cutting different colored tiles of the same image will yield cut outs that will nest together in any combination. Add a bit of grout in a frame and it becomes custom decorator art for the wall or floor.

Did someone mention G. Jobs? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif"%20alt="[/img]

DC
Brian_h
Posts: 73
Joined: Mon Jan 06, 2003 2:26 pm
Location: Northern Minnesota

Waterjet cutting Shameless plug

Post by Brian_h »

Where I work we make plastic bricks (48"x4"x6") to be used as material supports on waterjet cutting equipment. They are used to help keep your primary material supports from getting cut up. They are sold by a company called Accustream (www.accustream.com). Don't ask me any questions about waterjet cutting though, I know nothing.

Brian Helmuth
Scott
Posts: 1248
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 10:49 am
Location: Portland,OR

Re: Waterjet machine, ultimate goverment job machine

Post by Scott »

I thought I was uptown with my plasma cutter.

How is the cut compared to a laser on steel or aluminum,Same?
It looks similar.More kerf?
Doug_C
Posts: 1254
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 6:48 pm

Re: Waterjet machine, ultimate goverment job machine

Post by Doug_C »

Hi Scott,

The Kerf on water jet cutting stays around .03, but can vary with the condition of nozzle wear and material properties. The flare out or wander of the stream does exhibit the same appearance along the cut edge. Only with the jet abrasive leaving a sandblasted look, fresh and clean.

Laser cutting can have a kerf in the .005 range. Material thickness and lens focal point/collimation contribute to that.

Many OEM products will not allow the results of cutting with a burned edge condition for specific applications. This changes material properties to the undesirable side, either for secondary manufacturing operations or early fatigue failure.

I think waterjets are the slowest of this class of cutting for metals. They do have a much broader use in many industries though.

It would be nice if there was a depth control for 3D cutting. That might be as impossible as cutting tempered glass on the laser, huh? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/cool.gif"%20alt="[/img]

DC
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