The abrasive waterjet cutting model is, perhaps, the most significant factor in propelling abrasive waterjets into mainstream manufacturing. Advancements in the OMAX cutting model have decreased part production times, increased cutting precision, and made OMAX abrasive waterjets very easy to program. Yet, there’s not much discussion about what a cutting model is, or what it does. This is...
Abrasive waterjet systems have become increasingly more prevalent in machine shops and fabrication shops and prototyping labs over the last few decades. The cold cutting process used by waterjets has proven to be a popular alternative or complementary method for cutting metals, composites, stone, glass and many other materials. Because there’s no heat-affected zone with waterjet cutting...
Modern manufacturers are continually being pushed to increase throughput to remain competitive. A first step in increasing throughput is to identify problems, or “pain points”, in the production process. Once the pain points are identified, the second step is to implement solutions to eliminate them. Following are 3 pain points common to many manufacturers and solutions...
How Adding Abrasive Waterjet Increases CNC Milling Profitability
An ever growing number of fabricators and machine shops are gaining a competitive advantage by incorporating abrasive waterjets to their machining mix. What used to be known in the 80s as a rather obscure, albeit fascinating, cutting method has gone mainstream. In fact, abrasive waterjet machining is one of the fastest...
For the great majority of waterjet owners in the U.S. and Canada, the answer is “no”. More than 90% of the water than comes from a city’s water supply in these countries can be used in an abrasive waterjet without any treatment. For those areas that fall into the exception, waterjet owners can save significant time and money by conditioning the water, no matter what brand of...
Cut edge quality refers to how rough the edge of a cut part appears and how square it is. With waterjet, edge qualities typically range from Quality 1 (Q1) to Quality 5 (Q5) with Q5 being the best, most accurate edge quality. Following are descriptions for edge quality options available when cutting with OMAX abrasive waterjet machines.
Edge Quality 1
Q1 is described as a...
To stay competitive, shorten lead times, and increase the markets they can serve, many laser job shops are adding abrasive waterjets to their machining equipment inventory. To uncover why the relatively new waterjet cutting method is gaining popularity with these traditional machining shops, let’s first take a look at how each technology works.
Laser
A laser cutter works...
Why use fixturing? Fixturing refers to holding work material in place while the waterjet cuts parts from it. For most jobs, it's critical that the material doesn't move during cutting, as any movement will affect the precision of the part and can mar the surface. Compared to other cutting methods, the sideways forces of abrasive waterjet cutting are low and the downward force is...
One of the great things about computer-controlled waterjet systems is that you can draw a part on your computer, or even import a scan or photo, and quickly turn that image into reality. This also introduces opportunities for mistakes. A nice two foot part you drew could be cut as a mini two inch part because you have the units of measure incorrect. The better your drawing, the better your...