Here are some of the benefits to using a waterjet:
- Cheaper than other processes.
- Cut virtually any material: From Glass and Ceramics to Inconel and Titanium.
- Cut thin stuff, or thick material
- Make all sorts of shapes with one tool.
- Cuts a wide range of thickness up to 5.875″ thick
- No heat generated / No heat affected zones
- No mechanical stressesCut virtually any shape
- Leaves a satin smooth finish, thus reducing secondary operations
- Clean cutting process without gasses or oils
- Narrow kerf removes only a small amount of material
- Abrasive jets are more enviornmentally friendly
- You can trade off tolerance vs. speed from feature to feature on your part.
- No “scaley” edges, which makes it easier to make high quality welds
- Machine Composite materials, or materials where dissimilar materials are glued together
- Machine Stacks of thin parts all at once.
When Comparing with Lasers
- Abrasive waterjets can machine many materials that lasers cannont. (Reflective materials in particular, such as Aluminum and Copper.
- Uniformly of material is not very important to an Abrasivejet.
- Abrasive Jets do not heat your part. This there is no thermal distortion or hardening of the material.
- Precision abrasive jet machines can obtain about the same or higher tolerances than lasers. (especially as thickness increases)
- Abrasive jets can machine thicker materials.
- Abrasive jets do not loose much “focus” when cutting over uneven surfaces.
When Comparing with EDM
- Abrasive jets are much faster than EDM.
- Abrasive jets machine a wider variety of materials. (virtually any material)
- Uniformity of material is not very important to an Abrasive jet.
- Abrasive jets can machine thicker materials.
- Abrasive jets are capable of the same tolerances on thin parts, and better on parts thicker than .5″
- No heat affected zone with abrasive jets.
- Can make bigger parts.
When Comparing Plasma
- Abrasive jets provide a much nicer edge finish
- Abrasive jets don’t heat the part
- Abrasive jets can cut virtually any material
- Abrasive jets are more precise
When Comparing with Flame Cutting
- Abrasive jets provide much nicer edge finish
- Abrasive jets don’t the part
- Abrasive jets can cut virtually any material
- Abrasive jets are more precise
When Comparing with Milling
- Huge savings in material yield versus milling
- No special tooling required
- Machine virtually any material, including:
- Brittle materials
- Pre-hardened materials
- Otherwise difficult materials such as Titanium, Hastalloy, Inconel, SS 304, hardened tool steel…
When Comparing with a Punch Press
- Lower cost per piece for short runs
- Place holes closer to the materials edge
- Faster turn-around
- Minimal set-up
- Thick materials are fine
- Brittle materials are no problem
- Hard materials are easy