Water Jet Cutting
Advantages of Water Jet Cutting
Industries Served
Comparison Chart
Materials Cut
Incredible Precision
Waterjet cutting gives the ability to produce intricate and precise parts with typical kerf tolerances as close as +/-.005”. These tolerances can be reduced to +/-.002” in some cases, depending on material and the speed of cut. Repeatability of these parts down to +/-.001”.
Competitive Cost and Quick Turnaround
Prototypes, limited runs or production runs can be produced on short notice. In most cases, fixturing is not needed to produce a finished product. In cases that require fixturing, it is minimal. This reduces or eliminates any tooling cost that might be required by conventional methods.
We can produce your parts directly from .DXF files, CAD Files, or even scanned images. Hy-Grade can also design your parts to your specifications. This can speed up turnaround times for “rush jobs”.
Parts are quickly turned from idea to finished product. In most cases, there is no need for secondary operations or processing. Stacking material, nesting parts, and tabbing can reduce cutting times, optimize material usage, and ease part handling once they are cut. In today’s world of high-priced raw materials and limited resources, waterjet’s small kerf, or cut width, and part-on-part nesting capabilities optimizes material use, increasing cost-effectiveness.
Cut Virtually Any Material
A wide range of materials, ranging from the hardest of alloys to carpets or foam can be cut with incredible accuracy and repeatability. Precise and intricate shapes can be cut from materials such as thin gauge metals to 6” plate.
Flexibility and Versatility
Part can be produced directly from .dxf files, CAD files or even scanned images. Other file types such as .gen, .isf, .wmf, .acd, .dwg, .ps, .eps, .geo, .trg, .hpg, .plt, .igs, .mec, .ord, .tag, and .dig are easily readable and compatable with our system.
Nesting of parts assures maximum yield, while the waterjet cuts virtually any material. Changes from one thickness of material to another, or even entirely different materials, is a quick and easy process.
No Heat Affected Zones
Waterjet cutting does not induce heat into the product and will not create a heat affected edge like flame, plasma, and laser cutting. Edges will not have hardening due to the effect of heat and will not change the intrinsic properties of the material. This is an advantage when cutting metals, keeping parts from distorting, warping or melting.
“Green Technology”
Waterjet cutting is considered a “Green Technology”. There is no hazardous waste when using a waterjet. Garnet, the abrasive used to cut parts, is a non-toxic natural substance that can be recycled. This reduces waste disposal costs and that is passed onto the customer.
Parts are also nested to maximize material use. With a very little kerf (between .020” and .040”) actual material waste is extremely reduced. Large drops of material that may have been scrap from traditional cutting methods, can now be reused for other projects.
Our waterjet uses a closed loop system. This uses very little water and recycles the water to continuously cut more parts.
Waterjet tables also eliminate airborne particles, fumes, smoke, and contaminants from cutting materials.