Waterjet cutters are high quality machines that use water and sometimes other abrasives such as grit to cut through hard materials. These materials can be as thin as a thousandth of an inch or as thick as four inches. They can include metal, granite, wood, and almost anything else. The waterjet machine works by shooting water through a small opening with high pressure. The pressure water pumps that feed the water at high pressures to the machines can get up to 100,000 psi.
The waterjet can be used for a wide variety of materials. Because the machine uses water to do the cutting, instead of metal, diamond, or other materials, the machine doesn’t produce heat that could damage the surfaces or edges of the piece you are working on. The main parts of the waterjet cutter include a high pressure water inlet, a jewel (either ruby or diamond), an abrasive such as garnet, a mixing tube, and a guard. Each of the Waterjet Parts are essential for the cutting process and care must be taken to make sure they are operating at peak efficiency at all times.
When using the waterjet cutter, the material to be cut would be placed onto a hard surface and the waterjet would be moved over top of it. When cutting the material all the way through, the speed at which the Waterjet Parts are moved is essential to getting the cut to go all the way through. For thicker materials, you will want to move the machine slower. If you do not want the material to be cut all the way through, you will want to move the machine faster. The faster speed doesn’t give the water enough time to cut through the material all the way and instead etches the top layer or layers of the material.
Before using a waterjet machine, it’s important to learn about the Waterjet Parts and how the machine works. You will then need to know how thick the material is that you are going to be working with, and whether you want to cut all the way through the material or if you want a design etched onto the material.
