Why Water Jet Cutting Is Better Then Other Methods?

By Author: Ivan
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Let’s compare water jet cutting methods to other cutting methods such as laser cutting, routers, flame cutting…

Plasma & Flame Cutting.

The biggest advantage of using water jet machining over plasma or flame cutting is the edge finish of the final component. When water jet cutting, adjustments can be made to the purity of the water (adding abrasives to the water) and the nozzle sizes and speeds to ensure a smooth, burr-free edge finish.  Plasma and flame cutting will usually provide a very rough edge finish, that requires a secondary production process.

Wire EPDM.

In our experience, using wire EPDM machining is up to 70% slower than our high speed waterjet cutter.  With a waterjet cutting machine, there is no waiting on dies or machine fittings, or even programming as the machine works directly from your CAD files.

Laser Cutting & Heat Distortion.

Laser cutting is a burning process, often this will create heat distortion to the finished part. The burning process rules out several material types for this cutting process, such as felts and foams. Waterjet ...
... cutting is possible for the widest range of materials including felt, foam, gasket material, rubber, plastic, ceramics and all grades of metal.

Water jet cutting: Pure or Abrasive.

The difference between abrasive water jetting and pure water jet cutting is whether or not additives have been added to the water that is being pressure streamed from the water nozzle.
Pure water jet cutting is using pure water; pure water is suitable for more delicate and thin materials such as foam and felts.  The purity of the water prevents any damage to the final components, even on intricate machining.
The term abrasive water jet cutting refers to adding abrasives to the water which helps to cut hard or thick materials with a high quality edge finish. Abrasive water jetting is ideal for steels and aluminium.

Small Volume Production
.
The nature of water jet cutting – fast machine set up and production time enables the production of one-offs and small volume production batches.


Need a Part Quickly?

Contact the Partwell Group engineering office, we offer a very flexible service, in particular we can machine jobs quickly.
There are many features of the water jet cutting machine that facilitate a quick turnaround on orders. The machine set up and file processing is exceptionally quick; the dual cutting heads on the machine that cut simultaneously. Water jet cutting provides exceptionally clean edge finishes, which can remove the need for secondary production operations.

Resource Box:
Water Jet Cutting | Partwell Group
Original story can be found online - Water Jet versus other Machining Methods