Waterjet technology comes in two distinct flavours; generally described as ‘Waterjet ‘and ‘Abrasive Waterjet’. Both utilize the process of pumping water to a high pressure and feeding it through a very small orifices’ where a jet is formed; this jet can be travelling at approximately 1500 mph.

This pure waterjet is used in profiling soft materials such as plastics, foam and rubber, whereas abrasive waterjet uses the same process only once the jet has been formed it is allowed to suck abrasive garnet into the jet stream in a venturi effect, this waterjet containing the abrasive is used for profiling hard materials.

Waterjet can offer the following advantages over other profiling solutions such as laser cutting, plasma cutting, EDM and Milling. It can be an aide in producing high quality welds. The process is cold therefore there are no heat effected zones to change the characteristic of the material.

The Benefits

• One Machine can profiles a vast range of material
• High precision can be achieved
• Can cut material up to 150mm thick
• Drilling and cutting with the same tool
• Efficient use of material (tight nesting is possible)
• No swarf, easier handling of scrap material
• Ability to cut laminate material without de-laminating
• Environmentally clean process with no toxic gases, fumes or dust