More about Water Jet Cutting Services

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Water jet cutting is a group of items that produce a stream of water and abrasive grit to cut various shapes in metal and other materials. The 30-60,000 pounds per square inch - (200-400 mega pascal) abrasive and water stream moves through the workpiece or the workpiece moves through the stream. It typically includes cutting head with abrasive resistant orifice, hydraulic pump, pressure intensifier, water filters, abrasive holding and dispensing system and water recovery system. It may include computer numeric control or robotic movement system duplicating/tracing system or material handling system.



Water jet cutting services have been used in a variety of industries since about 1970. As technology improves, advances in water jet cutting services are continually being made. The basic principal of water jet cutting services is to use a very high pressure of water and force. Forcing water through a very small opening will enable it to cut a small area.



Water jets are able to cut items that are small and pliable. Some of the items used to cut with this technology includes thin metal such as foil, soft rubber and foam, paper or cardboard, soft gasket material, thin or very soft wood, and even diapers and candy bars. Water jet cutting services are essential to businesses and industries that need products cut with extreme precision and accuracy.



Abrasive jet cutting and water jet cutting differ in that abrasive jet cutting is designed to cut much stronger and thicker materials. Abrasive jet cutting is suitable for cutting almost any thicker items such as strong and thick metal, glass, including bullet proof glass, ceramics, thick cuts of wood, marble and stone. Water jet cutting services are limited to the softer materials. In addition, the cost of a water jet cutter is about half of the cost of the abrasive jet cutter.



Water jet cutting services use water at a very high pressure. The concentrated stream of water begins at the nozzle and is delivered through a special high-pressure plumbing and shoots out of the nozzle. As the water exits the nozzle, the cutting of the item then takes place. When the stream of water stops, the energy from the water pressure goes into a catch tank. The catch tank holds water and debris from previous water jet cuttings. A computer that is programmed to cut the object in the desired configurations is used to control the precision cutting.