Aluminum is a light weight but strong metal used in a wide variety of applications.
Aluminum is a relatively soft metal and is easily machined at the Accurate Waterjet OMAX JetMachining Center.
Aluminum is difficult to machine on a laser in thicknesses over 1⁄4" (0.6 cm).
Aluminum is often called the "bread and butter" of the abrasivejet industry because it cuts so easily.
Ceramics are made by heating up minerals to a high temperature. Traditionally, ceramics have been made from clay, but modern ceramics are made from substances such as alumina and from synthetic materials. Ceramics are electrical insulators and resist corrosion.
Some ceramics machine very quickly with a waterjet, while some of the very hard ceramics machine quite slowly and require special abrasives. In many cases, ceramics are practical and cost effective to machine on an abrasive waterjet, but depending on the type of ceramic to be machined, and other machining options available, this is not always the case.
Contact Accurate Waterjet for information on machining your particular kind of ceramic.
Composites are similar to fiberglass and consist of layers of material.
With our Abrasivejets we can machine composites without leaving a burr or shredding the layers of material, while maintaining a better edge quality.
Machining copper can be challenging, but Accurate Waterjet Abrasivejets systems make cutting copper easy.
Copper is impossible to cut on a laser due to reflection. It is also difficult to machine conventionally, because it tends to gum up conventional cutting tools.
Accurate Waterjet Abrasivejets are the clear choice for copper.
We can machine many different materials with ease. This includes all sorts of exotic materials that might otherwise be quite difficult to machine such as Inconel®, Hastalloy, hardened tool steel, titanium, and many other materials.
Inconel refers to a set of nickel/chromium alloys. Inconel resists oxidizing in a wide range of temperatures, from liquid air temperatures up to several thousand degrees. Inconel is used in jet engines, undersea cable sheathing, and race cars. Inconel is easily machined with an abrasivejet. Inconel is a registered trademark of the INCO family of companies.
Glass is a unique substance that has traditionally been difficult to machine. Although it has a great deal of structural strength, even small scratches on the surface can lead to breaking and shearing. (In fact, the traditional method of "cutting" glass involves making a small scratch on the surface with a diamond file and then applying pressure until it breaks along the scratch.)
Accurate Waterjet approaches this problem by treating glass as a brittle substance. The material is pierced at low pressure, and the waterjet then automatically switches to high-pressure mode to continue the toolpath. The speed of the tool path is also adjusted to avoid problems that are associated with brittle materials. As a result, Accurate Waterjet customers regularly order parts made completely from glass (such as the glass spring above). We also work with optical quality glass, where the abrasivejet allows maximum use of the expensive material.
Tool steel is difficult to machine conventionally, particularly once it's hardened, but is fairly easy to machine on an abrasivejet system. With an abrasive waterjet you can harden the steel before or after cutting. Steel hardness has only a minor effect on the rate at which it can be machined with an abrasivejet.
Laser and wire EDM can both affect the heat treatment of the material or cause thermal distortion, but the abrasivejet process will not affect the heat treat or cause distortion in any way.
Rubber can be cut with a water-only nozzle for faster and cleaner cutting, though some very hard rubbers may require abrasive.
Water-only cutting wastes little material. Water-only cutting also proceeds very quickly at speeds of 100 inches per minute or faster.
Stainless steel is steel mixed with various amounts of chromium, which adds rust and stain resistance to the steel.
Stainless steel machines easily with an abrasive waterjet without heat or distortion. All grades of stainless steel machine easily with an abrasive waterjet, even those such as 304 that are difficult to machine with other processes.
Steel is a very common material, is relatively easy to cut, and Accurate Waterjet will cut all grades of steel. One advantage we offer is that the steel can be cut after it has been hardened with minimal slow-down of cutting (see Hardened Tool Steel).
The lack of an heat affected zone from the abrasivejet means that there is no change to the heat treatment of the steel as it is cut. Accurate Waterjet also produces a smooth cut on the edge without burn marks, cracking, excess burr, or other problems typically associated with heat-based cutting.
Accurate Waterjet can also create designs from stone such as marble and granite. This can be done faster, and with a greater level of detail than traditional methods of working with these materials.
Stone is difficult to machine conventionally, but very intricate shapes can be cut with a precision abrasivejet using low-pressure pierce capability.
Accurate Waterjet will cut any design or shape your imagination comes up with.
Titanium is a lightweight, strong metal that is corrosion resistant. Titanium is as strong as steel, but only 45% as heavy. It is also frequently used in combination with other metals.
Titanium is difficult to machine conventionally and susceptible to the Heat Affected Zone associated with laser and wire EDM. Titanium cuts very well using a precision abrasivejet.
Abrasivejets cut titanium faster than steel. One of the huge advantages of cutting titanium with an abrasivejet is that you can save a lot of material. Typically, you can fit additional parts in a given piece of material, and the scrap that is left over is in chunks, instead of chips, meaning that it is still useful material. Since titanium is extremely expensive, this is a big advantage.
It's hard to beat a simple jigsaw, but precision abrasivejet systems are being used to cut wood, typically for special intricate shapes.
The first waterjet cutting experiments in the USA were done by Norman Franz on wood in the late 1960s. However, there have been no commercial applications of log cutting because the cutting performance drops off quickly with thickness. Abrasivejets are very practical for cutting shapes in veneers and plywood up to 1⁄2" (1.3 cm) thick.
