IQS Newsroom Articles on Water Jet Cutters
Water Jet Cutters
A water jet cutter is a tool that uses extremely high pressure jets of water to precisely cut through and grind away miniscule amounts of material. This process is similar to natural erosions found in nature. The addition of abrasives substances, such as sand, calcite, emery and novaculite allow water jet cutters to cut through harder materials including steel and titanium. Water jet cutters work in a variety of industries with many different materials to fabricate an endless number of cold cut and cold machined parts of all sizes and thicknesses in less time and at lower costs than traditional forms of cutting and machining. Some of the most common industries that benefit from water jet cutting are architectural, aerospace, automotive, manufacturing and model-making. Virtually any material, from soft rubbers, polymers and marble to hard titanium alloys can be machined by water jet cutters. Materials which are commonly cut with water jet cutters include rubber, plastic, wood, stone, metal, marble, paper and more.
Water jet cutters are generally fabricated from stainless steel. They contain a water chamber and an abrasives chamber, a high pressure water pump, and a precision gasket at the base of the water inlet chamber which concentrates water into a powerful jet stream (called a jewel). The water passes through the inlet and jewel, where the stream is mixed with the abrasives. The mixture then flows through the mixing tube and shoots out of the nozzle at 20,000-60,000 PSI, or up to 900 miles per hour. The water jet cutter is automatically guided using a CAD device. Often used during the production of machine parts and other pieces of equipment, a water jet cutter is used to cut, shape, carve and ream. A water jet cutter is considered a green tool and is environmentally friendly. The water and abrasive materials can be recycled, and a water jet cutter uses low amounts of water during the cutting process.