Water Jet Glass Cutting
Bullet proof glass, panes as thick as four inches, chamfer glass, quartz glass and multi-layer pieces are able to go through water jet cutting. The architectural, construction, commercial product manufacturing, lighting, electronic, medical and automotive industries use water jet cutters to produce many different glass products. Stained glass windows (often seen in churches), dining and coffee table inlays, mirrors, ornaments and figurines, electrical and medical machinery components, optical laser parts and replacement glass for old cars are often water jet cut. Holes in glass like the speaker hole in a bank teller window are also made by water jet cutting.
The water jet cutting process is quick, produces no vibrations and applies almost no force to the glass product being cut. Thick and thin pieces are easily cut by erosion, not compression. High pressure water mixed with abrasives, usually garnet, pass through a gauge hole at extremely high speeds under enormous pressure to create a highly accurate design, line, cut or hole. Instead of using moving parts, newer water jet cutting machines use electromagnetic fields to guide the path of the water. The machines are commonly made of stainless steel because of its high strength-to-weight ratio. In order to prevent shattering, water jet cutters use less
abrasive material and lower pressure piercing when compared to other materials like metal. Also, because there is no heat involved in water jet cutting processes, there is no risk to deformation or discoloration as can be the case with other cutting processes. Many water jet cutting factories are able to produce products from many different materials, and fabricators can switch from metal to glass material and vice versa without any tooling or setup changes. Little to no secondary processing is necessary as the cut glass contains no rough edges.
