Waterjet Cutting
Waterjet Cutting
Gilwood has invested in the most powerful water jet cutting machine available. The flow, water jet machining centre. With a 6000-bar pump and Dynamic Waterjet® technology the flow machine is capable of cutting materials faster, more precisely and without taper.
Waterjet technology is a computerised cold cutting system that can cut virtually any shape from a wide range of materials. With no heat affected zones or mechanical stresses, a clean accurate burr free finish often eliminates the need for secondary surface finishing.
With a 4000mm x 2000mm bed, the WMC twin head waterjet machine is capable of cutting up to 255mm thick steel with tolerances of +/- 0.8mm on a wide range of materials. No distortion or stresses are imparted on the material while producing a superior edge quality with minimal burr.
Gilwood utilises the latest software programs to process water jet cut parts, modelling parts in house using an advanced 3-d modelling package. Customer drawings can be imported directly into Gilwood’s profiling system eliminating drawing errors or misinterpretations.
Water jet technology compliments Gilwood’s production process perfectly. Producing finish machined components to extremely high tolerances without a heat affected zone.
Waterjet Versus Laser
- Reflective materials such as aluminum and copper can be cut by water jet but not by laser.
- There is no heat affected zone, thermal distortion or hardening with water jet unlike laser.
- Waterjet machines can achieve the same or better tolerances than lasers, especially as the material thickness increases.
- Abrasive jets can machine thicker materials. 4" steel and 6" aluminum, whereas lasers are limited to 20mm (high powered laser).
- Material can be stacked in order to cut multiple thin parts simultaneously.
- Abrasive jets don't create "scaly" edges, which makes it easier to produce a high-quality weld.
Standard waterjet processing tolerances are as follows:
0.381mm to 12.7mm thick: +/-0.762mm
>12.7mm to 50.8mm thick: +/-1.143mm
>50.8mm to 76.2mm thick: +/-2.286mm
>76.2mm thick: +/-3.175mm
