The problem with water cutting is that it leaves a V cut. The edge is not perfectly straight up and down which can wreak havoc when trying to machine something within spec. One fix is to cut from both sides and get an X cut, and another is to cut taking the V into account and then cnc down the edge.
The main advantage of water cutting is speed, and I'll bet this took waaaaayyyyyy more time to program the cutting tool than to cut through the console's even with the CAD programming interfaces.
andy depends on the waterjet unit. Some of them use an autocad type interface so programming an X stupidly simple. With running pressures of 85kpsi I don't see taper being a problem for this setup. But yes alot of shops use waterjets for a roughing process because you can lop off 95% of your material and do a finish pass with a cnc.
The edge is actually pretty smooth but it varies with the speed of the cutting head. It's like a sandblasted finish.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
andy @ Dec 21st 2006 11:54AM
razor sharp edges.
The problem with water cutting is that it leaves a V cut. The edge is not perfectly straight up and down which can wreak havoc when trying to machine something within spec. One fix is to cut from both sides and get an X cut, and another is to cut taking the V into account and then cnc down the edge.
The main advantage of water cutting is speed, and I'll bet this took waaaaayyyyyy more time to program the cutting tool than to cut through the console's even with the CAD programming interfaces.
I would love to see this in person.
kaztm @ Dec 21st 2006 12:15PM
"I would love to see this in person."
Me too!!
But until then, I can settle for some videos. Perhaps I'll search for some tonight.
PoeticJuggler @ Dec 21st 2006 1:11PM
andy depends on the waterjet unit. Some of them use an autocad type interface so programming an X stupidly simple. With running pressures of 85kpsi I don't see taper being a problem for this setup. But yes alot of shops use waterjets for a roughing process because you can lop off 95% of your material and do a finish pass with a cnc.
The edge is actually pretty smooth but it varies with the speed of the cutting head. It's like a sandblasted finish.