Understanding the Waterjet Cutting Tolerances - Can You Make Accurate and Precise Cuts?
Waterjet cutting is one of the most accurate cutting processes you can use in rapid manufacturing, and you can use this cutting method both for soft and hard materials. There’s a wide range of materials you can cut with the waterjet cutting method, such as metals, stones, tiles, glass, foods, and many others. In this guide, you will learn more about the waterjet cutting tolerances, along with how it can affect the accuracy of your cuts. You will also learn about how to make precise cuts with waterjet cutting.
Waterjet Cutting Tolerances - Understanding How This Cutting Process Works
There are various cutting methods you can use in manufacturing, and waterjet cutting is one of the most popular cutting methods manufacturers use to make accurate and precise cuts for their hardware parts and sheetmetal work components. Waterjet cutting offers a high accuracy in its cutting process because of the tight tolerances that it has. The waterjet cutting tolerances you can get from waterjet cutting is around 0.002” to 0.001”, which is excellent to provide accurate cutting results in any manufacturing industry.
So, how does waterjet cutting work? The waterjet cutting process works by applying pressurized water into a specific area, and by doing so, triggering an accelerated erosion process in that area. Thus, it will allow you to cut down the area and obtain accurate cutting results from it. With the waterjet cutting machine, you will be able to add certain abrasive components to allow you to pick between two different cutting modes, which are the regular or water-only mode and the abrasive cutting mode.
How Waterjet Cutting Tolerances Affect Your Cutting Quality
In manufacturing, tight tolerances indicate how accurate a specific cutting mechanism can do for your cutting processes. We know that waterjet cutting can provide tight tolerances of around 0.001”, which is one of the best in the industry. Other cutting methods, such as plasma cutting and laser cutting, can only provide you with 0.02 and 0.005 tight tolerances, respectively. So, you can get even more accurate cutting results using the waterjet cutting method when compared to using plasma cutting or laser cutting.
The waterjet cutting tolerances can affect your cutting quality in various aspects of your production. Not only will the waterjet cutting method provide you with excellent cutting precision, you can also get other benefits in your manufacturing process, such as lower cutting costs than CNC milling services, better accuracy for internal cutouts, best quality for the edges, no tooling replacements, and no heat effects on each cutting procedure. These benefits will all contribute to the overall cutting quality of the materials you are working on.
Making the Most Accurate Under Waterjet Cutting Tolerances
Despite having tight tolerances that are better than most cutting methods, you can still make mistakes when you use the waterjet cutting process, such as making your cut less accurate than it should be. So, how can you make the most accurate waterjet cutting process? You can consider all the aspects that will affect the precision and accuracy of your cut:
●Thickness and hardness of the materials.
The thicker and harder the materials, the more difficult it will be for you to use waterjet cutting to cut them. However, there are some tricks to make cutting harder and thicker materials even easier to do, such as by increasing the cutting speed and changing the cutting angle of the waterjet cutter nozzle.
●Cutting machine and speed.
The quality of the cutting machine will also determine the accuracy of the waterjet cutting process. The more well-maintained the cutting machine, the more precision it can provide for you. Also, adjusting the cutting speed depending on the material type, thickness, and hardness can help you improve the accuracy of the cut.
●Software configuration and worker skills to meet waterjet cutting tolerances.
You can use the software configuration feature for the waterjet cutting machine to configure various aspects of the cutting process. With the right configuration, you can find the best accuracy for your cutting process based on the materials that you are working on. The skills of the workers that perform the cutting process will also matter in determining the cutting results, including the precision or accuracy of the cut.
●Positioning the cutter against the materials.
Just like any other cutting methods, the way you position the waterjet cutter against the materials will also contribute to the success of your cutting process. Depending on the shapes you would like to achieve and the lines you would like to cut, it is very important for you to position the cutter machine in the right way before you start the cutting process.
●Working table condition.
Another aspect that will affect the accuracy of the waterjet cutting process is the condition of the working table. You need to ensure that the working table is flat and without any surface damage. It is also important to have a sturdy working table, which can withstand the vibration during the waterjet cutting process, ensuring that the working table doesn’t wobble or shake when you are working with your cutting machine. This can help ensure the accuracy of your cutting results.
Pure Waterjet Cutting vs. Abrasive Waterjet Cutting
With the waterjet cutting machine, you can choose between two cutting modes. The first mode is the pure waterjet cutting mode, while the other mode is the abrasive waterjet cutting mode. Pure waterjet cutting will use only water in the cutting process, whereas abrasive waterjet cutting will use certain abrasive components or rapid prototypes in the cutting process.
Of course, there will be differences between the two. For instance, pure waterjet cutting will have a lower cutting power, meaning that you can only use this method to cut softer materials. However, you can use pure waterjet cutting to cut complex shapes, designs, and geometries.
Meanwhile, the abrasive waterjet cutting will be more suitable for cutting materials with a higher level of hardness and thickness. The abrasive components will help you cut through the thickness of the materials and provide precise cuts that you need. You can also apply high-speed cutting when you use the abrasive waterjet cutting mode.
Conclusion of Waterjet Cutting Tolerances
With waterjet cutting, you can consider various aspects of the cutting process to get the best accuracy for your cuts. This cutting method can also help you cut hard materials by using the abrasive components in the cutting process. Also, the tight tolerances of waterjet cutting makes it possible for you to make precise and accurate cuts, which can provide you with better results compared to plasma or laser cutting.
Besides from waterjet cutting, TEAM Rapid also offers CNC machining services, 3d print services, plastic molding services, die casting services etc to meet your projects needs. Contact our team today to request a free quote now!
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