LAZER CUT OR WATER JET???

Edited: 12/9/2010 3:30:34 PM by iLLblazer

Waterjet does have its advantages for thick materials, detailed aluminum parts and is obviously the better choice if you need to tap holes out since the laser edges are hard on tooling. Ive done it plenty but if it was a large production facility, i would want to water jet any holes that needed to be machined or tapped out. Plus obviously cutting woods, plastics, glass etc. I heard a rumour that those fig newton cookies are waterjet cut so the edges dont come out squished..not sure how true that is tho lol

Also the waterjet I use can countersink holes which is pretty sick, although their are multi axis laser machines as well.

We have both waterjet and laserjet, Laser is a ton faster then the waterjet. Water jet has a better finished product. Precision Is all in how good your tips are, and how good there dialed in on both machines. But for mass production, laser all the way.

I wanna cut some fig newtons!

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iLLblazer said:

I heard a rumour that those fig newton cookies are waterjet cut so the edges dont come out squished..not sure how true that is tho lol

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They are, diapers are too.

Out of curiosity, what size fillets do you need with your preference? That should tell us who can get the most precise. The guy that I use (water) asks that I draw everything with a .002" fillet on the corners.

.002 is tight, it depends on the abrasive as well with water, plus now that you can get 3D water machines you can do far more diverse things with them.

I'm just kind of curious as to how many companies in this industry actually own there own CNC laser or water jet, or even a decent or high end CNC plasma.

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slammed x on air said:

I'm just kind of curious as to how many companies in this industry actually own there own CNC laser or water jet, or even a decent or high end CNC plasma.

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X2

I just hope to have my own CNC plasma soon, lol! Lasers and waterjets are far out of the budget for me. If money weren't an object I think i'd go with a waterjet. Seems like you'd get more out of the machine with the thickness it can cut, precision, and different kinds of materials you can do with it.

Edited: 12/9/2010 9:38:40 PM by truckman92

had a double post.

Yeah the water jet is versatile, while i worked at the shop we cut, marble, plywood, polycarbonate, carbon fiber, steel & aluminum of course, copper (raw and polished) , stainless steel (raw and polished), and a lot of holes got reamed, drilled and tapped afterwords no problem. i know the sealant on the pressure lines coming out of the pumps, threads and bolts, is safe for the food industry becuz they said some companies use water jets to cut frozen foods. fig newtons wouldnt be much different.