So you want to cut some material, but you’re not sure how to go about it. Choosing the right approach for your application can be daunting  when faced with all of the different options at your disposal (lasers, plasma, cold saws, EDM, etc.) and each method will have its own benefits and drawbacks. This is where the waterjet comes in. Waterjet cutting combines speed with cut quality/accuracy, and is far more versatile than its competition both in material types and thicknesses that it can cut.

The waterjet machine uses a concentrated stream of high-pressure slurry (a mixture of water and a sand-like abrasive) to wear away the material in its path. Think of it as natural erosion at super speed! It’s an impressive process to watch in real-time, but the results are even more amazing.

So much of the waterjet process can be fine-tuned which makes its applications far more expansive than alternative cutting methods. By adjusting waterjet pressure, abrasive flow rate, cutting speed and more, we can cut through thing and/or brittle material without distortion or we can carve through thick tool steel with ease. Because the waterjet does not rely on heat or unnatural chemicals when cutting, you don’t have to worry about changes in hardness that often go hand in hand with laser or plasma cutting. This makes secondary machining operations a breeze. Many customers prefer to go with the smooth waterjet finish on their parts and doing away with time consuming drilling/milling entirely. This not only speeds up their turn-around times, but it saves them money.

At R&R Manufacturing, we’ve been able to provide waterjet cutting services to customers in a wide range of fields, from local knife makers and auto/motorcycle enthusiasts, to large-scale distributors in industries such as mining, rigging and power plant engineering. High-pressure waterjets are even used to cut sliced bread (though we don’t dabble in food products at R&R)

To learn more about waterjet cutting and how R&R can help on your next project, just shoot us a message or call 503.747.7381