Water Jets Allow For Intricate Cuts To Be Made

11 January 2016
 Categories: Industrial & Manufacturing, Blog


Have you ever looked at some of the intricately cut pieces of metal and wondered how they were able to make such sharp, clean, and precise cuts, especially if the cuts are very close to each other? One way that companies are able to make such good cuts is because they use water jets to make the cuts. 

What Are Water Jets?

Most people don't think about water being strong enough to actually cut through metal. However, water is the same force that carved out the Grand Canyon. A water jet takes water and shoots it out through a nozzle at high pressure and high speed. The very narrow stream that ends up coming out of the nozzle is fairly narrow. Those things all make it possible for water to cut through metal. 

In addition, especially for very hard metals, so grit may be added into the stream at the nozzle. The grit is usually something like ground up industrial garnets. The grit gives the stream the extra oomph it needs to get through tough metal. 

A full water jet system can also recycle the water and grit so that it doesn't go out into a waste water system. The water and grit are able to be used many more times, so there is no dulling of saw blades or other cutting materials.

Why Use Water Jets?

There are several reasons to use water jets aside from the fact that they make sharp cuts. One of them is that water jets produce less waste than other cutting methods do. The water jet can be turned on right at the cutting point, instead of having to have any kind of pilot hole. That means that the more pieces can be cut out of any piece of metal. 

It also much easier for the worker to switch from one size nozzle to another, which means that it's quicker to use a water jet. A quick change will allow a different kind of metal or a different size cut to be made. That also makes a water jet more versatile. 

Water jets make it possible for companies to cut objects that require very intricate cuts. It also allows the companies to make sure that their cuts are done more precisely than they could otherwise be. Without water jet cutting machines, companies would have a more difficult time cutting out some of their product.

For more information on water jets, consult a company like Cincinnati Ventilating Company Inc.


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