Waterjet cutting metals and it’s alloys:

Waterjet cutting is an excellent way to profile cut all Metals and their alloys, it is not just an alternative to laser, plasma or flame cutting but in our minds it is a better process altogether.

There is no heat effected zone (HAZ) common with the other cutting methods, there is little or no burr left on the cut part, there is no dross or dirty edges, the material is not effected or contaminated by the process.

The cut edges are clean and crisp, with a high degree of accuracy, and with our dynamic head connected to our machine we can offer straighter and more accurate cuts in thicker materials.

On this page we have selected some parts and projects cut to demonstrate the benefits of the process of waterjet cutting and waterjet profiling of Metals and their alloys.

We can cut: Aluminium, Stainless steel, Mild Steel, Copper, Brass, Titanium, Hardox, Armox 500T, Tantalum, Tool Steels, Hardened Steels, Armour Plating, Spring Steel, Duplex, Ground Flat Stock, Cast iron

Titanium & Inconel...

We cut these for a customer , it came to us as a 23mm thick plate pre-made with the Titanium and inconel attached together, we waterjet cut 19 mm and 16mm diameter billets from it ready for machining on a lathe.

Special Spring Materials...

We get a lot of pre-machined parts come to use to have features waterjet cut in them, these discs were pre-machined into a  special spring steel. We designed and produced a special jig to hold the parts then waterjet cut the features into the discs

White Metal Bearing Tests...

This is part of a large White metal bearing from a Shops Propeller shaft, the bearing has failed a few times and has gone for testes, we chopped up the bearing into specific cut shapes doe testing purposes.

Waterjet cutting is a good clean method of cutting and is probably the only method of non destructive cutting of material for this purpose, any heat put into this job would of not only effected the test results but would of also turned the white metal into it’s liquid state as it has a very low melting point.

Special & Exotic Metals / Alloys

Fixing plate waterjet cut from 10mm thick steel plate...

With the ability to cut virtually any 2 dimensional shape into virtually any material, waterjet profiling opens up great potential with our designs. This is a foot plate to a railing system we designed for a church, waterjet cut from 10mm steel plate. We designed this to be in keeping with other features within the church by taking photos from the surrounding area we were able to pick out a design that was in-keeping with the final location or the railing system we were producing.

Kamal house name water jet profiled from 5mm thick steel plate...

Kamal was water jet profiled from steel plate 5mm thick, we welded some studs on the back for fixings, then painted in a slate grey.

It was chemically fixed into the wall on 3 studs for a strong and hidden / minimal fixings.

Steel can be cut into very intricate designs and due to the cold cutting process of water jet the is no heat affected zone, no dross or burrs similar to those from laser cutting processes.

A small detailed water jet profile of a bike water jet cut from 5mm thick steel plate...

This bike was water jet cut from 5 mm thick steel plate. Using our abrasive water jet which is a cold cutting process with no heat affected zone we can cut very clean and sharp detail in materials like steel plate, this has many advantages over laser cutting as the cut edges has no contaminates from the process and the properties of the metal are unchanged, this makes abrasive water jet cutting an excellent alternative to laser profiling and in a lot of cases a far superior option

Custom V block tool holder...

This Custom made V block was required for some tooling on our milling machine for a machining project. We had to hold our parts at the right angle for machining. This Was waterjet cut from 30mm steel plate for the purpose.

Note the sharp crisp edges.

Steel part for a pre-1930 car restoration project...

We were given a hand sketch of this shape and we were asked to profile it from 40mm thick steel, This is to be used in a pre-1930’s Car restoration project and would of originally been forged but unfortunately this is no longer possible, but by having the main body water jet cut from thick steel plate, it can then be turned, machined and ground to final shape and dimensions, and due to the process the edges are as the original material specification, there are not heat effects creating issues for further processing.                                               

Steel Finger Plates / combs for liquid treatment plants...

We have produced these in various forms and waterjet cutting is the answer when cutting items like this, when these are profiled with laser or plasma cutting the heat causes distortion in the thin finger sections but also the heat changes the characteristics of the steel which means they don’t last very long.

With waterjet cutting there is no Heat affected zone (HAZ) and the material is unaffected by the process, we can also cut very hard steels, pre-hardened steels or stainless steels if required giving longer lasting and more accurate finger blade scrapers and combs. We also machined the stepped mounting faces on our cnc milling machine.                                               

Large Steel Drive Gear...

The gear drive cog shown here was waterjet cut from 8mm steel plate, it is approximately 1200mm diameter and the drive wheel was slightly smaller in diameter. We were only given the old original parts to work from, there was no drawings or cad files and we have to work out the dimensions, gear teeth details and pitch from the old worn parts. This was no problem for us with our engineering abilities.                                               

Steel Clamp Mechanism...

We designed this small steel clamp mechanism for a customer, it was waterjet cut from 12mm steel plate and then machined by us to get the final hinge parts fitting properly, it is approximately 100mm wide overall.                                             

Test cuts in Structural Steel Samples...

We were given a few structural steel sections to cut various test parts and samples from for scientific and structural testing.

Waterjet cutting was the perfect solution as the waterjet process doesn’t effect the structure of the metal in anyway which minimises false readings and bad test results.

Some of the parts were cut into “dumbbell parts” these are shaped to fit into a special machine that tests the strain of the material.

Round steel bar split in half...

Our customer required some half round steel bars for a restoration project, these would of originally been forged. We water jet cut down the length of the round steel bar splitting it in two.This gives the required results leaving a clean face where we water jet cut.

Another two small detailed water jet profiled bikes water jet cut from thin steel sheet...

These bikes were cut from thin steel sheet, the penny in the centre gives you a sense of scale, the bike on the right was waterjet cut from 1mm steel sheet, the bike on the left was water jet cut from 0.1mm thick steel shim stock. Cutting accurate detailed parts from very thin 0.1mm shim stock is very difficult to do but we can do it. This has it’s uses when intricate shim parts are required.

Steel

A very small water jet cut stainless steel part with small holes pierced...

This stainless steel square cut from 6mm thick 316 grade stainless steel plate is only 20mm square with 9 small holes pierced. Abrasive water jet profiling is an excellent alternative to laser cutting or plasma cutting as it is a very clean cutting process, there is no dross or slag on the cut edges and minimal or no burrs from the cutting process, this means we can produce parts that can be used straight of the machine in some cases.

A good demonstration of water jet cutting of thin stainless steel sheet...

This demonstration piece is 159mm x 254mm cut from 1mm stainless steel sheet, it shows a variety of intricate possibilities. The design was produced to show a variety of methods that water jet cutting is capable of. Some of the cuts are very close together and there are some very small almost invisible tabs holding sections in place. With the clean, cold cutting process of water jet cutting, you can fabricate and weld your parts with minimal or no clean-up which will save a lot of time and money in the long run.

A stainless steel coffee mat water jet cut in one piece from 1mm thick stainless steel...

This coffee mat design is 110mm diameter, cut into 1mm thick stainless steel sheet.

This is an excellent demonstration of the detail ability with abrasive water jet cutting in thin stainless steel sheet. It is also a good sample of our ability to design goods that can be used for unique gifts, personal gifts, company gifts, corporate gifts and special designs for events.

With our other facilities we are able to offer you complete solutions for your projects.

A Stainless steel business card design water jet cut into 1mm stainless steel sheet...

This stainless steel business card is shown prior to finishing, shown next to a penny to show size and detail. The design was cut as a demonstration of waterjet cutting in 1mm thick stainless steel sheet and due to the clean cutting, zero heat affected zone and minimal burrs the detail comes out very well.

Stainless steel can be cut very effectively with water jet profiling and very intricate designs can be cut into a wide range of thickness.

Large stainless steel drive chains...

12mm Stainless steel plate was waterjet cut for the link sides of this large stainless steel chain link system. The wheels were machined from plastic and are approximately 120mm diameter, we waterjet cut, machined and assembled the whole project, and we had no drawings to work to just a couple of worn parts that we could get dimensions from.

A set of large stainless steel keyring numbers...

We made this set of key ring's for a customer. We set the design, water jet profile cut the numbers from 5mm thick stainless steel plate including the small hole for the key ring, we then gave them a brushed finish all over. These are approximately 110mm high.

AJ45 connector panels fabricated from 316 grade stainless steel Sheet...

This box of brackets were waterjet cut from 316 marine grade stainless steel sheet 3mm thick. We water jet cut the design, brush finished the outside face and folded it in our cnc pressbrake. We can make all sorts of electrical and computer panels and brackets, from design to finish fabricated product.

Also with our 2d and 3d cad facilities we can custom design cases so the electronic parts into very tight spaces giving you the perfect looking case for your product.

Stainless Steel

A large aluminium disc water jet cut from 50mm thick aluminium plate...

Waterjet profile cutting is one of the only methods used to cut thick aluminium to extremely high standards and fantastic precision. Pictured here, a large disc 560mm o/d x 260mm i/d 50mmm thick. A £1 coin pictured with the waterjet part gives a sense of scale.

We can cut to very close tolerances often eliminating the need for further machining, very intricate designs can be cut utilising the water jets very narrow kerf.

A burger press form tool water jet cut from 30mm thick aluminium...

Using aluminium plate 30mm thick, this part was designed for a burger press. We offered the ability to have the tools split in two so the pressed burgers could be removed easily, by drawing the outer profile in Cad with some thought we created small handles to assist in the separation of the halves. We cut the inside edges at a much slower speed to keep them as smooth as possible for the casting surface.

Products designed by us and waterjet cut in 10mm thick aluminium plate...

We designed these special clamps to mount fall arrest tripods used in the petroleum industry to fit on other equipment to make them easy to store and transport. We waterjet cut the designs from 10mm aluminium plate, which gave us nice burr free parts that needed minimal finishing. We then machined, fabricated and finished them .

Aluminium

These ship drain covers were waterjet profiled from 10mm thick brass plate...

We cut a batch of drain covers to be fitted on a ship. Cut from 10mm thick brass the water jet profiling process is ideal, with no heat affected zone the finish is very clean and precise. The parts then had chamfers machined on the edge and the 3 holes were countersunk. Brass can be difficult to process by other profiling methods due to heat issues and if it is polished then the reflectiveness is also problematic, however with waterjet the cutting process is clean and simple leaving a nice finish.

A selection of parts nested into 10mm thick brass plate...

With our powerful nesting software, we can nest our parts in a multitude of ways including nesting inside parts. We can apply special technology to tag parts in, bridge parts together, group parts, apply common line cutting to assist in the best use of machine time and movement and a host of other special features.

When cutting expensive materials then it is important to get the best yield from the materials reducing scrap and wastage.

A selection of parts waterjet cut from 1mm and 1.5mm brass sheet...

With waterjet cutting at very high pressures it can be difficult to cut small parts due to the turbulence of the water and the energy created, however we are able to think outside the box and can cut small intricate parts, show here a selection cut in brass sheet. With a clean cut edge and a virtually burr free cut we can create very nice brass parts.

Brass

Copper Gaskets, Copper electrical connectors and copper shims water jet cut...

We cut many parts in copper as water jet cutting  is really the only accurate process cable of producing intricate cuts in copper, processes like laser cutting are hindered as copper is a good heat conductor & quite often very  reflective which cause a lot of problems in cutting copper, with water jet cutting copper is cut cleanly and accurately &  we can cut from very thin parts like the 0.1mm thick shims shown here to thick electrical connectors and copper engine gaskets

Copper

Bronze can also be water jet cut...

We have cut parts in bronze materials and the clean cutting process is excellent or this purpose, shown here is a bronze sheet 2mm thick, we were given a picture of some calligraphy text to be cut from the centre of the supplied sheet and we turned this into a cad file ready for cutting on our waterjet machine, this was for part of a bronze sculpture, there is three bits of tape in the picture on the bronze these are holding some small parts that are the centres of some of the text.

Bronze

Detailed and accurate proto-type parts waterjet cut in thick aluminium plate...

We assisted our customer with the design development for these proto-type parts by giving them some idea of how to go about the problem they were trying to solve, Once they got their head around the solution we offered they then came up with the 3d designed parts. These are proto-type extruded aluminium parts that will be used in the marquee business for fold down marquee frames. They have been designed to end up being made by the aluminium extrusion process and will be extruded in long lengths then cut from the long extruded lengths into the finish parts at 19mm thick and 30mm thick extruded aluminium parts, however the extruded aluminium tools that are required to produce the extruded aluminium parts aren't a low cost item and the amount of extruded aluminium for the minimum order makes many thousand parts, so by coming to us for the initial trials and proto-types to be waterjet cut, the extrusions can be tried and tested at a much lower risk and cost to our customer. They then have the ability to try out their full design and show their customers a full working model made to high standards which enables them to get orders for their products before they commit themselves to the bulk purchase of the extruded parts.

The two parts here are shown next to a penny to give you a sense of scale, the part on the left is waterjet cut from 19mm thick aluminium plate and the part on the right was waterjet cut from 30mm thick aluminium plate. You can see the detail, the wall thickness of the parts was around 1mm thick on some samples we produced for trials and on these parts shown above the wall thickness of the part was around 1.5mm thick.

We can offer very detailed and accurate parts cut on our waterjet machine for your proto-types and end finished products but also as we are engineers we can assist in the design and development of your products. Please contact us with your project details

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