How to Prevent Water Jet Abrasive Clogs

Here are some steps water jet operators can take to prevent abrasive clogs and clogged nozzles:

1. Use quality water jet abrasive from a reputable supplier.

2. Don't let debris get into the abrasive hopper when you fill it.  Even a tiny piece of packaging debris can clog your tubing. If you do get such a clog, check the elbow on the bottom of your bulk abrasive hopper and also your mini hopper.

3. Keep your abrasive dry.

3. Use the right orifice/nozzle combination. In general, the nozzle should be 3X larger than the orifice.

4. Use the proper size orifice for the abrasive grit you are using.

5. Maintain a proper standoff from the work surface to prevent the water flow from being blocked.

6. Replace worn orifices to prevent water from backing up into the mixing chamber.

7. And, of course, be sure to read and understand your waterjet manufacturer's manuals and take advantage of their training opportunities.

Discover more waterjet tech tips at www.jetedge.com.

Water Jet or Abrasive Jet?

The term "water jet" is commonly used to describe both water-only waterjets and abrasive waterjets (abrasivejets).

Water only waterjet cutting YOXO® toys.

A pure UHP waterjet cuts soft materials with a powerful stream of water that has been pressurized up to 75,000 psi+ and forced through a tiny orifice.  Pure water only waterjets are used to cut foods such as bread, ham and carrots; as well as paper products, cardboard, carpet, foam, rubber and insulation.  They are frequently integrated into custom food processing systems, water slitting systems and shuttle systems.  Waterjets also are used like a pressure washer on steroids to blast away old coatings, paint and corrosion.

Abrasivejet cutting stainless steel at JACQUET Midwest.

When cutting hard material such as metal or stone, an abrasive (usually garnet) is added to the cutting stream, creating an abrasivejet that can cut precise parts from virtually any material, from granite, quartz and marble to difficult-to-machine super alloys such as Inconel®.  


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Jet Edge Mobile Waterjet Cutters Helped Stop 1991 Kuwait Oil Fires

Can you believe it's been 24 years since the Kuwait oil fires?

Jet Edge, a very young company at the time, helped put out the fires by supplying mobile waterjet cutting equipment that was used to cut off the mangled well heads so they could be capped.

To this day, waterjets are considered the ideal cold cutting method for oil industry applications as they cut without heat or flames.  Portable waterjet cutting systems are commonly used to cut pipelines and to cut petroleum storage tank door sheets and floors.  They can even be used underwater.

See www.jetedge.com to read more about how Jet Edge helped put out the Kuwait oil fires.

Waterjets Cut Many of the Parts in Your Car

Did you know that many of the parts in your car are cut with water?

Ultra-high pressure 55,000+ psi water-only waterjets cut a wide variety of automotive parts, including headliners, carpet, dashboards, door panels, trunk liners, and much more.

Waterjet systems used for automotive applications are typically integrated into robotic cells.

Alliance Automation LLC has integrated Jet Edge waterjets into its robotic systems.
Learn more about their robotic waterjets at www.jetedge.com.

Visit Jet Edge and YOXO at the Minnesota State Fair

Jet Edge is excited to help staff our customer YOXO®'s fun hands-on exhibit at the Minnesota State Fair, Aug. 27-Sept. 7! Look for YOXO in the Eco Experience Building.

YOXO uses Jet Edge waterjets to cut the Ys, Xs, and Os for its wildly popular creative play toy kits. Kids use YOXO kits and their imaginations to create their own characters, towers, or anything else they can think of. YOXO links even connect with things around the house like paper towel rolls and cereal boxes for endless possibilities.

Complete the Eco Experience Challenge and turn in your completed bookmark for a YOXO puppy kit (limited to 800 per day to kids 16 and younger).

Jet Edge staff will be volunteering at the exhibit on most fair days.
Please stop by and say hi!

Read More at www.jetedge.com.

JACQUET Midwest Adds Dual 5-Axis Water Jet Cutting Machine at Racine Service Center

Jet Edge Inc. announces that JACQUET Midwest has installed a dual head 5-axis Jet Edge EDGE X-5® water jet cutting system at its metal processing facility in Racine, Wisconsin.

The EDGE X-5 is JACQUET Midwest’s third Jet Edge system and JACQUET’s 13th Jet Edge waterjet nationwide.  JACQUET plans to use the new system to provide beveling and chamfering services to its customers in the Midwest as well as nationwide through its five regional service centers.

The waterjet system features a 21’ X 13’ work envelope which enables the metal service center to process full 8’x20’ or 10’x20’ plates.  Its dual 5-axis cutting heads double their production and are capable of cutting precise 3D parts from virtually any material, including bevels up to 50°.  Powered by a 60,000 psi 100 hp Jet Edge iP60-100 intensifier pump, the ball-screw driven waterjet system has the best repeatability in the industry at +/- .001”.  The system also has submerged or above-water cutting capabilities as well as a proprietary plate mapping feature that allows precise nozzle-to-plate standoff.

“We’re really excited to bring the Jet Edge dual head 5-axis water jet into our facility,” said Dan Chatterton, JACQUET Midwest CEO.  “With the precision that we’ll be able to achieve with the 5-axis taper control machine, we can provide a tighter tolerance part from the top edge to the bottom edge of the part, eliminating a lot of the machining.  It allows us to do much more for our customers; we can bevel cut, taper control, and chamfer holes on both the top and bottom edges of the material.”

Chatterton noted that JACQUET has always equipped its service centers with large gantries to better serve its customers.  When JACQUET decided to add a 5-axis system, it distinguished itself even further by offering the rare capability of dual 5-axis cutting services.

“All of the machines in the JACQUET system are large table machines because of the large plate sizes that we buy mill direct allowing us to be more efficient with our cuts, have longer run cuts and have better nesting,” he said.  “Our dual 5-axis system is going to provide an even higher level of service to our customers, allowing them to look to JACQUET for all of their cutting needs.”

A subsidiary of JACQUET Mid Atlantic, which is a subsidiary of Jacquet Metals of Lyon Saint Priest, France, JACQUET Midwest is one of five JACQUET metal service centers in the United States.  The company also has service centers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania; Carson, California; Pineville, North Carolina; and Houston, Texas. JACQUET recently acquired the Rolark Group service centers in Canada, with subsidiaries in Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal.

JACQUET specializes in supplying and processing stainless steel and nickel alloys for OEMS, fabricators and machine shops that support primarily the oil and gas, power generation, pollution control systems and water purification industries.  JACQUET’s North American service centers provide waterjet and plasma part cutting.  The company stocks 19 different grades of stainless steel and nickel alloy plates in a wide variety of sizes and thicknesses.

More Information

For more information about JACQUET Midwest visit www.myjacquet.com/midwest or call 1-877-202-8911 or +1 262-898-1381.

For more information about Jet Edge, visit www.jetedge.com, or call 1-800-JET-EDGE or +1 763-497-8700.

About Jet Edge
Established in 1984, Jet Edge is a global designer and manufacturer of waterjet systems for precision cutting, surface preparation and coating removal. Jet Edge systems are used around the world in a broad range of industries, from the world's leading airlines to automotive, aerospace, industrial manufacturers, and machine and job shops. Jet Edge waterjets are proudly made in U.S.A.

Jet Edge Helps University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project Take Latest Car to Next Dimension with 5-Axis Waterjet

Waterjet systems manufacturer Jet Edge, Inc. recently helped the University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project (UMNSVP) by waterjetting several fiberglass composite chassis components for the team’s new car, “Eos.”

Jet Edge R&D Engineer Michael Wheeler (left) and Machinist Brian Wallace (center) discuss the waterjet cutting process with members of the University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project, Shiping Yi, Jacob Herbers and Chris Yamaguchi.

St. Michael-based Jet Edge is one of several Minnesota companies helping the student solar car team design and manufacture its two-person Cruiser Class car that will compete in the 3-day Formula Sun Grand Prix track race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, in July and the 3000 km (1877 mile) World Solar Challenge in Australia in October.

The 40-member student-run team has been working on Eos for a year and a half and plans to unveil it sometime in early July, said team engineer Jacob Herbers. Until then, all design improvements are being kept under wraps. 

Eos is the UMNSVP’s 12^th car since the project’s inception in 1990.  The project has raced numerous times in both the American Solar Challenge and the World Solar Challenge.  Over the years, the project’s teams have placed either first or second 15 times and have travelled to Canada, Australia, Japan, and Taiwan. The project has given students invaluable real world experience as they are responsible for designing, funding, building, testing, and racing each vehicle.  It also has helped advance solar technology by serving as an innovation test bed, and has helped advance electric motor technologies, paving the way for today's successful electric car companies.

The project has benefited from the tremendous support of Twin Cities businesses, noted Herbers, who recently completed his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering.

“There are hundreds of different parts in the car, including the carbon composite outer shell, the carbon and fiberglass composite chassis panels, aluminum and steel mechanical components, solar cells, electric motors and controllers, lithium-ion batteries, electrical wiring, etc.,” he explained. “Our project would be impossible without the help of local manufacturers, who have helped us with layups, laser-cutting, tube bending, CNC milling and lathing, heat-treating, soldering and waterjet cutting.”

Herbers explained that the car’s chassis components and other parts are cut from as light of material as possible to help the car achieve faster speeds.  The team’s previous car topped out at 80 miles per hour.

“The finished weight is estimated to be 500 pounds,” he said.  “Every added pound of weight on the car would cause us to have to drive slower in the race.

Jet Edge’s role in the project was to cut 14 parts from a 0.53” thick composite material that consisted of a layer of fiberglass on either side of 0.5" thick aramid honeycomb core.  The waterjet manufacturer cut the parts in its St. Michael test lab, using its latest EDGE X-5® 5-axis waterjet cutting system. 

Prior to cutting the parts, Jet Edge’s R&D engineer Michael Wheeler and Machinist Brian Wallace worked with the team to create DXF files from 3D files supplied by the team.   They then used IGEMS waterjet CAD/CAM/nesting software to produce the complicated bevels and to create the CNC programs.  While the parts were already nested by the team, Wallace fine-tuned the nesting using IGEMS to save material.

“We cut the parts at 78,000 psi using a 0.010/0.030 orifice/nozzle combination,” said Wallace.  “We used 0.4 pounds per minute of 80 grit garnet abrasive.  We cut the holes at 10 inches per minute and the external shapes at 60 inches per minute.  We adjusted the speed down appropriately for the bevels cuts.  We only had one sheet of material to work with, so we utilized our nesting software to get the most parts out of that sheet.  It took about 30 minutes to cut all 14 parts.”

“This was first time I’ve cut a honeycombed composite material with the 5-axis,” Wallace said. “It worked perfect. We probably could have cut the part without abrasive, but we didn’t have a lot of material to experiment with, so I decided to use abrasive.  The material wasn’t hard, but with the honeycomb and the bevels, you’re cutting through open areas that interrupt the waterjet, and you are cutting through thicker and thinner material as it bevels.”

To Herbers’ knowledge, the team has always used waterjet to cut its composite components.

“It is very precise and ensures a good fit when we assemble the chassis panels,” he said.

Herbers encouraged other students to get involved in the Solar Vehicle Project.  The UMNSVP is open to all University of Minnesota students, regardless of their area of study, he noted.  Members can have as much or as little involvement as they want, but everyone works on designing and manufacturing a part of the car and more experienced members hold leadership positions.    

“It is very interesting to visit with local manufacturers and see their processes,” said Herbers, who is pursuing a career that will allow him to use his knowledge to save energy and protect the environment.  “I've learned a lot about how to design parts for manufacturability, and have gotten to see firsthand how parts of different materials get made, which are things that mostly aren't taught in school, and will definitely help prepare me for a career in mechanical engineering.”

        

About the University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project

The University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project is a student-run project that designs, builds and races solar vehicles in the United States and abroad.  Since its inception in 1990, the project has built 12 cars and has raced numerous times in the American Solar Challenge and the World Solar Challenge.  The project’s teams have placed either first or second 15 times.  For more information about the University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project, visit www.umnsvp.org, e-mail svp@umn.edu or call 612-460-7876.

About Jet Edge, Inc.

Established in 1984, Jet Edge is a global designer and manufacturer of waterjet systems for precision cutting, surface preparation and coating removal. Jet Edge waterjets are used around the world in a broad range of industries, from the world's leading airlines to automotive, aerospace, industrial manufacturers, machine and job shops. Jet Edge waterjet systems are proudly made in the U.S.A.  For more information about Jet Edge, visit www.jetedge.com, e-mail sales@jetedge.com or call 1-800-JET-EDGE (538-3343). Follow us on Twitter @jetedge.