While water jet cutting services in San Francisco, CA are practical for so many different applications, it is still important to determine if this process is best for the type of material that you are using. Even though water jet cutting provides precision that is unmatched, there are a few limitations that you should be aware of when designing your project:
- Complex operational process: Although the process behind water jet cutting might be relatively easy to understand, the actual machining methods are very involved, and include a lot of moving parts. Because of this, it might take comparatively longer to cut a piece of material with water jet cutting than it would with other cutting processes.
- Kerf width: The material that is removed during the cutting process is referred to as kerf. When using a water jet cutter, the kerf width will be directly determined by the width of the jet stream. As a result, the inside corners of the material that are being cut might not be finished perfectly sharp. Because the width of the jet stream can be widened or narrowed as needed, this won’t have much of a bearing on the overall project in most situations. However, it is still something to keep in mind during the design stages, making sure that your inside radius is no smaller than 1.125 times the water jet stream width.
- Blind cuts: Water jet cutting is at its best when a solid piece of material needs to be cut all the way through. If you have a piece that only needs to be cut to a certain depth, the water jet stream might lose some of its accuracy. In addition, it is difficult for water jet streams to cut through hollowed pieces, as the precision of the cuts from the top layer and the bottom layer are difficult to match exactly.
- Lead in and lead out markings: There are times when the points where the jet stream starts and ends the cut create visible markings on the material. In most instances, the initial cut is started in an area that will be scrapped and is not seen when the material is completed. If not, an indentation may appear where the lead in and lead out points meet, and it will need to be removed.
Although these limitations exist, with extensive planning in the design stage and the expertise of highly trained operators, the quality and precision of your final project can remain undiminished. However, this does making picking the right provider of water jet cutting services in San Francisco, CA all the more important. Here at Mach 1 Waterjet, Inc., we have been providing customers in the area with quality machining at affordable rates for more than 20 years, and we are dedicated to using our knowledge to complete your project with the highest level of workmanship as well. Give us a call today to learn about all of the services we can offer for your next project.