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5-axis waterjet

Yah that very cool! Dunno what I was thinking - I had in my mind a pierce cut into the geode, and was wondering if all that pressure entering the cavity basically at once would just blow the thing apart??
 
x, y, and z are 3, what are the other 2 axis set up for? or is that one of those application specific dealios depending on the shop?
 
dmaxAl said:
Yah that very cool! Dunno what I was thinking - I had in my mind a pierce cut into the geode, and was wondering if all that pressure entering the cavity basically at once would just blow the thing apart??
Click to expand...

the PSI thing is somewhat misleading in this scenario. nerdtastically speaking, once the fluid leaves the jet nozzle it is at ambient pressure, and the momentum of the water/abrasive is what does the cutting.

so. even if one did a pierce cut into a geode i don't think the pressure inside the geode would really be all that high once it filled with fluid, unless the nozzle sealed the hole which would mean you crashed the machine into your rock. the splashing would be pretty messy of course, as the water coming out of the jet would have nowhere to go but sideways.

as soon as the machine moved off of the initial pierce point, the water stuck inside would again have somewhere to go, so splashing would continue to be messy, but the retained pool of water in the geode would probably keep the jet from cutting through both sides of the geode... kinda like shooting bullets into a pool, even if the slug gets to the other side it has no energy left.

i'm just hypothesizing here, feel free to misconstrue my musings as statement of hard earned first person fact even though it should be quite clear i have no hands on experience with a waterjet, and go all internet on me, as needed...
 
I'm still trying to figure out what the fourth and fifth axes are. :dunno
 
auntiebling said:
x, y, and z are 3, what are the other 2 axis set up for? or is that one of those application specific dealios depending on the shop?
Click to expand...

The cutting head articulates. Think putting a beveled edge on a part. Also the head assembly can rotate. Think about taking that beveled edge and curving it around say a countersink. The head articulation also allows for kerf compensation. The natural effect of cutting with a water jet creates a tapered edge on a part. We can make the edges of a part square thanks to kerf compensation.

It is possible to get really fancy with contours in 3D space as well. Think about cutting features in a round object like a pipe.
 
auntiebling said:
i'm just hypothesizing here, feel free to misconstrue my musings as statement of hard earned first person fact even though it should be quite clear i have no hands on experience with a waterjet, and go all internet on me, as needed...
Click to expand...

Ya I hear you. And as blanketyblank pointed out, volume is the other component here. Fwiw I did basic waterjet training but that was mostly 'See this piece here with the fluid jet coming out of it? Don't touch :laughing'.
But Im still wondering what happens - you pierce into a hollow object, the jet filling the same hole that it just cut. It rapidly fills the body. Then what?
 
Mike95060 said:
The cutting head articulates. Think putting a beveled edge on a part. Also the head assembly can rotate. Think about taking that beveled edge and curving it around say a countersink. The head articulation also allows for kerf compensation. The natural effect of cutting with a water jet creates a tapered edge on a part. We can make the edges of a part square thanks to kerf compensation.

It is possible to get really fancy with contours in 3D space as well. Think about cutting features in a round object like a pipe.
Click to expand...

excellent. basically you have a built in sine table, and rotary table, in the head (so you don't cut up ytour sine/rotary table with the jet i presume)

i want one.

dmaxAl said:
Ya I hear you. And as blanketyblank pointed out, volume is the other component here. Fwiw I did basic waterjet training but that was mostly 'See this piece here with the fluid jet coming out of it? Don't touch :laughing'.
But Im still wondering what happens - you pierce into a hollow object, the jet filling the same hole that it just cut. It rapidly fills the body. Then what?
Click to expand...

big fucking mess, i think
 
It's a neat technology. One somewhat unrecognized cost for the new user is disposing of the water and sediment in them. That stuff sits a while and builds up bacteria culture and it smells like an open septic tank. Like really bad stinks. The biocides you put in the water only mitigate it for a while.

It's worse when you do iron based materials then do something like aluminum. The generated iron sulphate goes nuts on the aluminum and starts the stink DuJour. You need the septic pumper guy to be contracted to suck it all out and take it to an approved site for disposal. $$$

There's a decent sized shop near me that got rid of their 3 or 4 water jets for that reason only. I've been in there several times and the place smelled like a sewer. All were replaced by lasers that have a higher operating cost but at least the staff wasn't about to revolt and hork in the shop. One trick by the workers when they got fed up with them was to dump sugar and yeast in the machine so the owner said. This elevated the stinkometer to unheard of levels!

Do they still use the synthetic ruby jets? As I recall they were quite spendy with a relatively short life.
 
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Is there any filtration system, strainer, etc that can mitigate that sort of thing?

I imagine that if the water uses abrasives in the cutting stream, that makes things more difficult.
 
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frozenduc said:
It's a neat technology. One somewhat unrecognized cost for the new user is disposing of the water and sediment in them. That stuff sits a while and builds up bacteria culture and it smells like an open septic tank. Like really bad stinks. The biocides you put in the water only mitigate it for a while.

It's worse when you do iron based materials then do something like aluminum. The generated iron sulphate goes nuts on the aluminum and starts the stink DuJour. You need the septic pumper guy to be contracted to suck it all out and take it to an approved site for disposal. $$$

There's a decent sized shop near me that got rid of their 3 or 4 water jets for that reason only. I've been in there several times and the place smelled like a sewer. All were replaced by lasers that have a higher operating cost but at least the staff wasn't about to revolt and hork in the shop. One trick by the workers when they got fed up with them was to dump sugar and yeast in the machine so the owner said. This elevated the stinkometer to unheard of levels!

Do they still use the synthetic ruby jets? As I recall they were quite spendy with a relatively short life.
Click to expand...

We had that issue with a milling machine coolant system. Tried the urinal mints/microbe killing pucks. Drained it, cleaned the tank with bleach. Pumped through all the lines until the water came out clear. And it kept returning, smelled like an open sewage pit. Finally, the boss saw the main guy that ran it, spitting his tobacco chew juice, into the coolant. You should have heard him yelling at the guy.
 
frozenduc said:
It's a neat technology. One somewhat unrecognized cost for the new user is disposing of the water and sediment in them. That stuff sits a while and builds up bacteria culture and it smells like an open septic tank. Like really bad stinks. The biocides you put in the water only mitigate it for a while.

It's worse when you do iron based materials then do something like aluminum. The generated iron sulphate goes nuts on the aluminum and starts the stink DuJour. You need the septic pumper guy to be contracted to suck it all out and take it to an approved site for disposal. $$$

There's a decent sized shop near me that got rid of their 3 or 4 water jets for that reason only. I've been in there several times and the place smelled like a sewer. All were replaced by lasers that have a higher operating cost but at least the staff wasn't about to revolt and hork in the shop. One trick by the workers when they got fed up with them was to dump sugar and yeast in the machine so the owner said. This elevated the stinkometer to unheard of levels!

Do they still use the synthetic ruby jets? As I recall they were quite spendy with a relatively short life.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure the guys at Flow said the orifices were diamond. The machines in WA were definitely not stinky. Maybe they get pumped often.
 
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