Motion Equipment

Many different styles and configurations of waterjet motion equipment, or machine tool, exist. Besides just providing motion, the machine tool must also include some means of holding the material catching the jet and collecting the water and debris.

Stationary and 1-Dimension Machines
The simplest of machines is the stationary waterjet. Looking much like a band saw, it is usually used in the Aerospace industry to trim composites. The operator feeds the material through the stream much like a band saw. After the material has been cut, the catcher collects the stream and debris. Usually outfitted with a pure waterjet, some stationary waterjet machines are equipped with abrasive waterjets.

Another version of a stationary machine is a slitter. Here a product such as paper is fed through the machine, and the waterjet slits the product into specific widths. A cross cutter is another example of a machine that moves in one axis. Although it is not truly stationary, this simple machine often works in conjunction with a slitter. Where the slitter cuts product to specific widths, the cross cutter cuts across a product that is fed beneath it. Often the slitter and cross cutter work together to create a grid pattern in materials such as vending machine brownie cakes.

It is generally not recommended to use an abrasive waterjet manually (either moving the material by hand or the cutting head by hand) — it is very difficult to manually move at a specific speed. Most manufacturers will not recommend or quote a manually operated abrasive waterjet. Only in special cases were operator safety is not in question should an abrasive waterjet be used in a manual mode.

Slitter: 7 stations, with 2 heads at each station. Provides 24-hour/day operation.	Cross Cutter: Usually angled across and timed with the travel path of the product. Precise speed control can then produce a perpendicular cut.