Water Jet cutting has quickly become the most popular method of cutting due to its diverse applications. I know of a local sign company that has all of their "die-cut" signs cut by a waterjet cutter. I, also, know of a machine shop that has parts cut using waterjets. However, the machines do come at a cost. I would suggest contacting a water jet manufacturer and getting a quote for your application so you can judge for yourself if you would be able to make a healthy living using one of the machines. Of course, it will also depend on how much competition there is in your area.

WaterJet manufacturer: http://semyx.com/

wrote in
:

Water Jet cutting has quickly become the most popular method of
cutting due to its diverse applications. I know of a local sign
company that has all of their "die-cut" signs cut by a waterjet
cutter. I, also, know of a machine shop that has parts cut using
waterjets. However, the machines do come at a cost. I would suggest
contacting a water jet manufacturer and getting a quote for your
application so you can judge for yourself if you would be able to make
a healthy living using one of the machines. Of course, it will also
depend on how much competition there is in your area.

WaterJet manufacturer: http://semyx.com/

Omax is one of the other big vendors. The MIT shop that alums can use
has an Omax machine, and I finally had a project that I really didn't
want to do any other way. I needed to cut a whole bunch of fairly
intricate little pieces out of 3/32" thick UHMW polyethylene sheet.

http://www.targettalk.org/download.php?id=5711

It took a little bit to dial in the right settings, and even then, it cut
a slightly rough edge with a definite slope to it. It was fine for my
needs, but the parts took some manual labor to deburr & clean up.

I only got charged for the waterjet materials (lots of garnet abrasive &
some wear on the sapphire nozzle), at a cost of $3 a minute. It could
only do several pieces a minute, so the cost per part wasn't
insignificant. If I'd had to pay rental on the machine, it would have
been prohibitively expensive.

I'm happy with the results, but I think cutting UHMW PE isn't its strong
suit.

Doug White

On 9/6/2012 17:07, Doug White wrote:
wrote in
:

Water Jet cutting has quickly become the most popular method of
cutting due to its diverse applications. I know of a local sign
company that has all of their "die-cut" signs cut by a waterjet
cutter. I, also, know of a machine shop that has parts cut using
waterjets. However, the machines do come at a cost. I would suggest
contacting a water jet manufacturer and getting a quote for your
application so you can judge for yourself if you would be able to make
a healthy living using one of the machines. Of course, it will also
depend on how much competition there is in your area.

WaterJet manufacturer: http://semyx.com/

Omax is one of the other big vendors. The MIT shop that alums can use
has an Omax machine, and I finally had a project that I really didn't
want to do any other way. I needed to cut a whole bunch of fairly
intricate little pieces out of 3/32" thick UHMW polyethylene sheet.

http://www.targettalk.org/download.php?id=5711

It took a little bit to dial in the right settings, and even then, it cut
a slightly rough edge with a definite slope to it. It was fine for my
needs, but the parts took some manual labor to deburr & clean up.

I only got charged for the waterjet materials (lots of garnet abrasive &
some wear on the sapphire nozzle), at a cost of $3 a minute. It could
only do several pieces a minute, so the cost per part wasn't
insignificant. If I'd had to pay rental on the machine, it would have
been prohibitively expensive.

I'm happy with the results, but I think cutting UHMW PE isn't its strong
suit.

Doug White



Holy ****!!

$180 bucks an hour, material cost only. You were waaaaaaay overcharged.
You can buy a lot of .062 2 flute end mills for that amount, and they
are reusable after cutting UHMW.

--
Steve Walker
(remove brain when replying)

Steve Walker wrote in
:

On 9/6/2012 17:07, Doug White wrote:
wrote in
:

Water Jet cutting has quickly become the most popular method of
cutting due to its diverse applications. I know of a local sign
company that has all of their "die-cut" signs cut by a waterjet
cutter. I, also, know of a machine shop that has parts cut using
waterjets. However, the machines do come at a cost. I would suggest
contacting a water jet manufacturer and getting a quote for your
application so you can judge for yourself if you would be able to
make a healthy living using one of the machines. Of course, it will
also depend on how much competition there is in your area.

WaterJet manufacturer: http://semyx.com/

Omax is one of the other big vendors. The MIT shop that alums can
use has an Omax machine, and I finally had a project that I really
didn't want to do any other way. I needed to cut a whole bunch of
fairly intricate little pieces out of 3/32" thick UHMW polyethylene
sheet.

http://www.targettalk.org/download.php?id=5711

It took a little bit to dial in the right settings, and even then, it
cut a slightly rough edge with a definite slope to it. It was fine
for my needs, but the parts took some manual labor to deburr & clean
up.

I only got charged for the waterjet materials (lots of garnet
abrasive & some wear on the sapphire nozzle), at a cost of $3 a
minute. It could only do several pieces a minute, so the cost per
part wasn't insignificant. If I'd had to pay rental on the machine,
it would have been prohibitively expensive.

I'm happy with the results, but I think cutting UHMW PE isn't its
strong suit.

Doug White



Holy ****!!

$180 bucks an hour, material cost only. You were waaaaaaay
overcharged. You can buy a lot of .062 2 flute end mills for that
amount, and they are reusable after cutting UHMW.

Only if you have a CNC mill. Next time, I will have to investigate that
option. It was certainly more expensive than I expected, and the shop
isn't trying to make a profit, just cover costs. Fortunately, this was a
relatively small production run, and a valuable learning experience for
me.

As a side note, an acquaintance of mine got a Chinese laser engraver that
he has modified, and he's now cutting 1/4" plexiglass with it. Said it
cost him about $600. I need to pester him for more details. He said it
works great, but the stink is awful.

I found this on-line, and I expect his setup is similar:

http://tinyurl.com/35jcztu

http://preview.tinyurl.com/35jcztu

Doug White

Doug White wrote:
Steve wrote in
:

On 9/6/2012 17:07, Doug White wrote:
wrote in
:

Water Jet cutting has quickly become the most popular method of
cutting due to its diverse applications. I know of a local sign
company that has all of their "die-cut" signs cut by a waterjet
cutter. I, also, know of a machine shop that has parts cut using
waterjets. However, the machines do come at a cost. I would suggest
contacting a water jet manufacturer and getting a quote for your
application so you can judge for yourself if you would be able to
make a healthy living using one of the machines. Of course, it will
also depend on how much competition there is in your area.

WaterJet manufacturer: http://semyx.com/

Omax is one of the other big vendors. The MIT shop that alums can
use has an Omax machine, and I finally had a project that I really
didn't want to do any other way. I needed to cut a whole bunch of
fairly intricate little pieces out of 3/32" thick UHMW polyethylene
sheet.

http://www.targettalk.org/download.php?id=5711

It took a little bit to dial in the right settings, and even then, it
cut a slightly rough edge with a definite slope to it. It was fine
for my needs, but the parts took some manual labor to deburr& clean
up.

I only got charged for the waterjet materials (lots of garnet
abrasive& some wear on the sapphire nozzle), at a cost of $3 a
minute. It could only do several pieces a minute, so the cost per
part wasn't insignificant. If I'd had to pay rental on the machine,
it would have been prohibitively expensive.

I'm happy with the results, but I think cutting UHMW PE isn't its
strong suit.

Doug White



Holy ****!!

$180 bucks an hour, material cost only. You were waaaaaaay
overcharged. You can buy a lot of .062 2 flute end mills for that
amount, and they are reusable after cutting UHMW.

Only if you have a CNC mill. Next time, I will have to investigate that
option. It was certainly more expensive than I expected, and the shop
isn't trying to make a profit, just cover costs. Fortunately, this was a
relatively small production run, and a valuable learning experience for
me.

As a side note, an acquaintance of mine got a Chinese laser engraver that
he has modified, and he's now cutting 1/4" plexiglass with it. Said it
cost him about $600. I need to pester him for more details. He said it
works great, but the stink is awful.

I found this on-line, and I expect his setup is similar:

http://tinyurl.com/35jcztu

http://preview.tinyurl.com/35jcztu

Doug White

I built a 40 watt CO2 laser engraver to etch logo
and serial number into cylindrical part. Laser
components were from lightobject.com and cost about
$600. The transport was built from surplus parts
from document scanners and security camera pan-and-
tilt mechanisms. Controller was ebay microstepper
drives and EMC2. It works beautifully and saved
me about $9000. As far as I can tell, I'm using
about 15-20 watts to burn through black or red
anodizing. That much power would make short work
of your parts.

"Doug White" wrote in message
. ..
Steve Walker wrote in
:

On 9/6/2012 17:07, Doug White wrote:
wrote in
:

Water Jet cutting has quickly become the most popular method of
cutting due to its diverse applications. I know of a local sign
company that has all of their "die-cut" signs cut by a waterjet
cutter. I, also, know of a machine shop that has parts cut using
waterjets. However, the machines do come at a cost. I would suggest
contacting a water jet manufacturer and getting a quote for your
application so you can judge for yourself if you would be able to
make a healthy living using one of the machines. Of course, it will
also depend on how much competition there is in your area.

WaterJet manufacturer: http://semyx.com/

Omax is one of the other big vendors. The MIT shop that alums can
use has an Omax machine, and I finally had a project that I really
didn't want to do any other way. I needed to cut a whole bunch of
fairly intricate little pieces out of 3/32" thick UHMW polyethylene
sheet.

http://www.targettalk.org/download.php?id=5711

It took a little bit to dial in the right settings, and even then, it
cut a slightly rough edge with a definite slope to it. It was fine
for my needs, but the parts took some manual labor to deburr & clean
up.

I only got charged for the waterjet materials (lots of garnet
abrasive & some wear on the sapphire nozzle), at a cost of $3 a
minute. It could only do several pieces a minute, so the cost per
part wasn't insignificant. If I'd had to pay rental on the machine,
it would have been prohibitively expensive.

I'm happy with the results, but I think cutting UHMW PE isn't its
strong suit.

Doug White



Holy ****!!

$180 bucks an hour, material cost only. You were waaaaaaay
overcharged. You can buy a lot of .062 2 flute end mills for that
amount, and they are reusable after cutting UHMW.

Only if you have a CNC mill. Next time, I will have to investigate that
option. It was certainly more expensive than I expected, and the shop
isn't trying to make a profit, just cover costs. Fortunately, this was a
relatively small production run, and a valuable learning experience for
me.

As a side note, an acquaintance of mine got a Chinese laser engraver that
he has modified, and he's now cutting 1/4" plexiglass with it. Said it
cost him about $600. I need to pester him for more details. He said it
works great, but the stink is awful.

I found this on-line, and I expect his setup is similar:

http://tinyurl.com/35jcztu

http://preview.tinyurl.com/35jcztu

Doug White

I was going to ask if you had looked into laser cutters. I think there are
more expensive pulsed laser machines that are better for plastic. They
ablate the material more than they burn it and leave a cleaner edge. UV
excimer and copper vapor lasers are good for really, really fine work in
plastics if you are interested in that.

The stink from your friend's modified cutter could be more than just a
nuisance or health problem. If the smoke condenses on the last optical
element it can cause catastrophic failure pretty quickly as the smoke causes
more of the laser energy to be absorbed at the surface of the optic which
might cause it to crack. The laser heads on industrial machines have air
jets and vacuum nozzles to remove the smoke from the area and cool the cut.
They also usually have a cheap, replaceable IR window to protect the
expensive IR lens (although even the windows are not very cheap).

Discalimer: I am an optical engineer who has designed equipment using CO2
lasers for thermal processing but not actual cutting.