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There are so many ways to save with waterjet. Let us explain some of the ways we can help you.
Throughout our many years of working with waterjet machines we have learned quite a few tips and tricks that help us keep costs down to a minimum. There are also great efficiencies that come along with the nature of waterjet cutting that make it extremely economical to use – for example: nesting parts, stacking up material, narrow kerf width (nozzle cut width), streamlined programming software, minimal tooling, fixturing and set-up times during production, easily saved & recycled scrap / remnant material. All of these combined - along with superior customer service and our commitment to quality help add to the bottom line of cost savings through MILCO Waterjet.
Nesting parts = Increases material savings
Nesting parts for waterjet is a form of tightly organizing, arranging or situating 2D (two dimensional) parts on a sheet of material in one single plane. In other words, this is a way of grouping and rotating the parts to maximize part to material yield. From the very start of receiving our customer’s CAD file, MILCO will determine the quantity and processes necessary for manufacture. Our highly trained machine programmers organize the parts so it minimizes material consumption and waste. Below is an illustration to better show what “nesting” means and how it can help you. Typically there are automated software programs that can accomplish this for you. This creates a very robotic and generic layout and will not have the custom and specialized result that a highly trained CAD programmer could accomplish. Optimal spacing between adjacent parts is solely determined upon the overall aspects and details of each particular job, typically a .100” gap is quite common, however, we have been known to use even less spacing based on the job.
Stacking up material = Decreases cost per piece
Stacking material is another great cost saving technique. This process is somewhat unique to waterjet manufacturing and cannot easily be achieved with laser cutting. The waterjet can cut the stack-up as if it’s cutting a normal layout. This can lead to increased productivity from 50% through 500%+ depending on the actual material thickness and how many sheets are stacked. Eventually economies of scale diminish with a stack that has the overall or combined height of .500” (1/2”) or (13mm).
MILCO will help you determine your optimum level of stacking based upon your unique job. One drawback to stacking up numerous sheets is: precision begins to decrease as material height increases.
Your part’s geometry, specifications, and tolerances have a direct effect on the level or degree it can be stacked. For example if the part has small holes, typically the parts on the top of the stack will tend to be cleaner and more round then the parts on the bottom of the stack.
There is extra time needed in setup when stacking materials to make sure the parts will not float away or the plates shift when cutting. Stacking is mostly useful when working with extremely thin materials such as 0.040" (1 mm) sheet or large production runs.
Stacking Dissimilar Materials
It is possible to waterjet cut materials that are layered and of different compositions. .
The best range for stacking material is .400” to .600” thick. The taller the stack the slower the material cuts.
Although, it is certainly possible to stack 2" or even more, the effect of worse edge finish and striations become more apparent as the stack gets thicker.
