Ask Dr. Hashish

Dr. Mohamed Hashish is the inventor of the abrasive waterjet and an expert in high pressure design and tribology. Go ahead; ask him your most curious waterjet questions!

Can a Mach 4 Machine accurately cut 2-5/8" Titanium?

Yes, it can definitely cut through 2-5/8” Titanium!

Based on the relationship between the waterjet and titanium, titanium actually cuts faster than stainless steel. We have customers who cut over 5" of Titanium every day.

Most accuracies in the waterjet industry will yield +/- .005" - .010" of tolerance. With Flow's patented Dynamic Waterjet taper control technology, we have the ability to control tolerances as accurate as +/- .001.   

Can a waterjet cut Tungusten metal?

Although Tungsten metal is extremely hard, it can be cut using a Flow Waterjet!

Flow Waterjets are one of the most versatile machine tools, cutting everything from baby diapers to very hard materials like Tungsten!

What are the benefits purchasing a Waterjet compared to a CNC Plasma or a laser?

A waterjet is hands down the most versatile machine tool in the market; it can cut anything.

A Flow waterjet can cut types of metals from mild steel, stainless, aluminum, and titanium at nearly any thickness. A waterjet opens doors to other materials as well, such as stone, glass, and composites.

Another strong benefit to using a Flow waterjet is it's a cold cutting process – there is no heat affected zone. That means you can have a satin smooth edge that does not need any grinding or finishing. Because it's a cold cutting process there is no slag, dross, or change in material properties.

What is the hardest material that a pure waterjet can cut?

A pure waterjet uses only water and no abrasives. The rule of thumb is that if you can cut it with scissors, you can cut it with water only. This limits pure waterjet to mainly softer material. The most common materials cut with water are gaskets, paper, rubber, and food.

What is the most important benefit in a waterjet machine?

There are many benefits when using a waterjet, it is difficult to narrow them down to just one. There are two equally important benefits to waterjet that separate it from other machine tools; versatility and no heat affected zone.

• Versatility: Flow waterjets enable you to cut a variety of material with ease using a single machine. Metal, stone, plastic, composite, glass, ceramics, and more can all be cut with a single Flow Waterjet. The same system can also cut a variety of thicknesses - most Flow Waterjets can cut up to 8" thick.
  
  
• No heat affected zone:  Waterjet cutting is a cold cutting process. Heat can have a negative effect changing the structure and properties of metal alloys. Waterjet cutting is high-speed erosion which does not affect the structure and allows for many layer to be cut simultaneously.

Can a Waterjet cut 24" of Stone that is square, circle, or tapered?

Absolutely! Waterjet cutting is high speed erosion focused through a tiny jeweled orifice with pressures up to 94,000 PSI.

Waterjets are great for cutting thick material; though 24" is really thick and would take a LONG time.

Waterjet allows for highly intricate designs, inlays, and mosaics in stone – no other cutting technology is better suited for intricate stone cutting than waterjet.

Take a look at Flow's Mach 4R Waterjet Saw for the best combination of saw straight line speed and waterjet precision and detail – specifically designed for the stone industry. 

When etching, how is the lead in/out set without ruining the design?

When etching with a Flow Waterjet draw your lead-ins and lead-outs in FlowMaster on a line in the design with no offset.

That should let you etch without ruining your design.  

In addition to hard materials such as steel, can a Flow waterjet also cut soft materials such as carpet?

All Flow machines can be fitted with a water-only cutting head – adding to their ultimate versatility. Flow accessories such as the water-only cutting head are all backwards compatible and can be retrofitted to existing Flow waterjet systems.

For more information on adding a water-only cutting head, feel free to contact our Customer Service Department at 800-446-3569.  

Can the length of the waterjet stream be controlled?

Waterjet is the right tool for many cutting applications, but the depth of the stream cannot be controlled. The water and abrasive must be stopped by something and usually that is a tank of water. Without something to stop or slow the force of the stream it will cut and erode anything in its path.  

 
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