What can a waterjet cutter cut?

You can watch just about anything on YouTube and a popular channel at the moment is the Waterjet Channel. Run by two Americans, Dan Hicken and Mitchell Fillmore have recorded a series of videos showing their high pressure 60,000 psi (pounds per square inch) waterjet cutter slicing through everything from a car battery, an iPhone 7, a bowling ball and a light bulb.

How a waterjet cutter works

Despite the recent buzz that the Waterjet Channel has generated, waterjet cutting is not new and the first waterjet cutters were being used as a modern metal machining tool as early as the 1930s.

A waterjet cutter works not only due to the extremely high pressure of the water but due to the addition of abrasives – in the case of the Waterjet Channel, it’s very fine garnet that is fed into the nozzle of the waterjet, and then mixes with the water before it is forced out at a very high pressure (60,000 psi), capable of cutting a huge range of items without damaging them.

The advantage of waterjet cutters is that they do not create heat. Heat can change the properties of certain materials and in doing so, damages the inherent structure of the material being cut.

At ShapeCUT, we cut all grades, sizes and thicknesses of steel and stainless steel. If we could use a waterjet cutter to produce the same results that our laser cutting, high definition plasma cutting and oxy cutting machines are currently delivering, we would add waterjet cutting to our comprehensive list of services.

For profile cutting projects of any size and shape, delivered with speed and precision, contact us for a quote on your metal cutting project today.