Wardjet: About the M-Series

(Patent Pending)

Use your mill, laser, wood router, robotic arm, oxy-fuel or plasma cutter as a waterjet, and drive the intensifier off compressed air in your shop! There is nothing stopping you from doing this with the WARDJet M-Series. Just connect up your water from the tap and compressed air and you have a multi-purpose waterjet cutting system on your floor.

You probably already own the machinery that makes up the bulk of the cost of any waterjet purchase. Now you can adapt what you own into a multi-tasking system by bringing waterjet cutting into your facility at an unbelievably low price and with the least amount of effort.

How do I use my mill, laser, wood router, robotic arm, oxy-fuel or plasma cutter as a waterjet?

All WARDJet waterjets are designed to handle the water and abrasive mixture traveling at over 2000 mph, sometimes in all directions. Our systems stand up to this extremely aggressive environment very well. However, trying to cut with a waterjet on any CNC mill or wood router etc. would be tantamount to throwing buckets of sand and water all over your most treasured machine. We agree that this is not a pretty sight or thought. Not to mention that the waterjet stream would probably cut right through the supporting bed under the material. All reason enough to presume your equipment can’t be used as a waterjet, right? We are happy to say that we have proven that presumption to be WRONG.

The M-Series is designed from years of experience in retrofitting machines that were not built to work as waterjets. It is built to address every situation that can be encountered in waterjet cutting. It is simple, easy-to-use, practical, and allows you to use virtually any CNC controlled system, regardless of the number of programmable axes, as a waterjet.

A simple explanation of how we do this follows:

ball bearing tank The 30” depth of water typically used in a tank to dissipate the excess energy of the waterjet stream is replaced with a bed of ball bearings. This allows us to offer different M-Series tanks with a 3.5”, 5” or 8” deep layer of balls to match your cutting needs. Different size tanks are also available for different size CNC machines.

A ‘tent’ specifically designed and built to contain all the abrasive and water inside the tank makes it possible to keep all M-Series waterjets compact and self contained.

A flushing system removes abrasive from inside the tank for disposal.

Different waterjet pumps are available to match your cutting needs.

‘Hooking into’ outputs used to operate the mill, or whatever system you are going to use your M-Series with, activates the waterjet cutting head and abrasive feed system.

The M-Series Waterjet Tank

M-Series waterjets come in different sizes offering various capabilities from cutting ½” to 4” thick steel. Custom sizes can be built. Standard models are:

3.5” depth
ball bearings
5” depth
ball bearings 8” depth
ball bearings cutting envelope

M1-35
M2-35 M1-50
M2-50 M1-80
M2-80 16” x 30"
24” x 48”

There are two different standard size tanks and three different depths of balls offered in the M-Series waterjets, for a total of six standard size tanks. To cut thicker material, a greater depth of balls is needed to dissipate the waterjet energy. Along with the increased depth of balls comes an increase in weight of the tank.

Standard depths of ball bearings are 3.5”, 5” and 8”.

Standard cutting envelopes offered in the M-Series are 16” x 30” and 24” x 48”. The M1-Series tanks are made to fit most mills, yet still have a large enough cutting envelope to cut any part up to 16” x 30”. The M2-Series tanks are made to allow a standard 4’ x 8’ sheet of material to be cut into smaller pieces 24” x 48” and fit inside the tank.

Parts being cut are supported on the M-Series grates modeled after the very successful WARDJet Job Shop Grates, while using ball bearings to dissipate the energy.

A clamping system that allows parts to be positioned anywhere on the grates is practical and easy to use. The ‘tent’ that covers the tank is built of tough water and abrasive resistant material. It is shaped to give the cutting head total freedom of movement within the entire cutting envelope of the tank and keep all abrasive and material inside. Clear windows allow loading and unloading of parts, as well as light into the tent, making it easy to see what is going on inside while you are cutting.

A series of water powered jets flush any abrasive out from the bottom of the tank, keeping it clean at all times. The wastewater and material flow through a filter that catches the abrasive, and the residual water flows on to the drain.

Each M-Series tank comes ready to be moved by crane or forklift, with ball bearings, spare balls, tent, abrasive cutting head, abrasive feed system, high-pressure tubing, clamping system and clamps, manual, instructional video and guidance on waterjet cutting.

M-Series Waterjet Pumps

M-Series owners have a selection of pumps to choose from:

30 hp ultra high-pressure intensifier pump - 35,000 psi

50 hp ultra high-pressure intensifier pump - 60,000 psi

Pumps

It is very important to balance your selection of pump with your cutting needs. So WARDJet machines can be supplied with a variety of pumps. Choices include intensifier pumps operating at up to 60,000 psi: 30hp, 50hp, 75hp, 100hp, and150hp are available. Often there are used pumps available as a lower cost option. Feel free to give us a call to ensure you have the right pump for your application. We can also help you select a pump that will be able to support the number of cutting heads you will be running.

Controller Operation

Because the M-Series waterjets are stand-alone units, there is no need to learn any new controller or programming. The same programming used to run your existing machine can be used to operate the waterjet motion.

CAD / CAM Software

As with the controller, if you already have CAD / CAM software, there may not be any need to use any other software. This is particularly true if you are cutting softer or thinner materials where look-ahead features to vary speed in corners and on radii is not critical. It may be necessary to purchase CAM software that has the intelligence to do this if cutting thicker materials or if tighter tolerances are needed. WARDJet can supply CAM software and configure the output to match any G & M Code and most any other code needed to operate any machine.

Training

WARDJet offers a 2-day waterjet training class specifically for M-Series owners at our facility in Kent, Ohio. These classes are aimed at teaching all the basic principles of waterjet operation, service and maintenance of the M-Series. Please check our training schedule for dates or call for more information.

Wardjet training center