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WARDJet Options
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Drill and then cut with waterjet Some materials such as laminated shim stock, certain laminated composites and phenolics may de-laminate during the piercing process. WARDJet’s Pneumatic Drill allows a hole to automatically be drilled through the material at a specific offset from the waterjet cutting head. Once the hole is drilled the waterjet will then automatically start the cut inside the pre-drilled hole. Our CAD/CAM program can automate this entire process.
Waterjet cut and then ream hole to tight toleranceWhen cutting large numbers of holes, it could be a lot quicker to cut the hole with the waterjet to close tolerances, and then use a reamer to bring the hole to final size. WARDJet’s Pneumatic Reamer can be automatically configured to do this with ease. This feature also includes a protective cover to be put in place when not in use.
WARDJet’s innovative height sensor is practical, compact, easy-to-use and proven to work well. One height sensor can be installed on each carriage on any of WARDJet’s waterjet systems. So, if you have three carriages and three different cutting heads, they can all operate independently with their own height sensor simultaneously. A height sensor can free up the operators time, opening the opportunity for multitasking, and contributing to an increased efficiency in operation of the waterjet. This feature can dramatically reduce the potential for broken nozzles by automatically adjusting the height of the cutting head to maintain a fixed distance between the nozzle and the material regardless of any variances in the material. By keeping the cutting head at a set distance above the material, one can cut faster with a better quality finish.
The WARDJet bevel head option allows you to bevel to over 45 degrees! All of the required high-pressure plumbing, servomotors and activation of rotational axis servo drive are included. The operator can easily set the angle of the cut and make changes to this throughout the part program. This feature does so much more then just ‘compensate for taper’ – give us a call and we’ll be happy to show you. This option requires an LCD 10 controller.
WARDJet’s wireless hand held pendant is invaluable when working on larger tables or, for example, when you want to load parts at the back of the machine while cutting at the front! The pendant has a range of up to 300’ from the controller and features all key operations needed to operate a waterjet – such as moving and jogging the carriages, height adjustment, cutting on/off and an E-Stop function. The pendant allows the operator to make adjustments to the location and height of the cutting head without having to return to the controller.
Adding an optical tracing eye to a WARDJet waterjet allows the controller to work as a larger digitizer. The camera is mounted next to the cutting head and will follow any black line, drawing the shape traced onto the screen of the controller. This shape can then be exported to the CAD / CAM software, modified, checked, dimensioned, and then sent back to the controller to cut the desired material. The optical tracing eye is ideal for tracing large templates like kitchen counter tops and large parts that need to be cut, but do not have drawings available. This option requires an LCD 10 controller.
This system automatically lubricates the bearings and ball screws of your machine. It must be remembered that WARDJet machines are designed for easy and quick maintenance without needing automated systems like this. However, some companies do require automatic lubrication, and hence this option is available.
If an LCD 10 controller is supplied with the WARDJet system, it can be upgraded to operate as a fully programmable Z-carriage at any time. Even if you have 4 independent Z-carriages, they can all be set to have programmable Z capabilities on the same machine and work simultaneously. This option allows you to program the height of the cutting head along with the shape being cut in the X and Y direction. So you could, for example, cut a shape into a ball, keeping the cutting head a set distance above the ball at all times.
This option would include several nozzles being installed in the bottom of your waterjet tank, which would be used to remove the abrasive. Abrasive would then be pumped out and deposited into a storage hopper. If you are interested in also being able to recycle your abrasive and reuse it, you should consider our WARD units. The WARDJet abrasive removal system is built to remove abrasive and kerf material from the tank. As with all removal-only systems, drops will not be removed. For further clarification on this option feel free to contact us. This option is a great choice to dramatically reduce the amount of shoveling, and downtime, required to empty your tank if you don’t have an abrasive removal system. This is one of the most popular options, and if not initially selected, will likely get to the top of the list once you have shoveled out your tank a few times!
Independent Cutting Head on Z-Carriage
The benefit of having separate cutting heads on completely independent Z-Carriages is the freedom the operator has to place the heads as close or as far apart as desired within seconds. They can then be locked into position using the stabilizing bar that goes between the two carriages. This option can easily double your production by giving you 2 parts, if you have 2 heads, cut at the same time. Each WARDJet Z-Carriage has its own motor driven height adjustment, and can be configured to have an independent height sensor. Several of our customers are operating up to 4 independent Z-Carriages on the same system, allowing them to cut 4 parts at a time. (View the R-Series video to see this in action)
Some waterjet facilities have a need to reuse the water that is used as cooling water in the intensifier. A chiller is an excellent way to do this. It will provide a closed loop system for the cooling water. The size of your chiller will be dependent upon the size of your pump. The larger your pump the larger the chiller required to generate enough cooled water for the system. It has been our experience that the use of 65°F cooling water is sufficient for this application. We recommend that chillers be operated in a space with 95°F ambient temperature or cooler.
This option projects a laser crosshair image on to the table to allow you to line the part up or to rotate the program to fit the orientation of the material on the table. The laser is mounted next to the cutting head on the same Z-Carriage. The controller will automatically adjust to the appropriate offset between the laser and the nozzle. This is the fastest method we’ve seen to get your cutting head lined up with the part to be cut, and begin cutting. The vast majority of WARDJet customer’s select this option and they love it!
The WARDJet variable speed mini-hopper now allows the abrasive flow to be reduced automatically from within the software and the program. When cutting stone, glass, ceramic tiles, laminates, phoenalics, lexan, acrylic, composites, carbon fiber or any material that is fragile, brittle or is difficult to pierce, a low-pressure pierce is critical to reduce the risk of damage to the material in the pierce procedure. As the water pressure is reduced, so the abrasive flow to the cutting head needs to be reduced to balance the reduction in vacuum generated by the cutting head. The result is less blockages in the pierce procedure, and a substantial increase in consistency when low pressure piercing.
Recycling of your abrasive could reduce the operating cost of running a waterjet system substantially. Additional details about the WARD recycling systems are available in the abrasive recycling section of our website. All WARDJet waterjet systems come with the built-in manifolds necessary to operate a WARD recycling unit. This means your WARDJet waterjet system is ready for recycling to be added at any stage.
Want feedback from your waterjet about what’s going on in production? If so, this feature is for you! The optional PLC will generate reports on a variety of activities happening at your waterjet. For example, if the controller is networked, it can email you to indicate the number of parts cut that day, the total cut time, the current operating temperature of your pump, or the number of hours on your machine. It can notify you when a job starts cutting or is finished. It can notify you if a pump is running hot and needs attention. For management this information can be invaluable in allowing you to schedule maintenance as well as have a feel for what’s happening out on the floor. If you have a broadband phone, it could even be possible to turn the machine off from your phone if you wanted to! WARDJet’ is regularly adding additional sensors to provide you with even more information from your machine.
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