JXL-86 High Speed, Pure Water, Waterjet Cutting System

We are currently in the process of building a JXL-86 with an off-loading platform and pinch roller.  It will feature a chain feed system and XL-Controller. This automated system is generating a lot of interest and has proven itself to be a great solution for higher speed water only applications.

Rich

WARDJet is pleased to announce that their website is now available in multiple languages.

Spanish, German, Russian, Portuguese and Chinese.

IGEMS Training Center

We always want to make running a waterjet as easy as possible.  Today we added the IGEMS Training Center to our web site, to make it easy for anyone to learn more about the capabilities of the software, as well as try it out.   There are 25 videos there to explore as of today.  http://www.wardjet.com/igems-training-center.html   If you want to download a version to play with, go to the download section of the web – bottom right hand side.  http://www.wardjet.com/downloads.html 

Rich

Controller Retrofits - NO Need To Buy A New Waterjet

Retrofit your older controller with a WARDJet X-Series controller.  Customers love being able to have all the capabilities of a new WARDJet waterjet on their old – sometimes VERY old waterjets.  It takes a couple of days and your Allen Bradley, Higerman, Calypso and virtually any controller can be changed over.  Get  warranty and guarantee on a controller that is simply amazing and renew the life of your waterjet.  Call for a quotation.  It is far more affordable than you would think!

Rich

Side Guards For 5-Axis Cutting

Multiple safety precautions are taken as standard with a 5-axis Psy-Winder along with easy, neat, simple to use covers that fold down for loading and unloading.  Sensors provide an additional layer of safety.

Rich

Milling an 18' 4" Cross Beam

Yes we build machines a lot larger than the standard units seen on the web.  Here is a cross beam that will be 18 feet 4 inches long with 6 cutting heads that can all be positioned independently.  This will be particularly important with automatic nesting of the 6 heads.

Rich

WARDJet New Website

You may have noticed our new web site, which if you are looking at the blog, you will be viewing.  This site has been 6 months in the making with a great team of people at WARDJet which will allow WARDJet to expand and offer infinitely more technology than we could before.  High definition videos can play at high speed, a full interactive on-line store will be launched soon, and there are many more things behind the scenes that all work to enhance our capabilities.  Keep dropping in and visiting the site and you will see for yourself.  Thanks for being interested and being a part of our team.

Rich

5 axis Psy-Winder

Here are a few photos showing a bit more of the workings of a 5 axis Psy-Winder being built today.  Note the one photo has light in the background.  This is not a trick!  Our new circuit boards have lights built into the board with a switch so if you need to look at anything, simply flip the switch on the circuit board, and the light comes on.  Pretty cool we think... and another bright idea making a difference to WARDJet customers.

Rich

Blind Hole Drilling and Tapping

We have offered drilling and tapping of holes for years, but we now offer drilling and tapping of blind holes.  We can put as many drills and thread milling setups on a single cross beam as you would like, and then cut the profile out with the waterjet.  We also have an excellent method of auto-lubrication of the drilling and tapping.

WARDJet – we keep moving forward and having fun while we do!

http://www.wardjet.com/video-blind-hole-tapping.asp

Rich

WARD PRO Production

We are thrilled as are our customers with the WARD PRO production.  The changes we made from the WARD 1 which include integrated dust and steam collector, smaller overall size to fit 2 units side by side in a standard container for shipping overseas along with CE certification has all worked for the good. 

Rich

Steel Fabrication Plate

We had some fun last week installing a 20 foot x 16 foot steel pad that is level to 0.010”.  We used our FARO TRACKER to check the installation levels – a bit extreme use of such a tool.  The idea is we looked for months for large platens with no success.  So we selected a portion of our shop floor, surveyed and shimmed it so when we laid two 8’ x 20’ sheets into the grout surrounding the shims, we would have a good welding platform for our fabrication.  We are now doing all fabrication in house.

Rich

CNC Milling

May 2010 be a wonderful year for us all.  I am excited and looking forward to the next 12 months as WARDJet get an opportunity to expand and implement our technology developed over the years. 

We are off to a great start to 2010 with new orders over the Christmas - New Year’s period.  We also figured out how to map compensation tables into our large CNC milling machine using our metrology equipment.  This is great as our waterjets will be even more mechanically excellent when it comes to positional and repeatability tolerances.  As a result, mapping compensation built into our controllers, although always there, becomes less critical and all around our machines reach even tighter tolerances.

Rich

Custom Built Waterjet Tanks

The design principles of WARDJet tanks reach beyond our own use.  We now offer and build replacement tanks to our specifications that use WARDJet Job Shop Grates, along with easy to install Abrasive Removal Only Systems.

Rich

Shipping a couple of waterjets

When shipping over the winter period we take special care to ensure no water is anywhere in the system.  With temperatures of 17 deg F, things tend to freeze quickly.  We once purchased a used system and the owner never removed the water prior to shipping, even though we were assured it had been, and the filter housings along with other components all cracked.  It was quite interesting.  None of the high pressure components were damaged.   But nothing like a direct drive pump we once got that was full of water.  It literally cracked the casing!

Rich

Controller Retrofits

WARDJet continues to receive requests to retrofit controllers on other waterjet systems.  More information on this opportunity is listed on the web under the controller section.  http://wardjet.com/controllers.asp 

An advantage of installing a X-Classic or XL-Series controller is most of the features available on the WARDJet waterjets should be able to work on any machine.  There are restrictions on how the machine is built etc, but being able to use your older waterjet as a digitizer, have full remote control, wireless PDA pendent etc and most of the accessories WARDJet offer might be available to you.  http://wardjet.com/WardjetAccessories.asp 

The ability to map and volumetrically calibrate your entire system and compensate for inaccuracies also opens up.  So if you have a waterjet that is not the most accurate, it might be possible to compensate for some of the inaccuracies with the intelligence and capabilities of the WARDJet controller.  If you have any questions give us a call.

Rich

Z-813 Waterjet - Floor Model Ships

It always puts a smile on my face when we are told by a prospective customer they can buy a 'floor model' from another company at a good price. I can't help asking myself, how many floor models do people have! Do they build machines and then use the excuse to discount a unit as floor model? Well, here are photos of our floor model shipping today. It was built in September 2006, and has been used every day to demonstrate our waterjet capabilities to anyone who comes to visit. We replaced it 2 weeks ago with a ZX-813 with the X-Classic controller along with several options and capabilities that are not available on the 3 year old treasure. We also sold it with a shorter as-new warranty so we took the opportunity to strip it down and go over the unit with a toothcomb. We re-mapped and ball barred the unit and were able to see any wear patterns etc. What was pleasing to us all, is the great shape of all the working components such as ball screws, bearing, linear rails etc. So, yes we do sell 'floor models', which at our current rate is every 3 years. Sorry if you were looking for a good deal on a great machine. Give us a call in 2 1/2 years and I am sure we can get you an excellent deal.☺

Rich

Slide Show On J-Series, R-Series and Z-Series

To help show more details on each of our models of waterjets, we now have a slide show.  If you want to see all the slides at one time, click the lower right hand side and then click on the Album.  You will see all the photos in the slide show and be able to jump around a bit more.  http://www.wardjet.com/J-Series.asp

Rich

Launch of Waterjet Cutting Applications Web Page

We launched the Waterjet Cutting Applications page on our website today.  http://wardjet.com/applications.asp  The idea is to show pictures and details of different applications of waterjet cutting.  This will grow rapidly and should be an interesting place to see what can be done with waterjet.

Rich

24 Hour Tech Support

If anyone is looking for tech support after hours, this is now available by emailing in your details on our tech support page.  This then notifies a technician on duty of your request who will reply accordingly.  http://wardjet.com/supportrequest.asp 

Rich 

New Videos Added to Website

We are constantly adding new videos to our website.  Some of the latest are on the video library link http://www.wardjet.com/videolibrary.asp   New videos to be seen include training on IGEMS R8.

Rich

Interrupt a Part, Cut Another, Then Return And Continue Cutting The First Part

As a job shop it is important to be able to interrupt a part you are cutting and go and cut another part. Often a single cut could take hours, and when the need arises to cut a small part that will only take a few minutes, you don’t want to have to wait till you finish the longer cutting part. A feature called Job Interrupt makes this easy on the WARDJet controllers. You simply Interrupt the job you are cutting, jog the head off to the new job, start cutting it, and when finished, return to the previous job and continue. The Jump Panel makes this all a piece of cake.

Rich

WARDJet Challenge 2- Which Grate Support System is Better Suited To Your Waterjet Cutting Application

There are many choices of supporting your material when cutting with waterjet.  In our second CHALLENGE, we explore the differences between 7 types of grates and supports, and discuss why one may be better than another for a specific application.  This is not a subject that it talked about much so it should be enlightening.  http://wardjet.com/Challenge_Grates.asp

Rich

 

June Newsletter

Our June newsletter was sent out today.  Plenty has happened in the last 6 weeks.  We launched the JX-813 Pure Water, self loading and unloading system.  Launched our Pinch Roller feed system.  Started the WARDJet Challenge on the web site.  Launched WATERJET UNIVERSITY.  Offered a full XL-Controller retrofit for Calypso waterjets with one or 2 heads, including WARDJet height sensors.  So plenty to read and see.  Certainly it has been a fun 6 weeks.  http://www.wardjet.com/newsletters/WARDJet-June-Newsletter.pdf

Rich

 

Cutting Stacked, Perforated Aluminum Sheets

We stacked 5 sheets of thin aluminum sheets that were perforated with tens of thousands of small holes.  We wanted to see the effect of raising the nozzle to be 1/8”, ¼” and ½” above the surface of the material.  We expected the small perforated holes to have more of an effect on the integrity of the lower sheets, but as you can see, the damage was minimal.  We cut the sheets at 60,000 psi with a 10/30 orifice / nozzle combination at 100 ipm.  We also stacked 10 sheets thick and cut at 50 ipm, but we did see serious degradation of the quality of the cut through to the bottom.  Higher speeds of course are achievable, but this application does not allow higher than 100 ipm for various reasons.

Rich

Boeing, Rolls Royce and Sheffield University

I had a fantastic time last week at the board meeting of the AMRC, a joint venture with Sheffield University, Boeing and Rolls Royce.   I was invited to be on the board of directors so this was my first board meeting.  WARDJet is the waterjet supplier of the research and development center.  I knew the AMRC had a good reputation for the work they did in the aerospace industry, but really never fully understood the degree to which highly advanced R&D is done.  We really count it a privilege to be a part of the AMRC.  There is a bit more about this on the web with links to their site.  http://wardjet.com/AMRC-Boeing.asp

Rich

Gear Cutting Thick Material

Gear cutting can be made easier in many areas with a waterjet. Here are a few photos. It is easy to pick up the middle of the ring using sensors to ensure circularity.

Rich