Above: West Coast Waterjet produced artwork cut from 1⁄4-inch-thick powder-coated aluminum for The Walter Soboleff Building at Sealaska Heritage in Juno, Alaska.

Harnessing the power of water to cut anything and everything is fitting for this seaside shop

May 2016 - Set by the edge of Salmon Bay near Fisherman’s Terminal in Seattle, West Coast Waterjet wanted to accelerate the job shop’s cutting processes to outbid the competition. With over a decade working with a number of different waterjet manufacturers, Production Manager Zach Boguth favors Kent, Washington’s Flow Corp. 

“Everything we cut spans any number of industries,” Boguth says. “We work on parts that end up in the art world, aerospace and—being based in the Northwest U.S.—a lot of marine work.” 

Cutting aluminum, mild and stainless steels, copper, brass, titanium and Inconel, with forays into glass, plastic and wood foam, West Coast Waterjet’s jobs rarely mirror each other from one day to the next. 

“It’s always different. Sometimes we have a large production order that we run for weeks while others are smaller batches or a few parts per order and can be cut from glass one minute and titanium the next,” Boguth says. “We’ll cut material as thin as 0.002 inch all the way up to 12 inches and we can switch between with ease and reach tolerances as tight as 0.005 inch.”

West Coast Waterjet cuts a wide range of materials and gauges such as 8-inch-thick, grade 7050 aluminum.

Boguth believes Flow’s dual Dynamic XD cutting heads allow the shop to cut faster without worrying that the finished material will fail to meet tolerances. Flow’s 60-degree Dynamic XD is particularly useful when cutting beveled edges without losing accuracy. 

Power surge

Prior to purchasing the Mach4 C4030 90,000 psi waterjet, West Coast cut with the standard 60,000 psi pressure. “In a lot of ways the Mach4 has been experimental for us,” Boguth explains. “It’s the first time we’ve run one with 90,000 psi. The dynamic head has allowed us to cut thicker and higher tolerance parts and it’s made us more competitive—we win more jobs that we couldn’t before because it doesn’t take as long to get parts through the shop.”

West Coast found Flow’s intensifier pump is a key feature because it helps the machine cut faster than other pumps out there, while using less abrasive. “Other manufacturers can maybe cut as fast or almost as fast but they’re using two times the abrasive down the mixing tube to get that speed,” Boguth says. “The garnet is the number one cost of operating a waterjet.” 

According to Flow, using the higher psi results in 30 to 50 percent less abrasive. Taper is reduced up to 0.001 inches and cuts twice as fast as standard 60,000 psi units. The Dynamic Waterjet with Active Tolerance Control can cut parts 25 to 400 percent faster to the same tolerance than conventional flat stock waterjet cutting machines. Conventional waterjets must slow down cutting to avoid issues with stream lag and taper, whereas the Dynamic Waterjet automatically compensates for these issues, resulting in faster, more accurate cutting, says Adam Mooneyham, regional manager at Flow. 

Cutting two parts at the same time is a huge advantage realized by those using a dual head compared to a single—an increase in machine throughput by 35 to 40 percent with lower abrasive consumption per part. “The underbridge lighting system is an added benefit that allows users to more easily see parts while cutting,” explains Mooneyham. “LED lighting on a 6- by 12-foot cutting zone gives the customer the assurance that they’re hitting the mark where it needs to be cut.”

Taper is minimized to less than 0.001-inch and the overall cost per part is reduced and time is saved by not requiring secondary deburring processing after cutting. “Anyone can learn the workings of the machine as Flow developed its software to be used by someone without any background in waterjet cutting,” Mooneyham says. Drawings of parts are easily input into the machine as a CAD file or as a scanned drawing uploaded directly into the FlowMaster software.

The waterjet’s programming software allows for full model solid programming and design options like integrated sequencing on parts. 

West Coast Waterjet cuts 6-inch-thick grade 6AL-4V titanium using its Flow Mach4 C4030, featuring design options like integrated sequencing on parts.

Expanding reach

Flow also offers the Dynamic XD with a 5-axis head. Researchers at the manufacturer’s application lab provide customers with service and support while testing out various cutting applications on multiple materials. Customer support is on call. “Whether it’s a programming issue, where we can log into their machine remotely to solve, or if a technician is needed, we’re available,” Mooneyham says.

The seasoned workers at West Coast have adapted to Flow’s technology and ramped up output. 

“The combined experience of the team here all working to use the Mach4 has helped us reach the new levels of production we couldn’t arrive at before,” Boguth says. “We bought our waterjet originally for cutting fiberglass insulation for boats and since then have uncovered more possibilities, like cutting parts for the aerospace and marine industries.”

And while the Seattle fabricator defaulted to Flow for its latest purchases, that doesn’t mean Boguth and his team didn’t conduct their due diligence. 

“We’re always evaluating the competition and what’s out there,” he says. “We keep watch for what is coming into the marketplace but Flow ended up being the technological edge we felt we needed to get ahead of competitors.”

Incorporating the latest technology at the shop, says Boguth, has “been pretty easy in large part because we have a big inventory of parts on hand and they’re easy to get, so we can keep things going without much downtime.” MM