Above: Incoming jobs at Cal-Cat vary, with material sizes ranging from 18 gauge to 2 inches thick. The Mach 500 makes switching gauges easy to maneuver.

Click and feed, a fabricator stays competitive by investing in precision machinery, maintenance and support

February 2018 - Easy to access and highly maneuverable components make the day-to-day job of Marcus Groves, waterjet operator at Cal-Cat Industries in Hughson, California, easier to manage.

“Features like the continuous-feed abrasive hopper, which allows me to continue cutting without stopping the machine to fill it, saves time,” Groves says.

Located in a small agricultural community in the Central Valley, Cal-Cat offers part design, fabrication and installation services. The company purchased a Flow Mach 500 waterjet to increase speed and accuracy.

Groves cuts several types of materials on any given day, including aluminum to steel from 18 gauge to 2 inches thick. The Mach 500 computer software is fast, loads files quickly and keeps up with the speed of the waterjet, claims Grove, who previously worked with an older waterjet and  found he was unable to access the sides or back of the machine easily.

Changing materials is easy, accomplished with a couple of clicks. The software and cutting head automatically set feed rates and eliminate taper.

“The Mach 500 allows me to access all four sides, making it easier to load parts and plate and move it off,” he says. “Older machines I’ve worked with had bigger bellows that were harder to access. It was a pain and an all-day task. On the Mach 500, I can just wipe them down and if I need to do some cleanup, I can bring the bellows in and do it easily.”

Prevention package

“Everything about the Mach 500 is designed with maximum productivity and minimum downtime in mind,” says Evan Washington, Flow application specialist for the Southwest U.S. “Cal-Cat is set up with our new preventive maintenance plan as well. After every 500 hours of run time, they get a shipment with a factory rebuilt intensifier and all the consumables they need. Then a Flow technician shows up and knocks out the maintenance work.”

According to Groves, switching between materials is easy. With a couple of clicks, Groves quickly selects a material type and thickness. The software and cutting head automatically eliminates the taper and sets the feed rates.

Waterjet cutting is Groves’ preferred choice over alternatives like laser. “There’s not much in the way of health hazards when running a waterjet when you’re cutting stainless, for example, whereas with a laser you’re creating poisonous chemicals in the air that you have to filter out,” Groves says. “With waterjet, I’m just working with water pressure and [garnet].”

Machine overview

The Mach 500 is Flow’s flagship model. A two-piece, steel machine with the XY separate from the catcher tank, it features THK precision ball screws and Yasakawa drives. It is available in numerous configurations and capable of cutting with pressures of up to 94,000 psi. Flow is a sole-source provider of waterjet systems including the software, pump, XY motion system as well as a full customer support system. Flow employs technicians across North America and recently hired five more techs, three of whom are located in the Southwest with plans to hire more people in 2019, says Washington. Flow also has local application specialists and regional business managers.

“Flow feels that it is extremely important to have local service and support,” Washington says. “When customers [shut] down it can bring their entire business to a halt. We need to be able to respond as quickly as possible.”

The Flow Mach 500 is easy to access both to clean and to add garnet cutting medium.

Learning curve

Groves became interested in waterjet cutting through prior work experience. “I was exposed to it and taught myself how to work the waterjet at my previous job,” says Groves. “After spending hours on the machine, I’ve developed an expertise and when I’m cutting a new material or set up, Flow provides a manual I can easily reference. That’s backed up with great tech support that I can call anytime. They’ve walked me through a few situations and that has allowed me to continue to learn about waterjet cutting.”

Groves recently was in the midst of cutting perforated material when he encountered a problem. “I was having trouble loading the file so Flow had me email exactly what I was working on.  They came back to me and let me know what to do with the file to get it fixed,” he says. “It was just minor adjustments I needed to tweak on the .dxf file and I was able to continue cutting.”

According to Flow’s Washington, “We have multiple levels of support. Whether you need a quick question answered about your existing waterjet; or you have an advanced application on exotic material; or you need help exploring whether or not a waterjet is a good fit, we are here to help.”

An operator working the Mach 500 has peace of mind so that when he or she is presented with a one-off job, there is timely tech support in the wings. “We cut mostly stainless and aluminum but [tech support is helpful] if a titanium job comes up, for example,” explains Groves. “I can call Flow for backup and they walk me through exactly how best to approach the job. It’s just really good support.

“Overall, it’s the subtle differences that make the biggest impression,” he continues. “The entire experience working on the Mach 500 has allowed me to be more efficient and I’m learning a lot.” MM