If a picture is worth a thousand words, a GIF must be worth at least ten times that. And we think that’s just the right amount to show you the power and precision of waterjet cutting.
Waterjet cutters use a narrow stream of ultra-high pressure water to slice nearly anything, including plastics, metals – even rock. Here are 11 GIFs that show how water and pressure can make clean, even cuts.
Camera
This makes it easy to picture the power of waterjet cutting. Each layer of this camera (which includes plastic, metal and glass) has been cleanly sliced without wavering.
Baseball
Even the farthest home run ball wouldn’t split this evenly. Waterjet pressure can reach up to 90,000 psi.
Jawbreaker Candy
Waterjets are so powerful, this jawbreaker – made of solidified sugar – needed to be secured to the table with puddy. The glossy inner core of this cut shows how smooth a jet of water can be
Rubber Band Ball
Remember making rubber band balls in high school? The normally soft rubber on the outer core could get rock hard. Watch as this one splits open, spilling the inner bands.
Bowling Pin
This cut shows the smooth grain of the wood and pockets on the inside of this bowling pin. (Insert some joke about a seven-ten split.)
Rock and Crystal
This geode is split open to reveal the undamaged inside.
Binoculars
Take a closer look. These binoculars, like the camera, are made of plastic and metal with glass lenses. Even the zoom function still works
Intricate Shapes
This shows how angling the waterjet can create fans with curved blades even out of thick metal.
Gun
When held stable, the computer-controlled jet can cut through just about anything with near perfect accuracy. This gun is comprised of metal and wood, with hopefully no ammo
Apple
No knife? No problem. We could even core this apple with a .25 inch circular cut around the middle.
Rolex
Cutting through multiple layers of this watch takes only seconds. Waterjet cutters have millimeter-level accuracy.
