Quote:
Originally Posted by rfolea
And would you get a plasma cutter or water jet if you had a choice?
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A water jet is by far a superior machine, but is also far more expensive than a plasma cutter. Most teams who use water jet cutting (like
my own) find a sponsor who will donate water jetting services instead of purchasing a machine themselves. OMAX and Flow are the big names in water jetting. A water jet can cut basically any material up to very high thicknesses and leaves higher quality edge finishes than a plasma cutter, as well as no slag, scorching, or warping due to heat. On the other hand, it's certainly worth noting that teams have used plasma cutting with
great success.
When working with water jet cutting, it is advisable to undersize bearing bores and to ream them out afterwards, though one
can get away with not doing so. One should also keep in mind the slight taper that the cut will produce if the machine doesn't have a 5-axis head to compensate.