Waterjet Benefits For Your Sign Shop

Waterjets have been becoming increasingly more popular in sign shops due to their ability to cut any type of material that comes in the door. 

As any sign shop owner will tell you, you can never predict the next job that is going to come in the door. Having the capability to cut anything is a great addition to any “shop arsenal.”

A previous blog featured an OMAX Waterjet cutting out the Coastal Enterprises logo from a piece of PBLT-30. Today we are going to show another example of how a waterjet can be used for a signage application.

This giant letter “A” was cut out using an OMAX 60120 Waterjet with a 40hp pump. This waterjet has a 0.0016 orifice nozzle, 0.0042 diameter mixing tube, and Barton Garnet as cutting media.

Not only is cutting time reduced with a waterjet, they also work well in a sign shop environment because the taper-control features and accuracy allow them to cut laminated materials with ease. CNC routers, lasers and plasma cutters are also limited in their ability to cut certain thicknesses and types of material (unlike a waterjet).

OMAX Corporation was founded in 1993 by Dr. John Cheung, and Dr. John Olsen and have been manufacturing waterjets ever since. Within the industry, OMAX is the only waterjet provider that designs and produces its own pump, nozzle, cutting table, machine controller and control software. All OMAX and MAXIEM waterjets are made in the USA, and they will be celebrating their 20th anniversary in August of this year, see their website for more details on this event.

If you would like more info, please contact Mr. Kimball Smith at OMAX Corporation: (253) 872-2300.

Waterjet Cutting HDU: Precision Board & OMAX

OMAX Corporation, a manufacturer of premium waterjet cutting machines recently filmed cutting of Precision Board Plus HDU in order to show just what this amazing technology can do.

Waterjets offer several advantages over different types of cutting machines such as lasers and plasmas: they can cut any type of material, and are not limited to cutting thickness. Additionally, because no heat is used in the cutting process, no heat-affected zones are created allowing for a cleaner cut without affecting the microstructure or properties of the material.

Precision Board PBLT-30 cut by an OMAX 2626 Waterjet:

Waterjet Cut Precision Board Plus HDU

This video shows the Precision Board Plus PBLT-30 HDU being cut on an OMAX 2626 Waterjet. The beginning shows the piece being pre-drilled with an OMAX Drill Head. Pre-drilling each pierce point ensures against blowouts (and delamination in other materials), and also allows the Waterjet to cut much quicker when cutting a highly detailed piece. Waterjet is using a 40hp pump, 0.007 orifice nozzle and 0.015 diameter mixing tube. Cutting media is 220 grit Barton Garnet.

Thank you to Kimball Smith at OMAX for all his help putting these videos together and be sure to visit OMAX Corporation’s website for more information on their premium waterjet cutting machines. Also, check in next week for another blog that will show a 12″ tall letter “A” being cut out of Precision Board Plus PBLT-15 on an OMAX Waterjet!