Questions of the Week in Manufacturing

Back to basics again today. I'm taking your questions and giving you answers. If in doubt, visit our website and find the answer yourself! lol well I'll get right into it, here goes:

1. Can aluminum be cut with a laser?

 - Answer: Yes, you can typically laser cut aluminum up to 1/8" thick.

2. Can you cut carbon steel and stainless steel on the same laser?
 - Answer: Heck yes you can! That's a good question, there are probably a lot of people out there wondering the same thing.

3. Can you custom make a football jersey?
 - Answer: If that's your way of seeing if we'll produce you a Favre vikings jersey, my answer is no. But I guess it's all in who you ask...

4. How can I cut acetal?
 - Answer: Well your best bet for cutting acetal is most likely waterjet cutting (or water-only cutting) that will be your call. Here's a link to a project that was waterjet cut from acetal.

5. How can I cut blocks of aluminum?
 - Answer: Have you seen our aluminum blocks case study? That's definitely worth checking into in your case, you can see the whole story with pictures here. I think you'll like that one. The answer to the question, is waterjet. Waterjet can cut up to 12" thick aluminum blocks very well.

6. What is the best file type to use for waterjet cutting?
 - Answer: Most machine shops prefer to receive files in DWG or DXF format which is most compatible with AutoCAD and readible by CNC machinery.

7. Do you custom manufacture caskets?
- Answer: No. I think you could probably find a better place to have that done locally.

Okay so it was less than a week...

But I see so many questions popping up already so I thought I should probably get on the ball and answer some questions. Not to mention, it's Friday and it only seemed fitting to blog it up!


The question I wanted to answer today is this;

"How do I cut ceramic tile?"


Depending on the quantity, size and detail you want your tile cut, your options can vary. If you're cutting a few tiles or just have a mild cut you'd like to do, then they do make tile cutters for that.. just make sure to practice first. If you have an intricate design and/or quite a few tiles to cut, then another option would be waterjet cutting in this case.


Abrasive waterjet cutting, to be exact... (depending on the type of tile though, I guess water-only waterjet has been used before as well.


Here is a case study for VCT tile (like linoleum)


and one for custom slat tile as well


Both turned out pretty cool, if I do say so myself :)

Manufacturing Forum - Open to All

Interested in manufacturing? Care to chat about what it is, how it works, how you do what you do when you do it? Me too. Well I have created an open forum for all of us who want to become a big happy manufacturing family and Bravenet was awesome enough to host this cavacade of fun for FREE!

Check out the Manufacturing Forum

Now don't let me down, because it's going to be a lot of fun. So go and check it out and add your two cents to the posts! I'd love to hear from you!

More Manufacturing Questions - Answered!

Well I return here with more answered questions! This week's ask Fedtech will feature questions that you yourselves have asked in the last week! So prep yourself, sit down, grab a cup of coffee and read on!

First question...

What's the difference between 17-4 stainless steel and 17-7 stainless steel?

That's a great question, typically the two grades just have different nickel content.

Next one, what are the advantages of using abrasive waterjet cutting?

There are some great advantages of abrasive waterjet. First off, you can cut through material up to 12" thick while still maintaining a smooth edge and minimal taper, depending on the material. Not only this, but it can cut hard materials like steel and titanium.

What is the best way to cut "AR" steel?

By "AR" I'm going to assume you mean armor plating, such as AR236, or AR400, AR500, etc. The best way to cut these materials is waterjet cutting. Since they are generally hard materials, it's often cut with abrasive waterjet.

What's the difference between waterjet cutting and laser cutting?

Since we answered this last week (but it's such a common question) I will redirect your answer to my latest discovery. This website now has a 'Cutting Method Assessment' tool that determines which process is best for your particular project. Give it a try, otherwise if you want to see waterjet and laser compared side by side, you can visit Fedtech.com for lots of information comparing the two.

How do I tell if an aluminum part has been laser cut?

Well if it's a matter between life and death, then you may be out of luck. But a general rule of thumb is to laser cut aluminum if it's thin, otherwise we use waterjet cutting for anything over 1/8" thick. You can usually tell what materials are laser cut as well because laser cutting sometimes leaves HAZ's, or a heat trail. You can see the edges where the laser cut, because there may be some discoloration.

How can I cut urethane?

We usually use water-only waterjet cutting for urethane parts.

Is AR500 used as ballistic armor?

Yes, it can be. But I wouldn't call it ballistic armor because it's not that strong. It's more mild, I'd opt to call it abrasion resistant instead.

What are some renewable materials used for waterjet cutting?

I think the question is intending to ask either, what makes waterjet cutting a green option, or what can waterjet cut as far as renewable materials go? I'll answer both. What we consider waterjet cutting green for, is because:
* recycle our abrasive that is used in our cutting process
* recycle our water from our RO systems
* recycle all of our metals
* test our air compressor system plant wide for leaks and reduce air pressure to optimum levels

As far are renewable materials that you can cut with waterjet, this could include bamboo, cork, plastic (polycarbonate, acrylic, nylon, polyethylene, HDPE) or rubber (foam, silicone, urethane, vinyl, neoprene) and more. We also process numerous composites with waterjet this can include glass, ceramics, linoleum, and others.

Well that's all the time that I have for this week. I'll be back next week to answer more questions that you guys send me! Comment on the post or email me at sarahw@fedtech.com and I'll get you some answers!

Have a great week!

Feed Shark

Some Manufacturing Questions

So as I browsed over our google searches, I found some questions that might not be addressed on our website so I thought it'd be a nice touch to address them here! I'll start from the beginning:

The question: Can magnetic sheets be laser cut?
My answer: I'm not positive, but I believe this wouldn't go over well with the lasers. As they're already sensitive to reflective materials, I think the magnets would likely be a rough cut for laser cutting.

Next!

Can waterjet hold better cutting tolerances than laser?
Well, it's funny you should ask that, because the answer is typically no. Laser actually tends to have tighter cutting tolerances than waterjet.

Another question, comes from a google searcher as the following:

Can you laser cut titanium?
Nope! We waterjet cut titanium.

Can you laser cut glass?
We do not cut glass with laser, we also use waterjet for that material as well.

Can you waterjet cut carbide?
Not typically, it's a very hard material and the cuts don't turn out very clean.

Does laser cutting leave smooth edges?
Typically, yes! Laser cutting has very clean cuts and rarely requires secondary operations unless you need a special finish on the parts. That's why a lot of people choose laser cutting as a more cost effective process.

Is there a difference between one waterjet machine and another?
Surprisingly, yes. There is. There are so many different kinds of waterjets out there right now that there's probably a rarity that you could find identical waterjets easily. Mostly because purchasing a waterjet table is one thing, but then you have all kinds of different options from there, as far as pumps and other tooling for the waterjets go. There are numerous suppliers for waterjet products and parts (Flow, Omax, Accustream, KMT) to name a few. Plus those are just parts, then you have Wardjet, Jet Edge, Flow, and more.

I hope this is beneficial for answering your questions! I'll check in again soon and answer any more questions that I see pop up!

Visit our website in the meantime to see other frequently asked questions: FAQ's

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Laser Cutting of Sculptures at Fedtech

So we have a couple sweet projects we've done this week so I wanted to focus on those in an entry this week, after all it's been a little while since I updated our blog!

Sooooo first, I will start with this trumpet sculpture because, c'mon, it's really cool lookin! The company who did this is pretty well-known in the Twin Cities area. The sculpture they designed here will go in a park where the pieces of steel are to be spaced equally apart from each other. When you look at the sculpture from different angles, it's equally interesting. But when you look at it from straight on, it looks amazing. Isn't it crazy what some people can come up with? I'm just glad we could help out on such a cool project! I can't wait to see it outside where it belongs in the park!

Technical notes: To complete this project, these pieces were laser cut from 1/2" 304 Stainless Steel.

Stay tuned for my next post, I'll talk about another cool project :)

Thanks for reading, see you soon!

Sarah

Where can I learn about waterjet cutting?

Learning about waterjet cutting is very easy. It's getting up-to-date, quality information that is the hard part. Be critical when reviewing information online. It's difficult to research accurate information as capabilities are continuously changing and improving.

A good rule of thumb is to check the credibility of the source you are referrencing. Though this might be a given, alot of the time people tend to forget this when they are desperate to find information on a certain topic.

I know while I've been doing research on what other manufacturing shops are doing, I've come across different statistics and capabilities that might very well be true, but could also be very false. Do your research, and you'll find the information you need.

Some good resources for learning about waterjet cutting include:
Wikipedia
ThomasNet (This is also a good resource for finding a service provider near you)
Wardjet (A leader in sales of waterjet machines)
The Fabricator (Top magazine for fabricating/manufacturing industries)
Fedtech (An established manufacturing shop in Minnesota)

When it comes to laser cutting, you often hear: Where can I learn more about laser cutting?
Well, here are some excellent resources for laser cutting:
Fedtech
Global Spec
CNC Information
Wikipedia
ThomasNet

Another great source that you can take with you is an informational podcast about manufacturing. Each episode features a different manufacturing process and serves as an educational learning tool for listeners interesting in finding out more about waterjet cutting, laser cutting, finishing, forming, welding, drilling, tapping, and more. You can find that podcast at www.modernmanufacturing.mypodcast.com or search for "Modern Manufacturing" in iTunes.

Hope this helps! If you have any questions feel free to send me a message at sarahw@fedtech.com and I will do my best to answer them in my next posts!

As always, thanks for reading!!! Have a good day :)