CNC Waterjet Cutting Services

The choice depends on material hardness and thickness.

Pure water jet is specified for soft materials: rubber, foam, gaskets, thin plastic, fabric, food products, and paper. The stream is narrow, kerf is small, and there is no abrasive contamination in the cut. Speed is high on soft materials but it cannot cut metal.

Abrasive waterjet is the default for everything harder than rigid plastic. Garnet abrasive at 80,000+ psi cuts steel, aluminum, titanium, copper, Inconel, carbon fiber, stone, ceramic, and glass. Kerf widens to 0.75 to 1.5 mm, and the edge is sandblasted in appearance. Abrasive is the standard waterjet process in industrial use.

Our engineering team can recommend the right configuration during DFM review based on your material and cut quality requirements.

Waterjet and laser are both precision cutting processes but they suit different materials and thickness ranges.

Laser cutting is faster and holds tighter tolerances on thin and medium-gauge metal (0.5 to 25 mm). Cut edges are clean and often weld-ready without deburring. Heat-affected zone is 0.05 to 0.2 mm.

Waterjet cutting has no heat-affected zone at all. It handles thick material (up to 200 mm), reflective metals, heat-sensitive composites, hardened tool steel, stone, ceramic, and glass that laser cannot reach. Tolerance loosens on thick material, and cut edges need deburring or secondary finishing on tight-tolerance parts.

Choose laser for thin metal, speed, and cosmetic edge quality. Choose waterjet for thick plate, composites, heat-sensitive material, stone, or glass. Our engineering team can recommend the right process during DFM review.

Waterjet cutting handles the widest material range of any CNC cutting process.

Metals from 0.5 to 200 mm thick, including mild steel, stainless steel, aluminum, titanium, copper, brass, Inconel, and hardened tool steel up to HRC 62. Hardened and heat-treated metals cut without annealing because there is no heat input.

Composites including carbon fiber, fiberglass, aramid, honeycomb core, and fiber-reinforced phenolic boards (FR-4, G10). No delamination or resin damage.

Stone, ceramic, and glass in thicknesses from a few mm up to 100+ mm. Waterjet is one of the few processes that cuts these brittle materials without cracking.

Plastics and rubber, from soft gaskets to rigid PMMA, PC, HDPE, and PTFE. Food-grade materials cut in clean conditions.

Materials waterjet does not cut: tempered glass (breaks from pressure), diamond, and some ultra-hard ceramics. Our DFM review can recommend the right process for your material.

Accuracy depends on material thickness and whether taper compensation (5-axis) is used.

Tolerance tightens on thin stock and loosens on thick plate: ±0.1 mm at 0 to 20 mm, ±0.2 mm at 21 to 50 mm, ±0.3 mm at 51 to 100 mm, ±0.5 mm at 101 to 150 mm, and ±0.8 mm at 151 to 200 mm.

Edge quality runs from Q1 (near-polished) to Q5 (rough) per ISO 9013. Standard production waterjet delivers Q3 to Q4 on most work. Slow-cut Q1 and Q2 settings produce near-laser edge quality on 3 to 40 mm plate but cost more cycle time.

5-axis waterjet cutting compensates for the natural taper of the kerf on thick material and produces square or angled edges on demand.

We cut material up to 200 mm thick on abrasive waterjet, which is among the deepest cuts any CNC process can make in a single pass.

Typical thickness by material: mild and stainless steel up to 150 mm (200 mm possible with tolerance relief), aluminum up to 200 mm, titanium up to 100 mm, stone and ceramic up to 150 mm, glass up to 100 mm, and composites up to 75 mm before edge quality drops.

Maximum sheet size is 3,000 × 1,500 mm with table extensions available for longer panels. Tolerance loosens with thickness as the kerf widens and the stream diverges inside the material.

Each process has a sweet spot.

Choose laser when the material is thin metal (0.5 to 25 mm), speed matters, and edge quality should be weld-ready without deburring.

Choose plasma when cutting thick carbon steel (20 to 80 mm) and cost-per-part matters more than edge quality. Kerf is wide (2 to 5 mm) and the edge typically needs grinding.

Choose waterjet when any of the following apply: material is heat-sensitive (hardened steel, heat-treated alloys, composites with resin), material is reflective (unmilled copper, brass, mirror stainless), material is brittle (stone, ceramic, glass), thickness is above 25 mm, or the part must be stress-free with no heat-affected zone.

Many real fabrication programs use two processes: laser for the thin metal, waterjet for the thick or composite parts on the same assembly.

Yes. Most production programs include at least one post-machining operation.

Anodizing is standard on aluminum parts for corrosion and wear resistance. Type II anodizing adds 5 to 25 μm; Type III hardcoat adds 25 to 75 μm for abrasion-heavy applications.

Powder coating is standard on steel parts for outdoor or high-salt environments. Powder coat delivers 500 to 1,000 hours of salt spray resistance in 60 to 120 μm coatings.

Passivation is required on stainless steel medical and food-grade parts to remove free iron and restore the chromium oxide layer (ASTM A967).

Passivation and Plating adds bright chrome, nickel, zinc, or tin for cosmetic and functional finishes on steel and brass. Plating adds 5 to 30 μm to part dimensions.

Polishing to Ra 0.2 to 0.8 μm is available for optical surfaces, sealing faces, and mirror finishes. Specify on the drawing which surfaces require polishing since it is a manual operation.

Decide on finish requirements during the DFM review because they often influence material selection and dimensional tolerance.

Custom fastener production covers a range of processes that convert wire or bar stock into finished parts. Here are the primary processes available through most full-service fastener manufacturers.

1. Cold Heading: Progressive dies form the head, shank, and recesses from a wire blank. The most cost-effective process for volumes above 10,000 pieces. Diameter range 1.5 to 25 mm.

2. CNC Turning: Rotating bar stock is machined by cutting tools. Suitable for fasteners with complex geometries, unusual thread forms, or tolerances tighter than cold heading allows.

3. Swiss Machining: A variant of CNC turning for small-diameter, long, or precision parts. Used for miniature fasteners and medical screws with tolerances to ±0.01 mm.

4. Thread Rolling: Hardened dies form threads by cold displacement rather than cutting. Rolled threads are stronger than cut threads and produce no chips. Standard process for high-strength fasteners.

5. Heat Treatment: Quenching, tempering, carburizing, or induction hardening produces fasteners to specified strength grades (Grade 5, 8, Class 8.8, 10.9, 12.9).

6. Plating and Coating: Zinc, hot-dip galvanizing, electroless nickel, black oxide, Dacromet, and chrome plating applied after threading. Provides corrosion resistance and appearance.

7. Inspection and Testing: Dimensional inspection with CMM and thread gauges. Mechanical testing includes tensile, hardness, and torque-tension. Salt spray testing for plated fasteners.

A full-service manufacturer combines these processes under one roof, reducing lead times and eliminating the coordination overhead of managing multiple suppliers.