Online Waterjet Cutting Service
We have no minimum order requirements, deliver exceptional value for your investment, and consistently meet your deadlines. Enjoy instant quotes and cost-effective, on-demand fabrication. Every project is unique, often requiring special considerations for materials, finishing, custom work, or urgent delivery. Your commercial quote will be prepared by experienced estimators who carefully verify every aspect of your job.
Precision Waterjet Cutting
When precision metal parts are required, waterjet cutting offers a versatile and cost-effective solution. Metalworking professionals utilize waterjet technology to produce custom components with high accuracy. This cold cutting process employs water—or a mixture of water and abrasive media such as garnet—to erode materials rapidly. Unlike laser or plasma cutting, waterjet systems do not rely on thermal mechanisms; instead, they propel water at three times the speed of sound. This pressurized flow amplifies erosional effects, enabling quick, clean cuts through various materials.
Positioning accuracy is ±0.001 inch. The water jet angle can be actively adjusted so that any taper is directed toward the waste edge of the part. The machine features automatic height control, maintaining consistent spacing above the material for optimal nozzle positioning. This results in an excellent surface finish with virtually no streaks, allowing for net shape manufacturing or rapid finishing of near-net-shape blanks. The waterjet can process sheets up to 6 feet by 12 feet and materials up to 8 inches thick.
Order Your Custom Waterjet Cut Parts Online in Just a Few Steps
You can receive instant quotes from 3D CAD files or DXF files through our instant quote engine. Fuming utilizes cutting-edge waterjet machining technology and a team of highly skilled professionals to ensure your parts are cut with exceptional precision and flawless quality. Follow these steps to order your parts easily:
- Create or Upload Your CAD File – Use our instant quote engine to upload your CAD file and receive an analysis of your part along with an instant quote.
- Configure Your Part – Choose from over 50 materials and finishes. Enter the quantity, shipping address, and any special instructions for the machinist.
- Receive a Quote – Get a comprehensive quote for your design.
- Order Your Parts – Place your order and receive high-quality CNC-cut components promptly!
Why Choose Fuming for Waterjet Cutting?
Quick turnaround
We are dedicated to reducing friction at every stage, ensuring you are equally impressed by the speed of your sheet metal parts’ delivery and their exceptional quality.
Unparalleled scalability
Whether you need a one-off prototype or 10,000 units at the most competitive price, waterjet cutting offers a fantastic and cost-effective production method.
Perfect Finish
We provide high-quality finishing processes for most waterjet cut parts, including polishing, plating, powder coating, and more.
Order Any Size
With cutting areas up to 6000 x 2000 mm and presses rated up to 80 tons, we support the sheet metal fabrication of both small components and larger parts.
A Wide Variety Of Materials
We offer most gauges of steel, copper, aluminum, and other materials, taking great care to ensure the correct material is used for every waterjet cut component.
A Wide Range Of Industries
From enclosures and brackets to frames and chassis, we take pride in producing precision waterjet cut parts for any industry.
General Tolerances for Waterjet Cutting
| Description | General Tolerance |
|---|---|
Distance Dimensions | For complete details on tolerances available through Fuming’s sheet cutting service, including edge-to-edge tolerance and taper, please refer to our manufacturing standards. |
Thickness Dimension | Thickness tolerances are determined by the material blank itself. |
Minimum Recommend Part Size | 3.000″ |
Minimum Feature Size | 2X material thickness with a minimum of 0.125″ |
Kerf (slit size) | Approximately 0.062″ |
Edge Condition | Waterjet cut parts typically exhibit vertical striation along the edges and may show a slight taper. |
What is Waterjet Cutting?
Waterjet cutting is a method used to cut materials, including metals. The primary distinction between waterjet cutting and other cutting techniques is that it is a non-thermal process, meaning it does not rely on heat. Instead, it operates mechanically, removing material through physical contact and gradual erosion.
The cutting capability of water is made possible by its velocity. The water exits the nozzle at supersonic speed—faster than the speed of sound. However, water alone cannot effectively cut such a wide range of materials, so abrasives are added to the stream. The abrasive material is typically crushed garnet, the same mineral used to create the rough surface on sandpaper.
Under high pressure, the abrasive particles strike the material at tremendous speed, eroding the metal incrementally. Waterjet cutting typically operates at pressures around 380 MPa, though newer systems can reach up to 620 MPa.
Because material removal is gradual, temperatures do not rise significantly, and any potential heat buildup is further mitigated by the presence of water. The waterjet remains straight throughout its path, producing a clean, vertical cut through the material thickness.
Waterjet Cutting Materials
Fuming provides a broad selection of waterjet-compatible materials in various thicknesses for precision cutting.
- Metals alloys, up to 1″ thick
- Mechanical plastic
- Acrylic (Plexiglass)
- Foam
- Rubber and Gasketing
- Wood and MDF
- Carbon Fiber Composite
Benefits of Waterjet Cutting
Compared to other cutting methods, waterjet cutting offers numerous advantages, including:
- Absence of a heat-affected zone: As noted earlier, waterjet cutting is a cold-cutting process that does not rely on heat or mechanical stress. The lack of thermal input means there is little to no heat-affected zone (HAZ), reducing the risk of thermal distortion such as warping or material impurities.
- Versatility: Waterjet cutting can be applied to a wide range of materials, including glass, paper, metal, foods, composites, mixed materials, and more.
- High precision and tight tolerances: Waterjet cutting achieves superior tolerances, particularly when working with thicker materials.
- Minimal slag: Because waterjet cutting uses water and recyclable abrasives, it eliminates the slag byproducts commonly associated with thermal methods such as laser or plasma cutting.
- Exceptional surface finish: Waterjet cutting produces a fine, sand-blasted edge finish that may eliminate the need for additional finishing operations.
Who Can Benefit from Waterjet Cutting Services?
Fuming serves a variety of industries with precision waterjet cutting solutions:
- Machine Shops: Allow us to pre-cut your parts. We can rough out both large and small components with no heat-affected zones. This enables tighter nesting in your mill, reduces machining time, minimizes wear on your equipment, and extends the life of cutting bits and other consumables.
- Sign Companies: We can cut letters, marquees, banners, and other artistic projects to your customers’ specifications. Virtually any size and font you can imagine can be waterjet cut. Let us handle the cutting of letters and marquees, freeing your valuable resources for assembly and installation. We custom cut any font in aluminum, stainless steel, or any material you require.
- Metal Fabricators: We can waterjet cut nearly any material up to six inches thick, with tolerances as tight as ±0.005 inches. Our waterjet machining delivers pre-cut parts with minimal burr and no heat-affected zones.
- Manufacturing and Fabrication Shops: Allow us to pre-fabricate your parts prior to your final processing steps, or let us produce your finished product directly.
- Artistic Designers: If you can imagine it, we can cut it! We would be delighted to help bring your artistic visions to life. We custom waterjet cut virtually any material into any shape. Metal art is no challenge for our waterjet systems—we can execute nearly any artistic design from any material.
- Metal Stamping and Tool Die Makers: Eliminate tooling costs for short-run parts by utilizing our precision waterjet cutting. Materials that are difficult to stamp are easily handled by our waterjet shop.
- Torched or Burned Parts: Have a part too thick for plasma or laser cutting? We can waterjet cut it with no heat-affected zones and no secondary cleanup required.
- Construction Contractors: We can custom cut your metal artistic designs with quality and precision.
- Auto, Motorcycle, ATV Enthusiasts, and Other Hobbyists: We understand your passion! Sometimes you just need that one special part fabricated. Email, call, or visit us—we’ll help you out. And if we can’t do it, we’ll help you find someone who can.