How to Use Maxiem Water Jet Machine

General safety tips

a. Control buttons

i. Blue pause button

ii. Red stop button

iii. Most important is red emergency stop button

b. Always wear safety glasses

c. Wear cut resistant gloves when placing metal in waterjet machine

d. Never put hands in tank when the waterjet is running

e. Never put hands under the cutting nozzle

Step 1: Startup

I.

Startup machine using the appropriate start up process

a. After all levers/switches have been turned on in proper order then hit the “reset” button on the machine/pump (grey button)

b. Failure to turn on machine appropriately can damage the machine

c. Raise the water level to the machine so the cutting happens underwater

i. Cutting under water results in less noise, less risk of injury, and better cuts

Step 2: File Upload

II.

Upload file

a. Import file via flash drive, internet, etc.

b. Navigate to the .dxf file that is saved and double click on it to open

c. This will open up a program called “Layout”

Step 3: Prepare File

III.
Preparing the File

a. First you want to click “clean” button on right side of screen

i. This removes any issues with the drawing

ii. In pop up window leave all settings as they are and also click “remove any unnecessary dots” then click “start” then “ok”

b. Next, right click on “quality” button at the bottom of the screen the select “all” the click quality 3

i. Quality is a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being the roughest cut and 5 being the cleanest cut. For most purposes 3 is sufficient.

ii. Close out of that dialogue box

c. Next right click on “lead IO” button on left side of the screen and then click “auto path advance and configure”

i. This will add what are called traverse lines and lead ins. Traverse lines are where the nozzle moves without cutting and lead ins are where it starts its cut.

ii. You want the part to start from the bottom left corner so got to “path direction settings” and click “bottom left” to start in that corner

iii. When finished then hit “go”

d. For a small part which is one that is narrower than 5 inches, you’ll need to add what is called a tab

i. A tab is a small connection to the rest of the material so your part does not fall into the tank

ii. To add tab, right click on “lead IO” and go down to “create tab”

iii. Then you can find any place on the material and simply click to add it

iv. Some spots are better than others, so when the software doesn’t show red lines then that is a good place to put the tab

v. Tabs must be grinded/sanded off later, so you must be able to get to it – keep that in mind

e. Next right click on “path” and go to “automatically generate”

i. You will need to pick your starting point that we decided earlier

ii. Go down to the bottom left corner and click on edge

iii. The next widow shows the path that the nozzle will take as it cuts through your part

iv. One thing to consider is that the red line/area represents the offset of the jet. The jet is 0.021 inches wide so that means it needs to be spaced over a little bit to get the right dimensions

1. Make sure that holes are cut on the inside (so hole is correct dimension)

2. Make sure that exterior lines are cut on the outside

v. After this has been checked click “save” and this saves your path

f. Next right click on “path” again and click “open ORD path” in “Make”

i. You will need to input your material settings into this software

ii. Click “material” dropdown and pick the material that you will be using

iii. In “thickness” box input the material thickness

iv. Leave everything else the same in the window

v. Click “OK”

vi. This will then open up a program called “make”

Step 4: Secure Part

IV.

Securing the part

a. Load cutting piece into the water jet (when water level has been lowered)

b. Use clamps and weights (if needed) to secure the material/part/cutting piece

i. When a part is secure you need to make sure it does not wiggle at all

ii. If it wiggles it could possibly flip up and damage the nozzle during the cutting process. Take your fingers and tap on it to test for wiggle

Step 5: Prepare Water Jet

VI.

Preparing the waterjet

a. Make sure the garnet hopper (used in actual cutting process) is not low

b. You can use the arrow keys to move the nozzle around on the working area

i. You can use these to bring the nozzle over to where you want to start

c. Using the 7 and 1 keys on the number pad you can raise and lower the nozzle. 1 is used to lower and 7 is used to raise

i. Use the 1 key to bring the nozzle close to your part, leave about half inch of space between the nozzle and part at first

d. In the “make” software interface the starting point is designated by cross hairs (this is where the path will start. We will need to set the “path start”

i. Navigate the nozzle using the arrow keys to where you want to start

ii. The best starting position is where the cup (yellow cup surrounding nozzle) does not interfere with any weights or clamps or any cut out part of the material

iii. Once you have found a good starting position click on the “zero” in the “path home” section of the interface in “make” software

1. When it asks you if you want to zero the home click “yes”

2. This is how you set your x and y home

e. Next, you want to set the z height which is the height above the top of your material

i. You want to get it very close but not touching your piece

1. in order to get that distance use the slim metal tool to measure the distance between the nozzle and the piece

ii. Use the 1 key to lower nozzle to almost closing the gap between point of nozzle and the material

iii. Next use the slim metal tool and place between nozzle and the material piece

iv. Use the page up and page down keys on keyboard to do fine control of the height

v. Lower the nozzle using page down and stop once you feel the nozzle starting to wedge the slim metal piece between itself and the material

vi. Raise the nozzle just slightly using the page up key on keyboard and make sure you can do a “sweeping” motion with the metal piece between the nozzle and the material. The nozzle should essentially be located where it was starting to wedge the slim metal piece between itself and the material

vii. Once the nozzle is at the correct z height go back to your “make” software and look at z dialogue box and click the “zeros”, when it asks to zero z then click “OK”

viii. This will reset the counter so that 0 is your starting height

f. It is good practice to check multiple points of your part, particularly if it is a large part

i. You will want to navigate the nozzle (cross hairs) to opposite corner of starting point on your material to check the z height there too, to make sure that there is no chance that there will be a collision

ii. Right click on “begin machining” (blue play button) and click “go to spot on path” and this will send the nozzle directly to any point on CAD drawing lines

1. Check top right corner (click top right corner)

2. It will move directly to that spot without raising the z axis so make sure that there are no weight or clamps or anything else in the way that could damage the nozzle.

3. Click “OK”

4. On the computer a dialogue box called “path control” is opened up, don’t hit any other buttons yet, just go directly to and click “close”

g. Next, re-measure the z height (top right corner) like we did the first time using the exact same process and check if it is higher or lower

i. You want to set the z height which is the height above the top of your material

ii. You want to get it very close but not touching your piece

1. in order to get that distance use the slim metal tool to measure the distance between the nozzle and the piece

iii. Use the 1 key to lower nozzle to almost closing the gap between point of nozzle and the material

iv. Next use the slim metal tool and place between nozzle and the material piece

v. Use the page up and page down keys on keyboard to do fine control of the height

vi. Lower the nozzle using page down and stop once you feel the nozzle starting to wedge the slim metal piece between itself and the material

vii. Raise the nozzle just slightly using the page up key on keyboard and make sure you can do a “sweeping” motion with the metal piece between the nozzle and the material. The nozzle should essentially be located where it was starting to wedge the slim metal piece between itself and the material

viii. You have now found the zero point of this second part of the path (top right corner)

1. Check the z height counter

a. If the z height counter is negative then that means that z height is x inches below your previously set zero height which means you need to take the higher of the two points in order to prevent collision

i. Leave it as is

1. Click the “green arrow” to put the nozzle back at the previously set height and then click “OK” and it will raise it back up to the original height

b. If the z height counter is positive above zero then that means that the z height is x inches higher than your previously set zero height which means you would need to take the higher of the two points in order to prevent collision

i. Re-zero it and set to new number

1. Click the “zeros”, when it asks to zero z then click “OK”. This will reset the counter so that new 0 is your starting height

h. Next, we need to make sure that the nozzle is back in the home position

i. Click “go home” button for “path home”

ii. You do not want to raise the z axis (unless you have weights or something in the way) so click “No” in the pop up window

iii. Nozzle will traverse back to the original spot

Step 6: Cut

VI.

Making the cut

a. When you are ready to begin your cut flip the yellow cup down over the nozzle

i. Prevents splashing and keeps the water contained in the waterjet machine

b. Make sure computer cart is well away from the waterjet and make sure no water hits computer

c. Before you start cutting it is a good idea to do a “dry run”

i. Before you begin your dry run raise the z height to roughly 2 inches using 7 key (z counter displays the height)

ii. Make sure nozzle is clear of any possible obstacles

iii. Right click on “begin machining” (blue play button) and click “begin default”

1. The same dialogue box from earlier will appear

2. Be careful not to click the red play button or it will begin to cut

iv. With the nozzle above the surface of the water right click on the red play button and click “dry run at full (rapid traverse speed)”

v. The nozzle will then go through the path as if it was cutting but it will not actually cut

vi. Use this time to make sure that it will not interfere with any clamps, weights or any other possible obstacles

vii. When the dry run is finished you will need to send the nozzle back to the “home” positions

1. So click “go home” button “path home” and then hit (unless you have weights or something in the way) “No” in the pop up window

2. Set the z height back to zero, so click the green arrow in z height dialogue box and then hit “OK” to move it back to zero

d. Once all of your counters are zero (which they should be at this point), you are ready to begin machining

i. Click “begin machining” (the blue play button)

ii. And then click “start” (red play button)

iii. The waterjet will begin cutting, keep hand near pause (blue) button in case anything goes wrong

iv. Once the cut is finished hit “close” on the path control box

Step 7: Unload

VII.

Unload

a. Raise the z height so that the nozzle is clear of any obstacles and move the nozzle using the arrow keys out of the way so you can lift your cut part out of the water

b. Remove any weight and clamps holding the piece/material in place

c. Take your sheet and pull it out of water (wear cut resistant gloves)

d. Let the water run off

i. It is a good idea if a hose is available to spray off excess granite composites on the sheet

e. If material/piece that was cut is still attached to the sheet because of tabs then you will want to wiggle it to break it loose from sheet

i. You will then want to sand off or grind off the stub that is left on your piece

Step 8: Record Time

VIII.

Time used

a. When finished with all the jobs you want to do on the water jet then go up to “history” tab in the ribbon of “make” software and click “counters and timers”

b. Record the “total hours on pump” in the log

c. Ask a first build employee to complete a transaction for amount of time used on the waterjet machine and any other material costs (if applicable) associated with the transaction

d. Lastly, close all software, “make” and “layout” etc.

Step 9: Shut Down

IX.

Shut down

a. When completely finished using the water jet, shut down the machine opposite of the way that is appropriate f or starting up (turning on) the machine. Remember order is important.