People often ask me if I think that software upgrades are really worth anything.  This is just an example of what improved software can do to increase machine performance and user capability:  a more accurate part with no change in hardware—just a software upgrade.

Best regards,

John Olsen

The POL uses a small video camera equipped with a microscope lens with high-resolution crosshair.  The camera is precisely mounted vertically to the z-Axis to aim downward exactly parallel to the abrasive cutting stream.   When the POL is first installed, a simple calibration process is used to determine the precise X and Y offset between the center of the lens crosshair and the exact center of the abrasive waterjet cutting stream.  A special software package permits the system operator to view the microscope image on the controller screen and use that image to precisely locate reference points on the component to be modified.  The reference points may be two corners, a corner and an adjacent line or the center of one or more existing holes.  The software then automatically orients the tool path for the part to be modified to align precisely with the part itself on the cutting table.  This means that no special manual alignment of the part to be modified is needed.  The part can be clamped in any location or orientation on the cutting table and the tool path is automatically aligned to match it.  The calibrated crosshair/cutting stream offset is then automatically applied and the nozzle is now lined up precisely with the tool path.

Over the years, tool and die shops have found the POL to be an invaluable time- and money-saving accessory.  However, what has made the Precision Optical Locator such a widely-used accessory is that the applications extend well beyond the original purpose for which it was designed.  Indeed the POL is now used by a wide range of manufacturing and repair shops that go far beyond the tool and die industry.  The POL permits the OMAX system to be used to add virtually any feature to any part at any time during its manufacturing process.  Features added range from simple round or rectangular holes to narrow slots to special patterns that would normally require expensive custom tooling or might not even be possible with conventional machining processes.  This not only saves money during manufacturing but also permits part designers to design things that previously would have been very difficult to manufacture.

In addition to adding features to a part during manufacture, shops have found the POL to be an ideal tool for reverse engineering a part.  The POL can be used directly with the OMAX Layout software to precisely locate points on an existing part that has been placed on the cutting table and thus recreate an accurate drawing of that part in Layout.  This permits an exact duplicate of the part to be quickly manufactured.  This capability has been used by OMAX shops for making no-longer-available repair and replacement parts for applications ranging from antique automobile restoration to repair of aging farm machinery to in-the-field urgent repair of military vehicles and equipment.

Accessories such as the Precision Optical Locator, that provide greater capability to abrasive waterjet cutting systems, can expand applications in ways that even those who designed the  accessory have not anticipated.  That is one of the things that makes abrasive waterjet technology so exciting.  Today’s applications are only the beginning.  Remember–our goal is an abrasive waterjet in every shop.

Best regards,
John Olsen

Many shops have found the market for cutting composites and laminates to be particularly attractive.  Alternative cutting processes such as laser or plasma may be unsuitable because of heat considerations and because of the potential for producing toxic fumes.  Wire EDM won’t work in non-conducting material.  Routers and conventional machine tools are limited in their ability to cut complex parts and the dust produced by the cutting process can be a real environmental headache.  Abrasive waterjets, on the other hand, can cut these materials quickly, cleanly and accurately with an excellent surface finish and no hazardous fumes or dust.

Some shops have found that the piercing process used to create a starting hole prior to abrasive waterjet cutting can create a challenge in those laminated and composite materials where the bonding agent is particularly weak or may have voids.  Pressure at the tip of the abrasive jet stream as it pierces through the material can force water and abrasive into voids and between weakly bonded layers of laminate.  This may cause “blistering” or laminate separation in the vicinity of the pierce point and ruin a part.  Techniques used to pierce brittle material, such as gradual water pressure ramp-up and abrasive pre-loading through vacuum assist or flow timing, really can’t eliminate this problem if the laminate bond has weak areas or voids.

The OMAX Drill Head Attachment quickly and easily solves this challenge.  It uses a computer-controlled mechanical drill to create a starting hole at each pierce location.  This means that the abrasive waterjet has a material-free area to start each cut and so no potentially damaging pierce pressure occurs.  The Drill Head Attachment mounts quickly and easily to the Y-axis carriage parallel with the Z-axis.  Its function is automatically controlled by the OMAX Intelli-Max control software. The operator has the choice of either pre-drilling all of the pierce points in advance of cutting the entire part or pre-drilling each individual pierce point and then cutting that feature in sequence.  The control software automatically moves the Drill Head to the exact location of each planned pierce and uses the reliable mechanical drilling process to assure blister-free starting locations for the abrasive waterjet.

As with all OMAX accessories, the Drill Head Attachment is fully retrofitable to any OMAX system.  It provides the shop owner with expanded capabilities and thus an expanded market and more business. That means that more shops and manufacturers can improve their bottom line with the addition of an abrasive waterjet cutting system.  Remember, our goal is an abrasive waterjet in every shop.

Best regards,
John Olsen

The A-Jet is a fully articulated abrasive waterjet cutting head that can cut a bevel at any user-specified angle up to 60 degrees from vertical.  Because larger panels often have slightly warped surfaces, the A-Jet can be fitted with a terrain-following system that automatically maintains a constant stand-off distance from the material being cut.  This assures accurate bevel dimensions regardless of the surface irregularities of warped material.

The A-Jet is completely controlled by the OMAX Intell-Max control software.  The user can easily program a desired bevel size and angle along any segment of the panel being cut.  We find that our customers are not only using the A-Jet for weld-prep bevels, but are also using it to create other desired bevel features such as countersinks, chamfers and angled surfaces.

Like all OMAX/MAXIEM accessories, the A-Jet and Terrain-Follower are designed for simple retrofit to existing OMAX/MAXIEM systems.  This allows our existing customers to increase their capability, expand their applications and broaden their markets without the need to purchase an entirely new machine.

The Terrain-Following A-Jet is just another example of how expanded capabilities can lead to expanded applications and a broader range of abrasive waterjet users.  Remember, our goal is an abrasive waterjet in every shop.

Best regards,

John Olsen

Theoretically there is a cutting speed for any particular material and thickness that is “just right” and will result in zero taper.  As our ongoing R & D efforts improved our understanding of cutting jet behavior we were able to develop a computer model that accurately predicts the amount of taper based on the material being cut, its thickness, the speed of cut and the nozzle parameters of water pressure, orifice size, mixing tube size, abrasive characteristics and abrasive flow rate.  That model permitted us to accurately predict the speed at which there would be no taper.  This meant that our control software could be enhanced to permit the user to specify a cut quality that we call “zero taper quality” along any particular cutting segment.  By doing this the user could create a part that was taper-free.

The drawback to this rather elegant solution to taper control is that the cutting speed for “zero taper quality” tends to be slow.  This slow speed was acceptable for making parts where just a few key elements needed to be taper-free, but it was a not an optimum solution for making complete parts with the highest possible accuracy in the least amount of time.  Our customers want to cut precise parts as quickly as possible, so we decided to take another approach to the problem.  We developed the Tilt-A-Jet.  This retro-fittable accessory has the ability to tilt the cutting nozzle very precisely (to an accuracy of better than +/-0.06 degrees) in a direction perpendicular to the direction of cut.  Our advanced computer model is used to control the tilt so that it automatically compensates for the natural taper of the cutting jet, regardless of the cutting speed.  This provides a fast cut, based on the user’s desired cut quality, that is also taper-free.  It has the additional benefit of maintaining the taper-free cut even as the nozzle must slow for sharp corners or tight curves.  No special programming is required.  The OMAX Intelli-Max control software receives geometric input directly from a standard 2-D drawing file (such as a DXF or DWG file) and the computer model automatically controls the degree of tilt needed for taper compensation along each increment of the cutting path.  The result is a precise taper-free part that can be made quickly and economically without 3-D programming.

As our computer model of jet behavior continues to evolve we have added an additional feature to the Tilt-A-Jet system.  We know that even faster cuts are possible, particularly in thicker material, if we tilt the jet slightly forward in the direction of cut.   The mechanism of the Tilt-A-Jet enables us to do this quite easily with a simple free control software upgrade.  No 3-D programming is required.  Once activated the tilt-forward feature is programmed automatically. This has meant even faster taper-free parts for our customers at no additional cost.  In addition, software upgrades have allowed our customers to use the same Tilt-A-Jet system to put intentional taper into elements of a part.  Once again this requires no 3-D programming and is fully automated.  Intentional taper capability is now widely used by our tool and die customers for providing relief in die components.

The Tilt-A-Jet accessory has greatly expanded the capabilities of abrasive waterjet cutting by permitting the rapid production of precise taper-free parts and parts with intentional precision taper.  This means more applications are now suitable for our technology and more shops are finding a need for our system.

Remember—our goal is an abrasive waterjet system in every shop.

Best regards,

John Olsen

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