How to Find An Affordable High Pressure Water Jet for Your Project

Did you know that the water jet cutting industry is expected to grow by over 8 percent by 2023? It gets better: the water jet is exploding in the mining and construction professions too.

Plus, this incredible tool is really making a splash in the clean energy sector as well. Why? Because it only uses a small amount of water to cut almost any kind of material. Here’s how to find an affordable high pressure water jet for your project.

How Does a Water Jet Work?

You might be wondering: what is a water jet, anyway? The answer is simple. It’s basically a super-strong cutting tool that uses water to blast through things like:

• Steel
• Stone 
• Glass

This is crazy: the water jet can literally cut through stainless steel. Not only that, but it can also trim a four-inch-thick stack of it too!

You can also use a water jet to slash through stone and tile as well. This is great for companies that want to carve their logo into their businesses’ flooring.

When it comes to water jet glass cutting, it’s a no-brainer to slice through layers of glass. That’s because it lets you make shapes and contours that would be very expensive to create with any other machine. 

How does a water jet work?

Astonishingly, water jetting uses 30 times as much pressure as your local car wash to cut through different kinds of materials.

In reality, the “power-wash” feature at a car wash is a great example of water “cutting” dirt off of a vehicle.

What’s the secret to the water jet’s power?

Surprisingly, consistency is key. That’s why the water jet pushes its stream through a small nozzle at a high intensity to keep its pressure consistent.

Also, water jets have an advantage over regular metal cutters. Why? Because they never get too hot or lose their power! 

Average Water Jet Cost

With the latest technological advancements, using a water jet is stress-free. According to water jet inventor Dr. John Olsen, “One of the biggest changes that made abrasive jets practical was the advent of the PC.”

How so?

Olson reveals that “A jet is not a very rigid tool—it bends all over the place and makes taper and what-have-you.”

His solution? “To make precision parts, you need quite a bit of computing power to predict what the shape of the jet will be so that you can compensate for it.”

So, how can you actually use this?

First of all, you need to know that there are two types of water jets: pure and abrasive.

If you want to use a pure water jet cutter, then you need to make sure that you only use water to blow through soft items like:

• Gasket
• Foam
• Food
• Paper
• Plastic
• Carpet

For those who are looking for a more heavy-duty tool, you should try the abrasive cutter. Why? Because uses abrasives to cut up tougher objects such as:

• Metal
• Ceramic
• Stone
• Wood
• Glass

Now that you’ve decided which type of water jet tool you want, it’s time to look at the average amount of one. Of course, the price varies depending on its blasting power.

For example, it’ll cost you:

• $30 per hour to use a 60,000 PSI waterjet 
• $40 per hour to use a 90,000 PSI waterjet 

Sounds pretty expensive for the average person to spend on a construction project, right?

That means that you’ll want to cut costs as much as possible.

But how can you buy an affordable water jet?

Buying An Affordable Water Jet

Before you buy an affordable water jet, there are a few things you should consider first:

• Run sizes
• Table sizes
• Extra features

Once you figure out the specific features that you’d like your water jet to have, you can focus on finding the cheapest one.

We can’t emphasize this enough: the Jet Edge waterjet is one of the most affordable tools on the market. That’s why it only costs around $47,500 to purchase it.

Even though that still seems incredibly expensive, you have to keep in mind that most water jet cutting machines cost at least $60,000 to buy. Not to mention all the fees associated with running it.

Pro tip? Try to find a lightly used water jet. That way, you can save tens of thousands of dollars on the machine. Not only does this give you more money for your project, but it’s always a sustainable way to reuse machinery.

Bonus points for using lower water pressure to pinch pennies. Why? Because the less water you use, the lower your hourly water rate is!

Still searching for the perfect water jet? It’s always a great idea to learn more information before you buy one.

Finding the Right High Pressure Water Jet 

When it comes to finding the right high pressure water jet for your project, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by all the pricey choices.

That’s why it’s important to figure out what type of water jet you want before you decide to invest in one. Luckily, you have our guide to help you out.

Whatever you choose, you can’t go wrong with getting a Jet Edge water jet.

But don’t take our word for it: Scott Wirtanen of Jet Edge says that “Waterjet’s going to perform almost identically in almost any material. So the versatility of waterjet, both in materials and in thicknesses is unparalleled.”

Now: you have everything you need to know to buy an affordable water jet. Happy shopping!

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