Designing for Water jet and Laser cutting

Sheet material

• A water jet cutter, also known as a waterjet, is a tool capable of slicing into metal or other materials (such as granite) using a jet of water at high velocity and pressure, or a mixture of water and an abrasive substance. The process is essentially the same as water erosion found in nature but greatly accelerated and concentrated. It is often used during fabrication or manufacture of parts for machinery and other devices.

• Laser cutting is a technology that uses a laser to cut materials, and is typically used for industrial manufacturing applications, but is also starting to be used by schools, small businesses and hobbyists. Laser cutting works by directing the output of a high-power laser, by computer, at the material to be cut. The material then either melts, burns, vaporizes away, or is blown away by a jet of gas, leaving an edge with a high-quality surface finish.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lasercutting-video.ogg

Hard materials Working with silhouettes

Materials that work well for water jet cutting are:

MetalsWoodAcrylic

In general, materials that don’t mind getting wet and aren’t going to collapse under the pressure of

the jet.

Laser cutting is a good choice for Thin wood

FabricLeatherAcrylicRubberPaper

Some metal projects

Working with soft materialsRubber

http://blog.ponoko.com/2009/05/04/forty-laser-cut-jewelry-designers-from-a-to-z/

tithi kutchamuch - paperhttp://www.tithi.info/new/main.htm

amy klainer - felt

wood

leather

stereo.type jewelry project

arthur hash

Using flat material to create three dimensional pieces

Kyoko Hashimoto

You can do it this way…

How’s that going to work for me?