spinningmagnets
100 TW
Guy takes a $150 pressure-washer, adds a few bits, and converts it to a water-jet. He shows it cutting 1/8th-inch aluminum plate fairly fast feed rate. I suspect it could cut thicker stuff at a slower rate, easy to see how fast to feed it. My interest is in making low-volume 3/16-inch stainless steel torque-arms for odd frames that will never be high-production enough to be able to buy one from a shop that does that. Clearly 3/16 stainless is much harder and thicker than 1/8-inch aluminum, but...its a start, maybe could be inproved by upgrading a few bucks to a higher-pressure unit?
My only concern is that I would HIGHLY recommend that two plates be attached on the left and right of the jet as safety stops for our fingers. If you sneeze or slip, a water-jet that will cut through aluminum will not even slow down if you pass a finger through it.
This looks like it can perform as a band-saw (with a simple sliding baseplate attached, made from drawer roller rails), and also as a scroll-saw for curvy shapes. Both tools in one small machine. Do you have a cool design in your head for mid drive mounting brackets to fit your unusual frame?
[be aware that jet-cut plates have a flared edge, the cut is thin on the jet side and wider on the bottom]
edit: the pressure-hose is rated for 2900-PSI, and typical industrial safety margins have a burst pressure that exceeds 150% so this stock hose will likely be "just surviving" at 4300-PSI. The hacker in this video stiffened-up the relief valve spring to boost the working pressure to 3200-PSI. Since the work-piece is what moves and not the jet, the system could be hard-piped with 3000-PSI hydraulic tubing to remove the hose if that was a concern.
These pressure-washers are no joke, protect your eyes and fingers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg__B6Ca3jc
[youtube]Lg__B6Ca3jc[/youtube]
My only concern is that I would HIGHLY recommend that two plates be attached on the left and right of the jet as safety stops for our fingers. If you sneeze or slip, a water-jet that will cut through aluminum will not even slow down if you pass a finger through it.
This looks like it can perform as a band-saw (with a simple sliding baseplate attached, made from drawer roller rails), and also as a scroll-saw for curvy shapes. Both tools in one small machine. Do you have a cool design in your head for mid drive mounting brackets to fit your unusual frame?
[be aware that jet-cut plates have a flared edge, the cut is thin on the jet side and wider on the bottom]
edit: the pressure-hose is rated for 2900-PSI, and typical industrial safety margins have a burst pressure that exceeds 150% so this stock hose will likely be "just surviving" at 4300-PSI. The hacker in this video stiffened-up the relief valve spring to boost the working pressure to 3200-PSI. Since the work-piece is what moves and not the jet, the system could be hard-piped with 3000-PSI hydraulic tubing to remove the hose if that was a concern.
These pressure-washers are no joke, protect your eyes and fingers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg__B6Ca3jc
[youtube]Lg__B6Ca3jc[/youtube]
