We are proud to announce today that Big Blue Saw is now offering a brand new service: low-taper waterjet cutting. We have had many of our customers tell us that they needed a more accurate machining technology than what we offer with our ordinary waterjet machining, and this should help meet their needs.

In the image above, you can see the effect of low-taper waterjet cutting. Both parts are identical in design (the "butterfly" example from the part upload page) and stock material (0.75" thick 6061 aluminum), but the part on the right is made with low-taper waterjet cutting. Each of the parts above rests on its machined edge on a flat surface. The face of each part is shown placed against a machinist's square. The part on the left deviates by a couple degrees. This is referred to as taper. However, with our low-taper waterjet cutting process, the taper is eliminated and the part sits perfectly flush with the square.

Many of you will want to know if you should order low-taper waterjet cutting or stick with our standard service. In general, our standard service is less expensive and is appropriate for many uses. However, for thicker parts and for pieces which must connect or touch other parts along the machined edge, it's very worthwhile to order low-taper waterjet cutting.

For instance, you probably want to use standard waterjet cutting with these types of items:

• Instrument panels
• Signs
• Stencils
• Decorative pieces designed to be viewed straight on to the original material face
• Enclosure faceplates

Low taper waterjet cutting works better for:

• Gears
• Bearing blocks
• Thick parts that fit or slot together along their cut lines
• Thick pieces that must rest on the machined edge

To order a part made with low-taper waterjet cutting, just choose the "low-taper" option when adding the part to your shopping cart. That's it!

For more information, see our FAQ on low-taper waterjet cutting.

Many of our customers' parts are designed to be fastened together using bolts or pins. These customers often have questions about how to deal with the accuracy limitations of the waterjet process.

The short answer is that you can enlarge the hole with the right size twist drill or reamer. Since most of the material has already been removed from the hole, this is easy to do. It is easiest to do on a drill press, but it can even be done with a handheld power drill.

For instance, you might need a hole for a bolt with a 0.25" (1/4") diameter. Because the width of the waterjet stream can vary, you might end up with a hole 0.26" or 0.24" in diameter. If you have a 0.25" post or bolt, the best thing to do is to specify a size of 0.24" in diameter, then finish the hole with the appropriate drill or reamer. The exact size drill or reamer will depend upon how close of a fit you need: whether it's an interference, close running, or free running fit. For most ordinary fastening applications, an ordinary twist drill will work.

If you don't want to enlarge the hole with a drill, you're going to have to specify a hole 0.262" in diameter, and be prepared to accept that the bolt may wiggle around a bit in the hole. This is OK for many applications.

If you are unsure of the size of the bolt, pin, or post, you should double-check the diameter of the posts with a precision caliper or a micrometer.

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