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Choose between laser cutting or waterjet cutting for your metal project!

You have a metal cutting project to carry out, and you don't know which cutting technique to turn to? Discover the differences between laser cutting and waterjet cutting to make the right choice 👌

What is laser cutting?

First of all, laser cutting at John Steel is an operation carried out using a laser beam focused by a lens. To put it simply: a large amount of energy is concentrated on a very small surface. At the point of impact, the material is "vaporized" (you'd better not linger in the vicinity 😄). At the same time, an assist gas is propelled to remove the material: the cutting gas. 💨

We use two cutting gases:

Oxygen for cutting steels
Nitrogen for stainless steel and aluminum.

Oxygen produces scale on the cut area in steels. This is a black residue that remains on the edge and can be removed with a brush stroke.

Steel can also be cut on request with nitrogen to avoid scale (for example, for parts that need to be painted). This is what we call white cutting. This operation incurs additional costs (for more information, please contact us).

With reduced setup time, no tooling, and direct use of digital files, the laser is currently the most flexible technology. Therefore, we can produce single metal parts or series with varying levels of detail and complexity.

What is waterjet cutting?

Waterjet cutting works with an ultra-high pressure pump. This generates a water jet with a pressure that can reach 6,480 bar. For comparison, a fire hose has a pressure of 20 to 84 bar.

This pressure is then converted into velocity using a small nozzle drilled in a precious stone. This creates a water jet as fine as a human hair that can cut soft materials.

Pure waterjet cutting

Pure waterjet can cut soft materials. These include gaskets, foam, plastic, paper, disposable layers, insulation, cement panels, automotive interior components, carpets, or food. This technique is therefore not suitable for cutting metals.

Abrasive waterjet cutting

To multiply the cutting power by 1,000, garnet sand is added to the supersonic water jet in the cutting head via a venturi suction. Then, the water and garnet leave the cutting head at nearly four times the speed of sound. The abrasive waterjet is therefore capable of cutting solid materials: metal, ceramic, stone, glass, or composites. Thus, it can cut steel more than thirty centimeters thick, i.e., 300 millimeters!

So the verdict, laser cutting or waterjet cutting? 🕵️‍♂️

You will have understood, these two cutting techniques are complementary and not competing for producing complex 2D shapes. If cutting precision is relatively similar from one technique to the other, the time required for cutting favors laser cutting. On its side, waterjet cutting allows cutting reflective metallic and non-metallic materials, especially when they are thick. The laser, for its part, works well for thin sheets.

In conclusion, your decision will therefore be based on the nature and thickness of the metal to be cut, but also on the production time you can tolerate.

To go further 🚀 :

Cut my DXF file ultra easily

Configure my custom metal part with complete simplicity

Posted in: Metal advice, Looking for custom metal cutting?, Les News

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By: Vicky Boulianne On 2021-09-17

Question technique. Si je découpe de l'aluminium avec pellicule de plastique pour laser et que je découpe l'aluminium avec CO 2, est-il vrai de dire qu'il y aura un dépôt de colle noire sur tout e contour? Si je découpe à l'azote, restera-t-il de la colle quand même ?

Replied by: John Steel On 2021-09-22 Bonjour à vous cher Steelster bricoleur,
Effectivement, c'est possible qu'il y ait des résidus de colle noire, mais pas d'inquiétude avec un simple diluant ce dépôt partira en deux temps trois mouvements.
Bonne journée,