Job shop rides waterjet wave

Manufacturing Engineering, Jan 1999

Abrasive waterjet cutting came to Maudlin & Son Mfg. Co. Inc. (Kemah, TX) almost by accident. While searching for the latest cutting technologies at a trade show years ago, shop owner and president Earl Maudlin initially considered buying a new laser cutting system.

While attending the show, Maudlin saw a demonstration of waterjet technology that intrigued him. aA guy started showing me fiberglass cut with a waterjet," recalls Maudlin. "At that point, I was mildly interested. Then he pulled out a box of titanium pieces cut by a waterjet, and that really got my attention. My focus immediately turned to the waterjet, because I saw a variety of things it could do that a laser could not."

Maudlin used that first waterjet, an OMAX JetMach;ning unit in the show booth of OMAX Corp. (Auburn, WA), to cut and trim glass, marble, fiberglass, and other materials at his job shop. "It turns out the waterjet fit us a whole lot better than a laser," says Maudlin. "It was also less expensive. It worked so well for us that we bought a second waterjet within a few years to handie the building volume of business.

The machine itself was easy to set up. "All we had to do was connect the utility lines, hook up the high pressure line to the pump, and we were in business."

Maudlin recently purchased his third waterjet system, an OMAX 2652A JetMachining Center, which enables the 45-employee job shop to bid on close-tolerance work in manufacturing components typical of the oilfield, petrochemical, electronics and prototype health-care products industries.

The two older waterjet machines operated by Maudlin & Son have an overhead gantry for loading extremely large pieces of material and cutting large items. However, smaller machines can handle nearly 95% of the job shop's work. "We just don't have those huge jobs all the time, and space is a consideration, too, with the fact that we just don't need enormous tables," Maudlin says.

While the newer OMAX waterjet has much more accuracy than the older machines, the larger systems can still pay the rent since being revitalized with a new OMAX P2040 pump. "I like the pump's electric-drive motor versus the hydraulic pump motor on my other waterjets," says Maudlin. "When I bought the JetMachining Center, I also bought a second pump to stick on one of the other waterjets. I have it plumbed across the shop so that if the JetMachining Center pump is idle for maintenance, I can throw a lever and put the other P2040 into action. It serves as a backup as well as a primary pump."

Maudlin bought the new waterjet system because it's easier to use than the older machines, requires less maintenance, and cuts to closer tolerances of /-0.005" (0.127 mm), which has enabled bidding on manufacturing jobs that require more exacting cutting.

"The OMAX machine allows us to quote and receive that kind of close-tolerance work," notes Maudlin. "It opened up a different range of parts that we can make. We do parts on the OMAX that we wouldn't be doing otherwise, because it wouldn't be economical. We even use it to cut shims, much of which is close-tolerance work with very thin materials. We stack cut a lot of materials, and it gives us a cleaner cut all the way through. And of course, it leaves no heat-affected areas, which is very important in what we do." The latest waterjet's closer tolerances gives Maudlin & Son the capability to do jobs now that it could not bid on before. "It has also unloaded some work off our wire EDMs, enabling us to load up the wire EDMs with the work they should be doing," Maudlin says. "It's a good fit with the rest of our equip ment. Not only can our wire EDM machines take on more work, but we can bid on closer tolerance waterjet jobs as well." Circle 225.