Eli5: in a high pressure water cutting macchine, how does the water jet not cut part of the machine under the object that is being cut?
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I own a waterjet and have operated it for 4 years. It has been mentioned but thought I would fill in some gaps.
The waterjet does in fact cut what is beneath it but the further you get away from the nozzle the less “machining” that is occurring. The metal grid that your part sits on is a consumable. It gets eaten up especially in repeatable production runs.
Our grid is 5” deep. It’s suspended in a tank that is about 4 feet deep and full of water. While 4 feet is very far from the nozzle it’s not impossible to poke a hole in the bottom of your tank if you leave the nozzle stationary and the waterjet on. It’s even more likely if the water level is low.
Also keep in mind the shape of the actually jet out of the nozzle is like that of a flashlight. It’s a cone and the further you get away from the source the wider that cone is. This is why thicker parts on a waterjet tend to be less accurate. They call this taper. There are ways around the taper though such as a nozzle/head that can slightly tilt as you’re cutting.
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