Water Jet - VTAstrobotics/Documentation GitHub Wiki
You must be Ware Lab machine shop certified (preferably Hurco too). Then, you may be trained and approved to use the water jet.
Once you are given access to the FLOW water jet, refer to this page to help remember how to use it.
Also, there is a training manual by other Ware Lab teams that this page expands upon.
Consider watching my video walkthrough on YouTube. It does not show a lot of the setup, so you will still need this document.
The water jet, currently, is subject to reservations shown on this calendar.
To make a reservation, email the AEDL manager, Bob Schoner ([email protected]) with the Ware Lab manager Dewey Spangler ([email protected]) and Ware Lab assistant manager Phillip Ratcliff ([email protected]) cc'd. The email should just be a day and time window that is available on the calendar.
- Your water jet badge
- Safety glasses
- Material to cut
- Flash drive with your DXF(s) (know the units that it was/they were exported in)
First, sign in on the sign-in sheet.
To power on the machine, reference the aforementioned training manual by other Ware Lab teams BUT DO NOT DO STEP 6. Also, notice that a new water valve was added at the bottom (it's much easier to reach). The air valve to the machine is on the right.
Reproduced steps without pictures
- Raise the (upper left) switch to the ON position.
- Raise the (lower left) switch to the ON position.
- Turn the (upper right) switch to the ON position. Please turn it carefully because it is already breaking from students turning it past the ON position.
- Turn the switch on the back of the water jet to the ON position.
- Turn the water and air valves to the OPEN position.
In addition, there is a second, white handle that supplies water to the water jet. This must be turned on our the very expensive pump will be damaged.
Look into the abrasive hopper to see how much material is in it. If you need more, load the abrasive hopper. If not, seal the abrasive hopper.
First, note that you are using a bag of garnet on the sign-in sheet.
If the hopper is sealed, turn the air valve to depressurize it. Hold the lid by its handle so it doesn't fall.
Pour a bag of garnet into the hopper. They are currently in a pile in the corner. Since they are 55 lbs each, you could put one on the rolling chair to help you. If you overfill the hopper, you will have a bad time. Be careful to fill it with enough room to seal it.
Brush any excess garnet from the top into the hopper.
Lift the lid by its handle. Shake or brush any remaining garnet off of it, otherwise you will not get a good seal.
With the lid centered at the top, turn the air valve back on to pressurize the hopper.
Plug in your flash drive to the computer with your DXF files. Ideally, they should have the units that they were exported in their file name.
Launch FlowPATH.
Changing units
Since the machine operates in imperial units (i.e. inches), if your DXF was exported in SI units (i.e. centimeters), you will need to convert them.
Before you open the DXF file, select the right system of units (Imperial or SI) by choosing "Inch" or "Millimeter" in the bottom left corner of FlowPATH. For example, if your DXF was exported in centimeters, select "Millimeter".
Open your DXF using File -> Open. It is now being interpreted in whatever unit you selected. So, to continue the example, if my part is 30 cm long, it is now reading as 30 mm long.
Change the unit back to Imperial by selecting "Inch" in the bottom left corner of FlowPATH. So my part is now displayed at 1.18 inches long.
Select all of the lines in your part. You can click and drag a box around it or click on the button at the top of FlowPATH that selects all cut lines. Now, at the right side of your screen, select "Scale by factor" and enter your factor. Since there are 10 millimeters in a centimeter, I would use 10. My example part is now shown at 11.8 inches (30 cm!) long.
Open your DXF using File -> Open.
Move your DXF onto the grid. This represents the water jet's bed, where the bottom left corner will be your user-defined home position. Therefore, it would be a good idea to keep your part near this point so you will have an easy time finding a home position, but give a small amount of room because the path will automatically generate a lead-in. If you place your part too close, the lead-in might go off of the table (at least, according to your future zero).
Select all cut lines using the button at the top of the screen. Then, choose the intensity of cut by clicking a preset at the bottom left. I used magenta (80) for 1/16" and 1/8" 6061 aluminum.
Select all cut lines again, This time, click the AutoPath (AP) button on the right side of the screen.
Export (Ctrl + E or File -> Export Path As...) your path as a .ord file. Save to either the Desktop -> Astro folder or to your flash drive. The upside of saving to the desktop is that you can unplug your flash drive and the file will probably be there next time for anyone to use. The downside is that someone might delete it.
Launch FlowCUT and open your path (.ord file).
Confirm that all three green buttons on the computer (beneath the screen) are illuminated. If the "driver power" one is not illuminated, push it once. Confirm that no red emergency stop buttons are depressed.
Click on the XY home button and select "Go to machine home" to go to the machine's preset home. It will zero off of its limit switches, so this is a critical step.
Now, with the machine in LOW JOG MODE, raise the Z axis using the page up (pg up) button on the keyboard until it is definitely above your material. Now you may use high jog mode to move the XY axes to find a zero position. Use the arrow keys to move XY. You will see this movement on FlowCUT as a trail of red circles.
Once you have found your home, select the same XY home button on the FlowCUT GUI. Choose Set current position as user home. This will set your X, Y, and Z positions as the home position. Your Z should still be too high.
Now, verify your home by moving the head using the arrow keys to trace the profile. Confirm that the entire part fits on your material and that it does not interfere with clamps or weights on your material at any point. If not, I recommend selecting the XY home button and Go to user-defined home. Now, move your XY position to fix the issue you found. Repeat this until you have found an appropriate XY home position.
To set your Z home, locate the Z home piece of metal. This piece's thickness is the gap recommended between the tool head and the material. In LOW JOG MODE, lower your Z axis until it is quite close to the material. Try to slide the Z-setting piece underneath the tool head. It should not fit. Tap pg up and continue trying to slide the Z-setting piece underneath the tool head. Once you can, you have located your Z-home. Set the home once again using the exact same procedure as before.
Note: Do NOT lower the Z axis with the Z-setting piece directly underneath it. This can shove the tool head up in the machine, which can mean the machine's hard stop does not allow you to get low enough to reach the material. To fix it, you have to open the tool head, remove this piece, and mount it in a vice to slide these rings on it back to their proper location. Ask Bob for help because you are not allowed to do this.
Put on the required PPE:
- Eye protection
- Hearing protection
- Gloves
- Respirator (if cutting composites)
Note: Make sure pressure is set to 50 psi MAX or 15 psi MIN.
While it's cutting, monitor the machine. If anything goes wrong, spacebar is your stop button. You can also press either of the two big red emergency stop buttons (one on the machine, one on the computer).
Click the play button to begin cutting. Recall that spacebar is your stop button.
Use the hose to wash the abrasive material right off.
Then, deburr edges with a deburring tool.
Reverse the Setup steps. Write the displayed number of machine hours (look for the dial on the electrical box).
Machine Shutdown Steps
- In FlowCUT, move the cutting head to the machine home and the Z-axis to its home.
- Place the orange silicon mat under the waterjet cutting head.
- Shut down the computer.
- Turn the switch on the back of the water jet to the ON position.
- Turn the (upper right) switch to the OFF position.
- Turn the water and air valves to the CLOSED position.
BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO DROP ANYTHING IN THE TANK. It is as deep as it looks, so it is not fun to fish for a lost part, clamp, etc.
FlowCUT will generate an estimated cut time. Even if everything goes perfectly and you don't need to stop the machine, it can be inaccurate over a long period of time. It estimated 76:48 for a cut that took about 100 minutes (uninterrupted).
I guess be careful that FlowPATH doesn't randomly distort your part since it seems that happened once (while using a linear pattern to cut 4). Not sure what happened to distort the part.
If your XY home is above no material or only a small amount of material, it may be easier to set your Z home elsewhere. To do this, raise the Z in LOW JOG MODE and then move the XY position to a comfortable location to zero, ideally close to the computer so one hand can push pg up and the other can validate the position. Find your Z home. Now, in FlowCUT, click the Z tab at the bottom of the screen. Write down the yellow number in black text. This is your absolute Z position. Raise the Z and return to your XY user home. Lower until the Z reading in FlowCUT matches the number you wrote down.
I recommend setting the Z-axis a little higher than the material's thickness. Here's why: if it's too low, you may scrape across your material, dislodging it and ruining your part. When it tries to cut, it may be too close, which could cause a clog of abrasive. Fixing this will necessitate disassembling much of the tool head and blowing the abrasive tube out. Meanwhile, being too cautious and too high might be too weak to cut through, which means you will have to cut again. But that has never happened to me, whereas the former situation of the tool head being too low and the material warping during the cut and then catching the tool head has happened to me twice.