X(-5) Marks the Spot

Jet Edge, Inc. (St. Michael, MN) is a global manufacturer of waterjet systems for precision cutting, surface preparation and coating removal, is making its mark in heavy fabrication applications, particularly with service centers and contractors supplying the oil and gas, power generation and other heavy industries. In fact, two regional fabricators – located in spots that are 5,850 miles apart – recently installed Jet Edge 5-axis EDGE X-5® waterjet cutting systems to gain a competitive edge and expand their fabrication business.

Jacquet Midwest Inc. (Racine, WI) is a metal processing facility that specializes in supplying a wide variety of sizes and thicknesses of stainless steel plate (up to 12 in thick) and nickel alloy plate (up to 2 in thick) for OEMs, fabricators and machine shops that support heavy fabrication projects in primarily the oil and gas, power generation, pollution control systems and water purification industries. Last summer the 69,000 sq ft metal service center installed a dual head 5-axis EDGE X-5 waterjet cutting system to provide beveling and chamfering services to its customers in the Midwest, as well as nationwide through its five regional service centers. This waterjet is the third Jet Edge system used in this facility and the 13^th Jet Edge waterjet that Jacquet uses nationwide.

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The EDGE X-5 waterjet features a 21 ft x 13 ft work envelope that enables the shop to process full 8 ft x 20 ft or 10 ft x 20 ft plates. Its dual 5-axis cutting heads double their production and are capable of cutting precise 3D parts from virtually any material, including bevels up to 50 deg. Powered by a 60,000 psi, 100 hp iP60-100 intensifier pump, the ball-screw driven waterjet system has the best repeatability in the industry at ±.001 in. The system also has submerged or above-water cutting capabilities, as well as a proprietary plate mapping feature that allows precise nozzle-to-plate standoff. “With the precision that we can achieve with this 5-axis taper control machine, we can provide a tighter tolerance part, from the top edge to the bottom edge of the part, eliminating a lot of the machining,” explained Dan Chatterton, the chief executive officer of Jacquet Midwest. “It allows us to do much more for our customers: we can bevel cut, taper control, and chamfer holes on both the top and bottom edges of the material.”

Chatterton noted that Jacquet has always equipped its service centers with large gantries to better serve its customers. When they decided to add a 5-axis system, the company distinguished itself even further by offering the rare capability of dual 5-axis cutting services. “All of the machines in the our system are large table machines because of the large plate sizes that we buy mill direct, which allows us to be more efficient with our cuts, use longer run cuts and have better nesting,” he said. “Our dual 5-axis system provides an even higher level of service to our customers, allowing them to look to us for all of their cutting needs.”

Around the same time that Jacquet Midwest was installing their new 5-axis waterjet cutting capabilities, across the world in the Land of the Crescent Moon, Hasmak Construction Division (Mersin, Turkey), a leading industrial contractor serving the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Russia, was also installing an EDGE X-5 5-axis waterjet cutting machine at its new fabrication shop in Mersin. In business since 1988, Hasmak has completed construction, erection projects and maintenance works in Turkey, Russia, Turkmenistan, Qatar, and Jordan. These projects have included thermal power plants, petroleum refineries, gas plants, petrochemical plants, cement plants, pipelines, hydroelectric plants, iron-steel plants, glass factories and waste heat recovery power plants.

Hasmak selected and purchased its waterjet system through a sister company, Hasmak Representation Division, the distributor for Jet Edge in Turkey. The X-Stream-powered EDGE X-5 5-axis waterjet is a CE-marked system that features a 8 ft x 13 ft (2.4 m x 4 m) gantry, a 5-axis cutting head, laser plate mapping, 6,200 bar (90,000 psi) x P90-50 X-stream pump, and a bladder tank for underwater cutting. A new fabrication shop was built to house the waterjet and other fabrication equipment, including a press brake and plasma table. Hasmak uses its 5-axis waterjet cutting capabilities to grow its business by cutting a wide range of materials, including metals and composites, and taking in new work by subcontracting cold cutting services for Turkish manufacturers and defense industries.

“We can process highly precise 3D parts from virtually any material, without creating a heat affected zone, and often eliminating the need for secondary finishing operations,” noted Mert Bozkaya, the vice president of fabrication and construction for Hasmak Construction Division.

Jacquet Midwest Inc., 1908 DeKoven Avenue, Racine, WI 53403, 262-898-1381, Fax: 262-898-1429, [email protected], www.myjacquet.com/midwest.

Jet Edge, Inc., 12070 43rd Street NE, St. Michael, MN 55376-8427, 763-497-8700, [email protected], www.jetedge.com.