Laser or Water

David, your WJ cuts are A++. There are a lot of shops out there cutting WJ parts that look a lot rougher than that (like my shop).

Conversely, that laser part you're showing is average to rough in terms of quality. There are a lot of shops out there cutting laser parts that look nicer.
 
patriqq said:
David, your WJ cuts are A++. There are a lot of shops out there cutting WJ parts that look a lot rougher than that (like my shop).

Conversely, that laser part you're showing is average to rough in terms of quality. There are a lot of shops out there cutting laser parts that look nicer.
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But if he showed a GREAT piece of laser cut, he wouldn't be doing much advertising! I agree that laser cut is the way to go for price, if you can get a sample, if not, go water.
 
I get to use the laser at work for free and still have David at GLW do mine. He is very right about the heat effected area around the edge and the clean up from the cut is worse on a laser. Once you go water you won't go back!!
 
go mike said:
But if he showed a GREAT piece of laser cut, he wouldn't be doing much advertising! I agree that laser cut is the way to go for price, if you can get a sample, if not, go water.
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I'm not advertising! I'm simply showing the difference I have seen first hand. The laser part was done at a local shop for me. They said its the best they can do with that thickness. There are thousands of waterjet and laser shops. Halpern Titanium has a waterjet. Admiral Steel has a laser. I get jobs from Admiral because their customers don't want the problems with the lasered blanks. Now go out and get me a GREAT lasered blank.
 
I confess I've never ordered a laser-cut part but I really like what I've gotten from Dave. :thumbup: Thanks again man!
 
Would it take you 5 or 10 minutes to clean up a laser cut blade? At 5 minutes per blade you could do 12 of them in an hour and get all 70 done in about 6 hours. At ten minutes per blade you'd be looking at almost 12 hours of shop time.

What are your shop rates? If you valued your time at even just $20 per hour, with the above scenario, you'd have between $120 to $240 you could easily justify spending for the higher costs of cleaner blanks requiring less work.

Just a thought. What kind of costs per piece would you be looking at for good water jet cutting?
 
Having done some work with Critical before I can say that I would trust them, I've seen alot of their work firsthand and it is really good. The only question is whether or not it's worth it to not have clean up.
 
Farmer Phil said:
Would it take you 5 or 10 minutes to clean up a laser cut blade? At 5 minutes per blade you could do 12 of them in an hour and get all 70 done in about 6 hours. At ten minutes per blade you'd be looking at almost 12 hours of shop time.

What are your shop rates? If you valued your time at even just $20 per hour, with the above scenario, you'd have between $120 to $240 you could easily justify spending for the higher costs of cleaner blanks requiring less work.

Just a thought. What kind of costs per piece would you be looking at for good water jet cutting?
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I would say that i could clean them up faster then 5 min each. maybe one min each. just a quick pass on say a used 60 grit belt would take care of it. but even at 5 min each I have more time then i do money. so yes 23.33 to 116.66 for 70 blades for 1 to 5 min each plus 140 for cut fee. but at around $10-$12 for water jet each that's 700-840 for 70 blades. I am not even doubting the quality of finish of water jet as it looks superb. but i just need the blades profiled out and i will do all the grinding and clean up. not really looking for a finished blank as i already feel like I'm kinda cheating a bit :rolleyes:. we have customers that bring stuff in for us to machine that have come from critical laser and i asked one of our customers what kinda of price he payed for having around 10 or so 10" diameter disks with 6 bolt holes with a center hole of around 5" cut out, these where cut out of 1/4 inch sheet and he told me around 20 bucks for all ten. finish looked great. i am going to try and stop by there shop and get a tour :D
 
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Yup $140 verses $700-$840 sure puts it into perspective. Sounds like you better shake a leg and get over there and get her done!
 
greatlakeswaterjet said:
I'm not advertising! I'm simply showing the difference I have seen first hand. The laser part was done at a local shop for me. They said its the best they can do with that thickness. There are thousands of waterjet and laser shops. Halpern Titanium has a waterjet. Admiral Steel has a laser. I get jobs from Admiral because their customers don't want the problems with the lasered blanks. Now go out and get me a GREAT lasered blank.
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Just so you know, If I ever need a cut like that, I'll go to you, and hell, I'll drive up there, it's only about 2 hours away, cheaper than shipping.
 
go mike said:
Just so you know, If I ever need a cut like that, I'll go to you, and hell, I'll drive up there, it's only about 2 hours away, cheaper than shipping.
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Mike, you are welcome at my shop anytime. Like I said, I'm just showing the differences. I would have bought a laser if it would do what the water will. If I were JT, I would spend $2 each if I had the time to clean them up. This pic is a lasered folder blank that was sent to me to copy. The customer didn't like what he got from the laser. Notice the color of HAZ. A lot of the larger knife companies use laser and then have the parts machined. Laser can be cheaper. Watch out for extra "fees". JT, good luck with your project.
ry%3D480
 
I don't have a chance today, but I'll take some pictures this week of what a really good 1/4 oxygen laser cut looks like.

That last picture is just nasty. I've cut stainless from 24g up to 1/2 inch, and never left that much of a haz on the part. I'll take picture of those, too.

Jamie
 
I personally would use the WJ, but if you use the laser I would re-anneal the blades after they were cut. also if you are using blaze belts it shouldn't really matter, I don't think they would know the difference IMO.

-Josiah
 
JT, just out of curiosity, have you enquired with Admiral about how much they charge for their blank cutting service?
 
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