Are water cutting and laser cutting necessarily competitive?

Known for its flexibility and versatility, waterjet is a popular cutting solution often referred to as the "Swiss Army Knife" of the machine tool world, and it's easy to see why.

Whether soft material, hard material, reflective material or non-reflective material, it can be realized on one water jet cutting machine. For example, some customers cut rubber gaskets in the morning, other materials at noon, and aluminum at night.

If you need flexible cutting methods, waterjet cutting will be your first choice!

Where does laser cutting industry ?

If you are cutting hundreds of identical parts on the same thinner material every day, laser cutting is a reliable solution.

For high volume production of metal cutting, efficient processing speeds have certainly made lasers the choice for certain applications and manufacturing shops.

Due to the principle of thermal cutting, laser cutting can work on suitable thermal effect materials. However, for example, the aerospace industry does not allow for thermal zones, which limits you to laser cutting parts.

CO2 laser cutters are not easy to cut highly reflective materials like aluminum and copper, and laser cutting generates exhaust gas, fumes and dust, which can be a big problem if not handled properly.

Perfect your cutting method

Water cutting technology is known for its flexibility and adaptability, so you don't have to worry about the type and thickness of cutting materials when you place an order. Laser cutting can be used to process high volume, thin metal materials, etc. Depending on your cutting needs, you will find that a reasonable process arrangement and matching of these two cutting techniques in the workshop is particularly important.

Nowadays, there are more and more customization requirements, cutting technology iterations are getting faster and faster, and the number of production parts in the workshop varies greatly. At this time, if a laser cutting machine and a water cutting machine appear in your workshop at the same time, providing parts with any number and shape of materials will undoubtedly improve the competitiveness of your enterprise.

Although some people think that waterjet and laser cutting are competitive, if your business can support the combination of these two solutions, you will experience the magic of cutting almost any part.

Depending on your plant's needs, water cutting and laser cutting can be matched as complementary technologies, which can improve your production efficiency. Lasers can dominate steel cutting, while any other material can be handed over to waterjet cutting.

If your business needs a transformation and wants to produce parts for aerospace, medical or almost any industry where the material cannot withstand the effects of heat, water jetting will be one of the key cutting technology options.

To sum up, water cutting and laser cutting are not black and white, they can be used in combination, and depending on your specific manufacturing needs, they tend to complement each other rather than replace each other!