90% of the work I do is by hand. Every once in awhile I try to see if it’s possible to make my process more efficient by using the FlowJet to cut multiples of the same shape so I’m not hand-sawing 20 of these keystones, or 40 ring blanks or whatever. There’s still a lot of work afterwards… soldering, filing, sanding, tumbling, polishing, etc. The best part is once I’ve created my vector files in Illustrator and FlowPath, next time I can just go straight to the machine, run it and have perfect blanks to start with!
So, in this post I’m going to explain how I cut out my keystone shapes on the Water Jet machine at TechShop Pittsburgh. There’s quite a bit of software and artwork setup to walk through before getting to the coolest part…. cutting through metal!
Overview:
There are 3 major steps: Design, Tool-Pathing your design and Using the Water Jet to cut your artwork file.
A. Design (software: Illustrator and VCarve) Creating artwork in Illustrator or a vectors based program
- Open .AI file in VCarve to make vector files easier to read on FlowPath and FlowCut (software that the Water Jet machine actually runs out)
B. Run FlowCut on the Water jet machine (software: FlowCut)
- FlowPath is a clunky design software program meant to create artwork for FlowCut (the software the water jet uses). Illustrator is much easier to create designs and then tool-path in FlowPath so the artwork can be read in FlowCut.
- Paths and Cut In’s/Cut Out’s must be made in order to successfully run your artwork file on the Water Jet
- Export an .ord file and open in FlowCut
C. Run FlowCut on the Water jet machine (software: FlowCut)
- choosing your cutting speed and material selection
- setting up your material on the water jet bed, homing the machine to cut your file
It’s worth it once you’re able to hold your shiny freshly cut metal form in hand!
The walk-through with images is here in a google docs in order to make it easy to copy/paste/print and edit to your own liking! Have fun!