Then he banished long queue times by investing in dedicated machines and 3D CAD data to streamline the process. Rapid’s metal fabrication and machining equipment includes over 40 CNC milling and turning centers, multiple laser cutting systems, press brakes and other equipment. Most recently the company installed two 5 × 8' (1.5 x 2.4 m) Jet Edge Mid Rail Gantry waterjet cutting systems to increase productivity at its Rapid Machining di- vision. Rapid uses the waterjets to cut a variety of materials including plastics, aluminum and mild steels with thick- nesses averaging between 0.030 and 5" (0.76–127 mm). Jet Edge’s Permalign abrasive waterjet cutting head, when used with the Jet Edge OmniJet cutting head, is rated for pressures up to 60,000 psi (4100 bar), orifi ce sizes ranging from 0.003 to 0.020" (0.0762–0.508 mm), and nozzle sizes from 0.020 to 0.065" ID (0.508–1.651 mm). The Jet Edge waterjets are credited with tremendous effi ciency gains. Machining hours have been dramatically reduced by having blanks cut to near net shape, thus eliminating the time required to mill excess material from the typical rect- angular blank. This has also had an impact in reducing tooling costs as the tools are not cutting as much material and last longer. In addition, the water- jets have allowed Rapid Machining to diversify its services. “We are now able to offer more ma- chining capabilities which has allowed us to increase the number of projects that fl ow through the machine shop,” Jacobs said. “The waterjet systems help accommodate the machining of more detailed products with multiple setups and operations. The waterjets have also allowed us to offer more to the customer. What is unique about our systems is we use the waterjets to
enhance our machining capabilities. We are able to use the systems at various stages of a part’s process from start to completion and increase the materials offered.”