WARDJet Inc. (www.wardjet.com) now offers a pneumatic drill that allows a hole to be drilled automatically through material at a specific offset from the waterjet cutting head. Once the hole is drilled, the waterjet can start the cut inside the pre-drilled hole. The CAD/CAM program, IGEMS, can automate this entire process. To use this tool, an air compressor capable of 25 cfm at 90 psi must be provided. The company says this allows materials to be cut that may normally delaminate during the waterjet piercing process.

The drill also is useful when cutting high tolerance holes in a variety of steel and stainless steel materials. By using the reaming capabilities, a shop can pierce the initial hole with the waterjet and then come back and ream it to get the higher tolerances required. WARDJet says this can be substantially faster than using a waterjet alone to create these higher accuracy holes. The pneumatic drill feature is available for mounting on any WARDJet waterjet cutting system.