Hey Jason, I’m curious about cleanliness in your shop with the Waterjet? I just bought a used 4x4 flow and am struggling with the choice of putting it inside or outside under a canopy. I’m a cnc machine shop mostly and the entire space is only about 1600sqft. I have 3 areas each sectioned into cells, machining, then welding and last was the car bay but that’s being converted to the Waterjet cell potentially. Your shop always looks spotless on camera and I know jets are dirty machines, so I’m curious how you keep up with it, do you use a exhaust hood or anything near your machine when running it to keep particulate from traveling through the shop onto other machines and surfaces? If you have some input I’d love to hear it. Thanks, and keep up the cool stuff!
My shop is set up with the waterjet and machines are at opposite sides of the workshop. But not really for cleanliness but for accessibility to the waterjet. The water jet requires a septic tank sucker to clean the tank, so positioning it close to the main door was necessary. There are things to do to keep the spray contained like blast shields around the perimeter of the tank. Cutting with the water level high also helps with spray. I think as long as you have the waterjet set with a 20’ buffer space between the machines you’ll be fine.
I have more of a sawdust problem then garnet/waterjet problem.
My profession is maintaining, repairing, and installing waterjets, specifically Flow Waterjets.
We see all sorts of layouts and ideas to mitigate splash/spray. In a 1600 sq ft space I would consider hanging cables from ceiling around the perimeter of the machine, then use a plastic curtain of some sort to curtain hanging from the cables, wrapping around the machine to contain the splash. Shields directly attached to the tank are a great addition. A floor drain is also nice for a quick wash down at end of the week. Keep the water level at top of the slats and touching bottom of the material for lowest noise during cutting possible. Being your machine is a 4x4, it likely doesn’t have water level control. However, cutting under water is quiet, helps contain the splash, but risky if a drop pops up. Doing so usually requires tabbing everything, even the drops if cutting thin sheet metal.
Are there any curtains you’ve seen that are waterproof to contain splash but would double as a sound dampening barrier?
This is a typical curtain used often. Smooth Vinyl Strip Door Kits in Stock - ULINE
Surrounding the waterjet with these would help with sound, but not eliminate the noise. Best practice to reduce the noise of a waterjet is insulate the pump, move the pump to a designated insulated room with a door, keep water level in the tank at bottom of the material being cut and submerge the material under water if possible.