I saw the posting on carbide cutting, and was wondering about the possibilty of cutting silicon carbide? I have a request for some gears to be cut out of silicon carbide. I have worked with this material in the past and used boron carbide to grind lenses and then polished with diamond paste. What is the feasibility of cutting this material with a waterjet?
Thank you, Mark
TFabian said
Nov 18, 2010
It is possible using alternative abrasives to the usual garnet. Most often used is Aluminum Oxide. Even then, the cutting is slow. The mixing tube on the machine lasts an hour at best. Even with all this, there are waterjet shops that do this type of work. One company in particuliar I am aware of cuts a large amount of ceramic armor 24 hours a day and runs several waterjets using Aluminum Oxide.
Good Luck!
LabradorBob said
Sep 25, 2012
The aluminum oxide is harsh stuff,i used some cutting a hardened nickle casting with manufactured diamonds in it.
used in rock boring bits,cut the 1/4" diameter diamonds slick as a button!
Thank you,
Mark
Good Luck!
The aluminum oxide is harsh stuff,i used some cutting a hardened nickle casting with manufactured diamonds in it.
used in rock boring bits,cut the 1/4" diameter diamonds slick as a button!