Jet Edge PX-50/100

IGEMS (Integrated GEometry Management System) is a professional waterjet CAM software developed in Sweden and used by many waterjet machine brands including Jet Edge, Flow, and OMAX (as an alternative to their proprietary packages). IGEMS provides: DXF/DWG import; manual and automatic nesting; lead-in/lead-out management; speed database for material/thickness/quality combinations; taper compensation; and multi-head path generation. The software outputs standard G-code that the Jet Edge CNC executes directly. IGEMS is available on subscription or perpetual license — Jet Edge recommends it as their primary CAM software, but any G-code-generating waterjet CAM system is compatible.

Higher pressure increases the kinetic energy of the waterjet, enabling faster cutting on thick material. The relationship is approximately: doubling the pressure increases cutting speed by 30–50% on thick material. On thin material (under 6 mm), the difference in speed is smaller because the jet is already faster than the machine can accurately traverse. The significant benefit of 87,000 psi is at 25–75 mm material thickness where speed improvement directly reduces cycle time and cost per part. The trade-off: 87,000 psi accelerates seal and valve wear in the pump — higher maintenance frequency and consumable cost vs 60,000 psi. Most job shops use 60,000 psi for general work; aerospace and heavy plate cutting benefit from 87,000 psi.

Waterjet cutting is limited by: tempered glass (internal stress causes shattering); some hardened ceramics (very brittle materials may crack from water impact before cutting completes — requires special slow piercing techniques); wood and wood composites (swells and delaminations from water absorption — possible but not ideal); certain foam composites (water saturation changes foam structure). Materials that cut well with waterjet: steel, stainless, aluminum, titanium, Inconel (all metals); granite, marble, quartzite, limestone (stone); carbon fiber, fiberglass, Kevlar (composites); rubber, gasket material, foam (pure water); copper, brass, bronze; acrylic, polycarbonate, HDPE (plastics).

At 60,000 psi on 6 mm mild steel with a typical 0.014 in orifice: cutting speed is approximately 2,500–3,500 mm/min. Abrasive flow at production settings: 300–400 g/min. For a 1,000 mm long cut at 3,000 mm/min, cutting time is 20 seconds, consuming approximately 100 g of garnet. Cost: $0.04–0.08 per meter of 6 mm mild steel cut. For thin sheet production (1–3 mm), cutting speed increases to 5,000–8,000 mm/min at reduced abrasive flow — per-meter garnet cost decreases. Garnet cost is most significant on thick material (25–50 mm) where cutting speed drops to 200–500 mm/min at full abrasive flow.

Yes — waterjet cutting is one of the preferred processes for aerospace titanium (Ti-6Al-4V and Ti-5Al-5V-5Mo-3Cr). Waterjet produces no HAZ, no microstructural changes from heat, and no work hardening at the cut edge — all critical for fatigue-limited aerospace structural titanium. The PX-50/100 at 60,000 psi cuts 10 mm Ti-6Al-4V at approximately 250–400 mm/min with quality cut edges. At 87,000 psi (KMT option), cutting speed improves to 400–600 mm/min. For NADCAP certification on titanium, Jet Edge's documented process capability parameters and aerospace customer references support the audit process. Jet Edge should be consulted for specific cutting parameter recommendations for each titanium alloy and thickness.