Where can i find a good Laser Cutter??

[Solunar Silver Studio]

I have heard of a water jet cutter before but can't imagine how it works...have you got the techy lowdown on it Peter?

[geti-titanium]

Water jet cutters, as the name suggests, use a fine jet of water to cut computer programmed profiles from sheet metal or plastics.

Water on its own isn't enough to cut metal so it is mixed with an abrasive compound which does the actual cutting. The water is more of a delivery method for the abrasive compound.

[ps_bond]

A very, very high pressure water jet frequently with an abrasive suspended in the stream is blasted at the target. The pressure is in the order of 100x the pressure in a dive cylinder...

Water jet cutter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Didn't post fast enough

I do think there's a market for "domestic" (ish) versions of a lot of the industrial tech that's around; RepRap is an interesting thing, but it's only a small step along the way. A small waterjet cutter with a bed size of say 50x50cm would have a lot of applications around the people I know. These things would only really be for short runs, so I can't see them being a significant threat to the proper manufacturers (not that we have many left in the UK).

[Solunar Silver Studio]

That is really interesting...thank you both!!

[geti-titanium]

I can't see them being a significant threat to the proper manufacturers (not that we have many left in the UK)

GETi are holding the fort here in the jewellery quarter

[Dano]

there are plans for homemade CNC mills and laser cutters/etchers and all that sort of thing on Instructables if you can be bothered at all, i keep meaning to but they're massive projects.

it's cheaper but time = money i guess

[Inanegal]

Hi Carole

I’m looking for an affordable method of getting shapes cut out of 0.4mm silver sheet and I came across this very useful discussion from 2009. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions about using a photoetching service?

How neat is the cut produced by the photoetching process? Do you have to do much filing and papering to tidy it up, or is the cut fairly neat?

Are the edges of the pieces square, or is there an undercut?

Do you still use Chempix and would you still recommend them? If so, I might give them a try.

Best wishes
Nina
www.ninagale.weebly.com