ATM Water Glass Cutting (Changed previous Subject)

[Alvaro Cortizo <alvaro@netpandora.com>]

Hello Vladimir,

Wednesday, February 06, 2002, 6:24:48 PM, you wrote:

VG> Alvaro,

VG> I have never had opportunity to see water cutting. 
VG> One of our list members intended to cut big flat mirrors 
VG> into smaller chunks but he also said nothing about details.
VG> Perhaps this is normal technique for many but I will be grateful 
VG> to have some details about this art of cutting from you.
VG> If you think that is not interesting for list please tell me off list.

In  fact  i  cant "see" the machine cutting the glass, because i go to
the  place  in  shorts  (in  here  is summer.. ex: pretty hot) , and i
cannot access inside the plant if im not wearing long pants :(
What  i  can  tell  you  is:  the  place is a big metalurgy, they make
flanges,  gears up to 2 mts in diameter (~6.5 ft), cut off steel plate
in any form etc.. i was lucky because:
1)  They  are  customers of my fasteners business, so i know what they
do,  and i know that the water cutter they have cuts up to 60 or 80 mm thick
steel
2)  Im  a  very old friend of the son of the sales manager there, so i
have   enough  confidence  to ask if they can cut a piece of glass for
me
3) There are not many water cutters in here, and i was twice lucky for
the reasons above.
 What i CAN tell you is:
 I  wait  at the front gate while they carry my glasses (19mm and 10mm
 (for   the  tool) inside, (the machine itself is around 2 blocks from
 the front gate) cut them and bring they back to me, the whole
 procedure took around 40 mins, and i dont know if they start the work
 right away.
 The  cut  is really good!.. i measured it with a vernier caliper, and
 the  glass  diameter  is  EXACTLY 200,00 mm, the finish of the cut is
 very  good too, if you pass your finger in the side of the glass, you
 "feel" the little steps the machine do to make the circle.
 The  "front" of the cut is perfect, not a single chirp, and the glass
 does no cut your finger, because the water has abrasive on it, so its
 like a "pre" grinded cut, the back of the glass was a couple of small
 notches  at  the edge (when i bevel the edge they dissapear) , with a
 conic  like  opaque small bites, that goes around 13 mm to the center
 of  the  glass,  i  think that the machine rest for a small amount of
 time  there,  and  the  water  goes under the glass there, doing that
 marks  there,  they  are  pretty the same in both glasses, so i think
 that  is  not  related  to  the  glass  thickness, but related to the
 movement of the machine arm itself.
 When   id  ask  about  the  price of the cut (before i go there), the
 father of mine friend tells me that they charge around $5 (u$s 2.5 at
 this  time) for this kind of cut, at the end i didnt pay nothing, was
 free,  at  least  this time... but for u$s 5, to get two perfect round
 glass  pieces, its a nosense to make a drill with steel/copper plate,
 and cut with silicon carbide..
 For the next mirror, i promise to go there in long pants to "see" the
 machine working.

-- 
Best regards,
 Alvaro
Rosario,SF , Argentina