Waterjet cutting isn’t a completely new technology by any means, but it’s definitely “new-ish” as far a mainstream industrial and decorative usage.

As such, it’s tough to find good waterjet content out there in the internet.

For example, check out waterjets.com – there’s a picture of a jet-ski.

Here are three things I want to know, and you might also be curious about, if you’re here searching out our services.

1) Who invented waterjet cutting? Answers.com and Wikipedia will give you no less than three names, with very little information about any of these men.

Until I find out otherwise, I will assume it was Thomas Jefferson, despite waterjet cutting being invented in the 1950s. (See the damage of information voids?)

2) What’s the biggest thing ever cut with a waterjet? Again, knowing this would make my life better.

3) Does it make a difference if the water is warm or cold? This, I bet I can find out simply by asking the technicians here at the Chicago facility.

I should do that one day, assuming this post doesn’t get me fired. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter!

You’ll have to excuse the lack of waterjet cutting specific posting this week.

I set out to write about one thing – a question I had on whether waterjets could be used in the home for any reason.

Basically, is there such a thing as a non-industrial strength waterjet?

For a picture on the post, it made sense to me to get a picture of a nice suburban home. As such, I did a Google search for “suburban home”, and what you see here is what came up.

Frankly, when I think of the typical suburban home. I see a lot of houses just like this one in suburban Chicago – minus the mountains in the background, of course.

As to the point of this post – I’ve found no evidence that waterjet cutting is ever used on the personal or residential level, despite the fact that all of us probably have stuff we need to cut from time to time.

Perhaps it’s a new segment of business for the OMAX people to tackle?

The first time I heard about waterjet cutting, my instant and natural response was “huh?”

You just don’t think that water could be that powerful as to be cutting metal and other such materials, including granite, the second hardest stone on planet Earth.

Look at this picture though – all I can think is how much damage that could cause if used haphazardly. (I’m assured the actual OMAX machines are super safe, and I’ve watched a lot of this person quite a bit at this point.)

Anyway, this post was really just to reiterate that the waterjet cutting process is literally water cutting through these materials. People usually think there’s more to it than that, but it’s not.

Water – the most destructive force in the city of Chicago after the politicians.

Just a quick note that you can now follow us on Twitter via the account for our sister company Granite Leaders.

Just hit this link and hit follow – we’ll be highlighting new pieces you may not find here on the blog, and also offering special deals on gift and decorative type pieces especially. There’s no end to what can be cut with a water jet!

Also, reach out and say hi – we like to use it for actual conversation and not just a stream of promo – promise!

This sun shaped medallion is pieced together from three separate types of granite, each laid into the next.

The pieces are designed in the waterjet cutting computer software and then cut individually. As you can see the precise nature of the process allows them to fit together smoothly.

This medallion is a little under a foot in diameter and priced quite reasonably. Check our contact page to see about getting a free estimate on your design.

Don’t forget you can follow us on Twitter via our Granite Leaders Twitter feed – we plan to offer special deals through it very soon!

This is a category of decorative and gift type of product we’re calling medallions.

The one pictured has a base of granite, with a brass interior that fits in perfectly. The surface is flush across the top – click the picture to get a higher-resolution version and take a look.

The waterjet cuts every piece of this – obviously the outside of the granite, and then the grooves where the brass will design will fit into. Once that is set, we program the waterjet cutter to do the brass pieces, then put it all together.

This particular piece (a little under a foot in diameter) only costs $225 out the door – most people are surprised by the cost. We did this one for a client here in Chicago, but this is easily done for a worldwide client base.

As long as we can email each other proofs on designs and such, we can produce your piece. Click here for a free estimate – even a sketch or description of what you want is enough to get started.

Glass cutting is some of the most interesting work to do with the waterjet cutting system.

Despite this piece being the state of California, this was done for a client here in Chicago.

This part of our work falls into two main categories – site specific and smaller decorative items.

Site specific might be something like show here – an engraved or shaped piece of flooring, meant to be placed permanently on-site somewhere. Other examples would be custom stairs or railings, ceiling fabrications, or large wall engravings.

Anything you can’t pick up and take with you, basically.

Smaller decorative items would be more portable table centerpieces or things you might find on shelves or hanging on walls.

For more information on our services in this area, click here.

While the waterjet cutting business (for us) sprang from our granite countertop work here in Chicago, once we saw what the machine could really do, it was a natural expansion into working with other materials.

One of the areas we’ve really come to enjoy is designing and cutting signage for the exteriors of retail and industrial buildings.

Whether the design is brought to us ready to go, or needs to be designed from scratch, we’re able to get the job done.

As seen here, the large industrial lettering is still a big trend. If you have such a job – and we do interiors (lobbies, etc), as well – make sure to get in touch or submit for a quote.

We do a lot of business in the industrial industries, but one of our favorite things is when we get to work on architectural jobs.

Not that servicing our clients’ needs for gears and machine parts isn’t rewarding – it is. But with the architectural, we get to be a little creative, and frankly, make a piece that’s more interesting to look at!

What kind of architectural and design work are we talking about? For example, the engraved logos you see in the lobbies of many offices.

Those are best cut by waterjet process, and many of them probably are. Laser cutting is another option, but in our (obviously biased) opinion, the waterjet is faster, more cost efficient, and results in a cleaner overall cut.

We also do logo design from scratch if that’s a need you have – check our contact page to submit for a free project estimate.