History of Waterjet Cutting

Waterjet cutting can be traced back to hydraulic mining of coal in the Soviet Union and New Zealand. Water was collected from streams and aimed to wash over a blasted rock face carrying away the loose coal and rock. Th is method of mining was redeveloped in South African gold mines to remove blasted rock from the work area into a collection drift or tunnel. In the California Gold Country between 1853-1886, pressurized water was first used to excavate soft gold rock from the mining surfaces. The pressurized water allowed the miner to stand further back from the face being washed. This was safer because there was less danger of being covered by a collapsing wall of blasted rock. By early 1900s this method of mining had re ached Prussia and Russia. In these two countries the pressurized water was used to wash blasted coal away.

In the 1930s it was Russia that made the first attempt at actually cutting the rock with the pressurized water. A water cannon was used to generate a pressure of 7000 Bars.

In the 1970s technology was developed in the USA that was capable of creating a 40,000 Bar pressure. Most of the waterjet mining growth after this involved combining a drill with the waterjet. In 1972 Professor Norman Franz of Michigan worked with McCartney Manufacturing Company to install the first industrial waterjet cutter. The equipment was installed in Alton Boxboard. Flow industries also began to market industrial waterjet cutting equipment. It was Flow Industries who added sand to a pressurized cleaning system to give metal a white finish. After this it was demonstrated that abrasive waterjet systems could cut through metal and ceramics. From here the waterjet cutting industry took off.