Machine Manufacturing Update

As of today, our team walked out of the water-jet lab with two freshly cut diagonal bars and vertical bars. The diagonal bar's ends, however, were not fully cut off, and still attached to the main shaft. This was a result of slight water-jet complications pertaining to the type of bar we needed to be cut (1"x1" hollow square tube) and slight carelessness of the water-jet operator. It is important to understand that the cut path was programmed into the water-jet correctly, but the edge finding was carried out by the operator by approximation and not with an actual edge finder. Furthermore, because the tube was hollow, the physical geometry of the tube meant that the water jet would be cutting through two different thicknesses. At the ends, the depth of the cut was a full 1" while the inside had a thickness of 1/8" (on top and bottom) so a total of depth of 1/4" was required. The water-jet operator combated this feat by cutting the thicker part of the tube at a slower feed rate while the inside of the tube was cut at a faster rate. After the cutting process, the neglect of edge finding resulted with an incomplete cut on one side. Luckily, the uncut length was less than 1/8" and the solution for removing the unnecessary stock was using a band saw as well as a file to smooth out the surface area to specification. On a positive note, the cutting of the vertical bars was done correctly.