WARDJet, Inc., a leader in the waterjet cutting industry, has designed a waterjet cutting system specifically for stone fabrication. The WARDJet Z-613 waterjet, built to grow and built to last, was designed to support the largest granite slabs with a cutting envelope up to 73 x 156 inches. The capability of cutting with up to six heads makes the Z-613 ideal for cutting one countertop or inlay designs by the thousand, according to the manufacturer. Every system is configured to operate two cutting heads - even if you only start with one.

Some features of the Z-613 include an easy-to-use color touch screen controller, optical tracing eye, powerful CAD/CAM software and a JETSLAB‚ concrete cutting bed.

The controller offers many benefits to waterjet users such as automatic low and high pressure control of the pump, which helps maximize piercing and cutting speeds; integration of digital input data, if measurements are taken in the field; the ability to interrupt a program, cut another part then return to cutting the original program; program rotation; easy plate alignment; networking and wireless networking; virtually unlimited program capacity and remote diagnostic and control. A wireless hand-held pendant is also available.

The optical tracing eye allows the entire waterjet to become a large digitizer that can trace any template. An open architecture, CAD / CAM software with specific stone cutting configurations comes standard with the Z-613 waterjet. Raster to vector conversion software is also available to make it easy to sketch, scan, vectorize, program - allowing parts to be cut in as little as five minutes.

The WARDJet JETSLAB‚ concrete grate system is revolutionary, according to the manufacturer. Just as a bridge saw cuts over a concrete base that is easily screeded, WARDJet took the same principle and applied it to waterjet cutting. By cutting over concrete, the slabs or tiles are fully supported, making it easy to cut very small parts without having them fall into the tank. Cutting the most intricate flower with very small parts is just as easy as cutting out a large kitchen counter. Three other grating systems are available with the Z-613 for other cutting applications.

WARDJet also offers a one-day “Waterjet Cutting of Stone” hands-on course, free of charge to all owners of WARDJet waterjets. The course teaches all aspects of stone cutting such as programming, piercing, nesting, inlay assembly and design, handling and shipping techniques.

All WARDJet waterjets come recycling ready should a Waterjet Abrasive Recycling Dispenser (WARD) be added at a later stage. The WARD is an abrasive removal and recycling system that could allow the abrasive to be used up to nine times, substantially reducing the operating cost of a waterjet.