Water Jet Project Submission

Omax Protomax Water Jet

TL;DR – Please use the submission form here to submit your project. REMEMBER – the water jet queue is a first-come first-serve basis.

Important Notes:

• All users must have completed Shop Safety Orientation, as there is almost always pre & post-processing that must be completed by the student after machining your project.
• The CoD Water Jet should only be used for projects for a class work, research projects, or facilities/operations projects. For personal projects, consider using the NCSU Craft Center.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD THE WATER JET BE USED IN SUPPORT OF COMMERCIAL WORK (FOR PROFIT). USE OF SCHOOL RESOURCES FOR COMMERCIAL/FOR PROFIT PURPOSES WILL RESULT IN LOSS OF SHOP PRIVILEGES!

Process Constraints When Designing Your Project:

• The kerf of the cut is approximately 0.03″ wide
• Maximum Bed size is 12″ x 12″ , material cannot be larger than this.
• Z depth max is 0.5 INCHES! Materials must be NO HIGHER than 0.5″ inches tall or it will not be cut all the way thru.
• Allowable materials: glass, metal, mirror, stone, cement, ceramics, rubber, plastics*.
  • *Consider using the laser cutter for faster turnaround with these product types.
• Unallowable materials: wood, foam, mdf. 

Design File Requirements

1. Design files only need to be 2-Dimensional.
2. Draw in your stock (i.e. 12″x12″ square for your metal sheet)
3. Roughly space out your parts with 1/8″ spacing between them. Staff will do the final arrangement of parts, but do your best to have it arranged how you want it.
4. Include a 1″x1″ square on your design file. It does NOT need to be inside your stock, it will not be cut out, it is to ensure that we are all working in the same scale when reviewing your file.

Joining the Waterjet Queue:

Currently, the Water Jet is run by Materials Lab Staff only (Christian Karkow). Students are expected to have finalized project files that require minimal tweaking from staff. If after submitting your file, staff discover that it needs additional re-working, your file may be sent back to you and your place in the queue will be passed until a reasonable file is received.

• REMEMBER staff cannot add you to the queue until material AND file are in hand. 
• Staff cannot help you learn software from scratch, nor can we design your project from scratch. 

Water Jet projects increase exponentially as the semester progresses. We will do our best to accommodate your requested date of need, but in general, the Water Jet queue is a first-come first-serve basis.

• PLEASE ALLOW AS MUCH TIME AS POSSIBLE FOR YOUR PROJECT. Typical turnaround is about 24 hours.
  • If you have questions before submitting your project, schedule a design consultation with Christian here.
• PLEASE NOTE: we cannot guarantee that your project will be completed by the date you request. We will do our level best, but we only have one machine and if it breaks, repairs may take time.
• The Water Jet does not operate outside of normal business hours, as it unsafe to operate it unattended. Do not count evenings/weekends as time available to cut your projects when considering your deadlines!

We will communicate machine status and queue length upon review of your project for submission and let you know if deadline is feasible or not. 

Please use the submission form to submit your project, by clicking the button below.