Why a SawJET?

What makes this technology superior to normal abrasive waterjet machines?

Most typical countertop shapes have many straight lines. Although the corner of the top may be ninety-one degrees, the angle is formed by the intersection of two straight edges. Those straight edges can be cut five to six times faster with a saw blade than with a traditional waterjet and without the high operation cost of an all abrasive waterjet machine. Part fabrication cost is directly related to the amount of time required on the machine. With the Northwood SawJET™ you are able to cut straight edges much faster, which equates to savings of both time and money.

How does the saw work?

The saw head rotates 360 degrees, is fully programmable, and can make a straight cut in any direction on the slab. "Programmable" means that the GE Fanuc machine control automatically positions the saw cuts. Once the granite slab is positioned on the machine's large 12' x 7' table (or tables--a twin table model is available), the saw completes all of the straight cuts. The remaining detail cuts are performed by the KMT waterjet system automatically.

Is this technology a new development for Northwood?

Northwood has been producing fully programmable saw heads for over ten years for a variety of applications. Creating the SawJET™ simply required Northwood engineers to make the unit waterproof.

If this technology is so superior, will Northwood’s competitors follow suit?

They certainly could, but it will not be a simple undertaking for a variety of reasons. First, the frame loading generated by waterjet technology is very low. Even if a traditional waterjet machine looks massive, a quick look at the frame will illustrate the point-- the massive appearance is nothing more than an illusion. Northwood’s competitors cannot simply hang a saw head on their existing frames because they cannot handle the loads produced by the programmable saw head. A complete machine redesign would be required for them to try to imitate the revolutionary SawJET™.

Northwood SawJETs™ were designed for one purpose--to machine stone. Although the waterjet technology included in the design could be used to cut other materials, that is not the intent. Northwood SawJETs™ were designed to be part of a seamlessly integrated solution that includes the company’s CNC stone machining centers and its industry-leading StoneVision®, StoneLaser™, and StoneScan™ technologies.

Why have Northwood’s competitors tried to counter the waterjet/saw with higher pressure abrasive waterjet systems?

They don't have many choices without doing complete machine redesigns because traditional waterjet machine frames are not rigid enough to handle the frame stresses produced by the saw. This fact is very simple to prove; simply create their frame designs in an engineering software package that includes Finite Element Analysis (F.E.A) capabilities. Apply a load to the end of the gantry that you would expect to encounter with a sawing head cutting stone at the maximum horsepower level, and the machine frame virtually collapses.

The competitor's response to Northwood’s innovative approach (in lieu of a new machine design that includes sawing technology) is to supply intensifier pumps on their existing machine models that operate at much higher pressure. This does enable them to cut faster (they have undoubtedly heard about the productivity of the SawJETs™) but at a much higher cost per countertop part.

The competition has missed a crucial point--it is not about speed (even abrasive waterjets are fast enough to keep up in a stone shop); it is about the cost of producing the countertop parts. Increasing the pressure only makes the rate of consumable usage increase, and the costs of producing the parts and maintaining the machine increase accordingly.

The question that should be asked is very simple: Is it less expensive to produce straight cuts on granite or quartz countertops with a saw blade or with an abrasive waterjet? The saw blade wins hands down! The SawJET™ is the best of both worlds and the obvious choice for today’s stone fabricator.