Waterjet Orientation | OCT 30
NEXT CLASS Wednesday, October 30
6.00p to 8.00p
$50/person
This orientation clears you for independent access to our Ward Waterjet Cutter.
Do you have parts you’d like to cut from sheet metal or plate? Maybe you want process plastic, composite, stone, or glass to move your projects forward. Waterjet cutting is an powerful way to cut a variety of materials that don’t react adversely to water.
Our Safety and Basic Use (SBU) Orientation gets you up and running in this industrial technology faster than you ever thought possible. In our 2-hour hands-on orientation you will learn how two basic toolpath operations can be leveraged into almost unlimited possibilities. You will gain the knowledge and confidence to prepare your digital design files, choose appropriate materials, customize material settings, set up your project on the processing bed, process materials, and troubleshoot typical issues. You will finish this class prepared to independently run the waterjet cutter smoothly and safely.
There are no other prerequisites for this orientation. To register, click on the next available date (highlighted in green below) and check out through the shopping cart.
INSTRUCTOR // David Voetmann
David, a lifelong designer and maker, spent his childhood in Africa. This formative experience instilled a conviction that it’s better to create your own solutions than to wait around hoping someone else will solve your problems. To this end, he earned a BFA in Industrial Design at the University of Washington. This study deepened an enduring conviction that solving problems and making things is deeply coded into our humanity. Over the last few years he has explored the transformation of our economy as new technologies begin to democratize opportunity. He now runs The Facility Makerspace where ordinary people with extraordinary ideas gain access to an 11,000sf sandbox for innovation with all the tools, training, and community people need to turn thoughts into things. He still believes that, while technology is great, we need to focus on solutions not tools.
David lives in Shoreline with his wife Ruth.
OVERVIEW
Our waterjet cutter offers amazing capabilities with moderate effort to onboard. If you can produce artwork in a graphics program like Rhino, Fusion 360, Illustrator or CorelDRAW, you can upload a .dxf version of that file and prep it in WardCAM software. Relative ease of use, versatility of materials processed, and amazing power makes this equipment extremely popular. Whether you are cutting parts for welding, creating signage, or cutting custom parts, the ability to operate a waterjet cutter will open up almost endless possibilities for our creative output.
Our Ward Waterjet produces a stream of water at 60,000psi and utilizes CNC technology to vector process geometry in your design. In this 2-hour class, you will learn how a few basic operations enable you to create an amazing variety of projects. You will walk away with the ability to safely process appropriate material and produce your own projects.
After a short introduction, this orientation gets right to hands-on while your instructor explains how the equipment works, familiarizes you with essential terminology, discusses safety restriction, clarifies acceptable material options, and demonstrates appropriate equipment operation. You will learn how to set up appropriate material and run essential vector operations. You will develop a working understanding of the benefits and limitations of this tool and its software so you can design to process. Your instructor will cover best practices including how to set up your work and reset equipment to original conditions for the next user. Along the way you will gain the knowledge and confidence to process appropriate material safely and troubleshoot typical issues.
This is a hands-on training. You will have time during class to create a finished object to your instructor’s specification that demonstrates your understanding of the process and your ability to safely operate this equipment.
ACCESS
Pass this orientation, or a checkout, and you’ll walk away with access privileges to independently operate our Ward Waterjet Cutters. This class is also a prerequisite for upcoming advanced classes.
HARDWARE
• Ward x-Series Waterjet Cutter
SOFTWARE
• WardCAM
• Ikuhlu Driver
If this is your first class at The Facility please arrive 15 minutes early for a short safety briefing and some paperwork.
Orientations start promptly at 6.00p.
This Orientation prepares you to safely perform basic operations on supported equipment. It is not intended to cover design concepts or comprehensive operation of this equipment. If you are interested in learning more about design or advanced equipment operation look for additional upcoming classes.
SBU Orientations at The Facility are open to anyone over 18 years old. Please feel free to pass this invitation on to others. Minimum enrollment of 3 people is required to hold the orientation.
