Waterjet nesting that prices the job from the nest

On a waterjet, machine time is most of the price. The jet cuts slowly in thick plate, every pierce takes seconds, and garnet, pump wear and power run for every minute. Nest&Quote nests the customer's DXF drawings on every sheet size you stock, checks every sheet, and prices the job from that nest: the material it consumes, and the cutting time from the cut length, the pierces and the contours at your machine's speeds and hourly rate. It runs in the browser, in inches or millimetres.

Where the minutes go

The Price from the nest panel splits the cutting time into four parts, so you can see what drives a waterjet quote:

• Cutting: the cut length at a speed for the material and thickness
• Pierces: the number of pierces, one for each outline and each hole, times a pierce time that grows with the thickness
• Contours: a short time for every contour start
• Travel: the moves between parts, measured along the nest's cutting path, or estimated from where the parts sit when a nest has none

Cutting speed by thickness

The default waterjet speeds are for an abrasive jet at about 4,000 bar (58,000 psi) with about 0.3 kg (0.66 lb) of garnet a minute, at a quality cut, as published speed tables give them; a separation cut runs about twice as fast. They cover steel, stainless and aluminium from 3 to 20 mm (about 1/8 to 3/4 in), copper up to 6 mm, and wood and plastic. They are labelled as defaults wherever they are used.

The default table stops at 20 mm. For thicker plate there is no default: the cost panel says so instead of guessing a speed, and with an account you type your machine's speeds and the job is priced on them.

Pierces take seconds

The default pierce time is 3 seconds plus 1 second per millimetre of thickness (about 25 seconds per inch): 13 seconds in 10 mm plate. A part with six holes needs seven pierces, so on a plate of small parts with holes the pierces add up to a real share of the job. The result gives the pierce count and the cut length for every job.

The running cost is in the hourly rate

Machine time is priced at one hourly rate per machine. On a waterjet, set it to cover garnet, pump upkeep, power and the operator, as you do in your quotes today; garnet is not a line of its own. Until you set yours, a default rate is used and labelled as a default.

Close to your machine, not a guess

The software that drives your waterjet works out its speeds from the pump, the nozzle, the material and the quality you choose. Nest&Quote does not: it uses one speed per material and thickness. Two things bring its estimate close to your machine:

• Your own speed table. Each machine in your account has its own speeds by material and thickness, and its own pierce times. Type the speeds you cut at, at the quality you usually quote.
• Real run times. Enter the actual minutes of a few finished jobs, or save them from a job's price panel, and Nest&Quote fits the machine's estimate to them.

Materials: metal, wood and plastic

Steel, stainless, aluminium and copper, plus wood and plastic, each with a density for the weight and a price per kg or per lb. With an account you add your own materials and grades within these types. Stone, glass, tile, rubber and composites, which many waterjet shops cut, have no material type in Nest&Quote today.

Sheets, gaps and remnants

List the sheet sizes you stock, in inches or millimetres, and the job is nested on every one of them; the size that uses the least material is kept, and the others are listed with their sheet count. Every sheet is checked for overlaps, part gap and edge margin, and the last sheet shows the remnant you keep. With an account, the remnant goes into your leftover stock when the job is cut.

From the nest to the waterjet

Each sheet downloads as a nested DXF, in inches or millimetres, to open in the software that drives your waterjet. There you set the quality, the lead-ins and the cut order as you do today. The nest report and the sheets to print go with the job to the floor.

Common questions

Does it replace my waterjet's software?

No. Nest&Quote is for the quote and the nest, before the job is programmed. The software that came with your waterjet still makes the cutting path and drives the machine.

Can it price thick plate?

Yes, at your own speeds. The default speeds go up to 20 mm (about 3/4 in). Above that there is no default: the cost panel asks for your machine's speed instead of guessing, and once you have typed the speeds your machine cuts at, the job is priced on them.

Can I price garnet on its own?

Not today. Put it into the machine's hourly rate, together with the pump upkeep and the power.

Do you handle stone and glass?

Not today. Metal, wood and plastic are covered.

Bring a waterjet job you quoted last week

Nest it here and compare the minutes, the pierces and the material with what you sent.