When it comes to cutting minutely detailed parts in large-scale quantities, waterjet cutting and wire EDM can be faster and cheaper alternatives to CNC machining.

Wire EDM, or wire electrical discharge machining, uses electrical discharge to remove material with an exceptional degree of accuracy. It’s capable of cutting materials up to 15.75” thick, and can effectively pull up to 40 parts simultaneously with a single cut. 

Waterjet cutting on the other hand, uses a powerful stream of water mixed with garnet abrasives to cut through materials. It’s ideal for materials that are sensitive to high temperatures and parts that require clean, parallel edges.

Wire EDM and waterjet cutting provide many cost-saving benefits—and at Arbiser Machine, we offer both capabilities under one roof with an extremely fast turnaround. 

Wondering which capability is the best option for your part? Keep reading to find out.

Wire EDM vs. Waterjet Cutting: A Side-By-Side Comparison

More often than not, the experts at our machine shop in Georgia will determine which capabilities to use for a customer’s part. But if you’re an engineer curious about how these processes work, or you simply want some insight before signing off on a quote, here’s what you should know about wire EDM and waterjet cutting:

When it comes to price, waterjet cutting is generally less expensive than wire EDM. But cost is largely dependent on other factors like part functionality and design.

How Arbiser Machine Chooses the Best Capability for Your Part

Since we offer waterjet cutting and wire EDM capabilities in-house at our machine shop in Georgia, we’re not incentivized to promote one service over the other. We’ll always choose the method that’s ideal for your part. 

When deciding between waterjet cutting or wire EDM, we begin by examining your 3D model and drawings to determine how to best cut your parts. With waterjet cutting in particular, we may suggest design changes—and possibly some additional CNC machining operations. 

As a rule of thumb, when precision and accuracy are critical, we recommend wire EDM. But when our customers are looking for a fast and cheap solution for a part that is within standard tolerances of +/- .005”, waterjet cutting is typically the way to go. 

Request a quote today and put your next project in our capable hands!