What a waterjet cuts — and how thick
One machine, almost every shop material. Because an abrasive waterjet cuts by erosion rather than heat, the same jet moves from thin metal to thick stone by changing speed alone. Here is what it cuts, how thick, what each material is used for, and the Rich machine family built for it. Maximum thicknesses below are real Rich machine figures, shown in mm and inches.
Six materials, by thickness.
What it's used for.
Stone & Marble (Granite)
up to 100 mm (3.9 in)Kitchen countertops and benchtops, vanity tops, sink and basin cutouts, stone patterns and mosaic inlays. The bread-and-butter of a stone shop.
Built for it: AC 5-Axis or Bridge + Waterjet →Porcelain Slab
up to 30 mm (1.2 in)Large-format porcelain countertops, cladding and tabletops. Brittle and prone to chipping with mechanical tools — waterjet cuts it cleanly without micro-fractures.
Built for it: V5-Axis (vertical splice edge) →Ceramic
up to 80 mm (3.1 in)Ceramic splice work, tile, slab and sanitary ware. The V5 head keeps the edge vertical so splice parts come off the table needing no further processing.
Built for it: V5-Axis or AC 5-Axis →Glass
up to 120 mm (4.7 in)Architectural glass, door openings, holes and shaped panels. Cold cutting means no thermal stress and no cracking. At volume, an inline glass line loads, cuts, cleans and unloads automatically.
Built for it: Glass Processing Lines →Aluminum
up to 150 mm (5.9 in)Brackets, panels, gaskets and production parts. No heat-affected zone means the metal keeps its temper, and thin parts don't warp. This is the thickest material in the line.
Built for it: 3-Axis or Dual-Head 3-Axis →Steel
up to 80 mm (3.1 in)Structural and machine parts, signage and panels. Hardened and tool steels cut without losing hardness — no annealing, no recast layer, a square edge ready to use.
Built for it: 3-Axis or Dual-Head 3-Axis →One line, every material.
Stone and ceramic shops reach for the AC 5-Axis and its 0–60° bevel for mitered edges and sink cutouts, or the V5-Axis for vertical splice edges. Metal and production shops run the 3-Axis workhorse or its dual-head sibling. Glass at volume goes to the automated glass processing lines. Every one is built around the IP68 head and intensifier Rich engineers in-house.
Cutting something not on this list?
Tell the configurator your material and thickness and it returns the right Rich waterjet — built around an IP68 head and intensifier engineered in-house since 2008.