Grand Twin waterjet combines high capacity with production flexibility
Image: Water Jet Sweden CEO Lennart Svensson with the new Grand Twin machine at the company’s production facility in Ronneby, Sweden.
Two machines in one – or one large-format waterjet when required. With its new Grand Twin concept, Water Jet Sweden gives manufacturers the flexibility to adapt cutting capacity to changing production needs. The first Grand Twin has now been delivered to a customer in Norway.
As production mixes become more diverse and components larger, manufacturers need greater capacity without necessarily adding more machines or floor space. Grand Twin addresses this by combining two independently controlled X-beams in a single machine.
Each X-beam has its own PanelOne® control system, allowing two jobs to run simultaneously. When larger components need to be processed, one beam can be parked and the two working zones combined into one continuous cutting area.
Two working zones – one machine
The first Grand Twin is an NCG 3090 Twin with a 3 × 9 meter cutting table, configurable as two separate 3 × 4 meter working zones or one continuous cutting area of approximately 3 × 8.5 meters.
“We received an enquiry from a customer in Norway asking if we could develop a machine with dual X-beams. Together with the customer, we developed a solution that combines high productivity with the flexibility to adapt the machine to different production requirements,” says Christian Svensson, Sales Manager at Water Jet Sweden.
Each side operates independently while both working zones are integrated into a common safety system. When the full table is required, one X-beam is parked clear of the cutting area, quickly providing access to the machine’s full large-format capacity.
Extending the Grand platform
Grand Twin builds on Water Jet Sweden’s established Grand platform, a heavy-duty machine concept developed for demanding production environments and components ranging from smaller parts to large and irregular workpieces.
The system also retains the multi-head capabilities of the Grand range, including options such as the Beveljet 60 five-axis cutting system.
A key element of the design is the linear drive system on the Y-axes. This enables the construction of very long machines without compromising positioning accuracy.
“Our design enables the construction of machines exceeding 25 meters in length without compromising the required positioning accuracy. The patented gantry design is engineered to ensure consistent precision, regardless of the machine length,” explains Christian Svensson.
The two safety zones can be reconfigured into one large working zone when the entire table area is required
Flexibility that scales with production
The strength of the Grand Twin concept lies in its ability to adapt to the job at hand. Manufacturers can run two independent jobs when throughput is the priority, then switch to large-format cutting when oversized components require the full table.
Following the first delivery to Norway, Water Jet Sweden has received a further Grand Twin order from an industrial customer in Southern Europe. That machine will feature two cutting heads on each X-beam, including a Beveljet 60, giving the system four cutting heads in total.
“We see significant potential in the Grand Twin concept. It gives manufacturers the opportunity to combine high production capacity with a level of flexibility that would traditionally have required several separate machines,” says Lennart Svensson, CEO and Group CEO of Water Jet Sweden.
