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Unregulated Craft of 5-Axis Waterjet Cutting

Considering the relationship between craft and digital manufacturing.

2020-01-01

Authors
E. O. Harriss, N. Bruscia, D. Vrana
Published in
Proceedings of Construct3D 2020 Conference, 2020
Links
PDFLink
BibTeX 
@article{five-axis-waterjet-cutting,
  title   = {Unregulated Craft of 5-Axis Waterjet Cutting},
  author  = {E. O. Harriss and N. Bruscia and D. Vrana},
  journal = {Proceedings of Construct3D 2020 Conference},
  year    = {2020},
}

Discusses how standard CNC workflow treats the machine as a black box

Geometry → Object

disconnecting designers from the making process and blocking innovation. The paper proposes “CNC Craft”: a legible four-step pipeline

Geometry → Toolpath → GCode → Machine Movement → Object

implemented through CAMel, a Rhino/Grasshopper plugin, that keeps the designer in contact with each stage. Applied to 5-axis waterjet cutting, a powerful but underexplored machine due to cost and programming complexity, the approach opens up the material effects of kerf, taper, and edge quality as expressive rather than merely technical concerns.