Waterjets Key in Creating Intricate Floor Medallions

When brothers Steve and Jerry Driskell opened Dallas, Texas-based 3-D Collaters 17 years ago, they started out as a collating service for advertisers and printers. However, they later added tile assembly services for distributors, which eventually evolved into the highly successful job shop it is today, specializing in stone and tile cutting.

3-D entered into the tile cutting business using wet saws to cut straight lines. However, when the straight-line cutting business began to taper off, Steve decided to aggressively pursue designing and cutting floor medallions, incorporating natural stone, marble, and ceramic tile into their designs.

"About three years ago we heard rumors of waterjets being used for stone and tile cutting. After researching different manufacturers, we purchased a waterjet cutting machine from Flow International Corporation," said Steve Driskell.

In order to produce the intricate design concepts, Steve draws then scans the designs into his FlowMaster® PC-based software for cutting with his 4' x 8' Integrated Flying Bridge waterjet machine. "All of my medallion designing and cutting experience is self taught, I don't have a math or drawing background," said Steve. "The software programming allows me to easily draw, scan and then program the waterjet machine to cut the designs we need."

Steve's vision for the demand of medallion cutting has paid off. He recently returned from The Surfaces 2002 Tradeshow in Las Vegas, Nevada where several of their customers' large medallions were on display. One such customer was American Olean, for which 3-D created an oriental floor medallion for the entrance to American Olean's booth. The medallion was designed using natural stone, marble, and ceramic tile. Pieces on the project ranged from 1/2 inch to 3/8 inch thick.

Steve believes 3-D's success is due in large part to their hard work and willingness early on to never turn down any kind of job, which opened doors to other markets, which now includes sample board display work for Home Depot and Lowe's Home Improvement Stores. Right now, 3-D Collaters is using a combination of wet saws and waterjet, but plans to open a separate business dedicated strictly to waterjet cutting.

"Waterjets are the only way to cut these designs since the wet saws work best cutting straight lines," said Steve. "I truly don't think you can cut the intricate loops and fill-ins without a waterjet."

Story used with permission from www.flowcorp.com