1. Marietta Daily Journal (GA): Document Display http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=print&p_docid=11CC27AFD3D63F40
Marietta Daily Journal (GA)
February 26, 2007
Atlantis Waterjet Services' machines can cut through pretty much everything
Amanda Crissup
ACWORTH -- From letters for signs like IQ Autos on Roswell Street to 5,000 pieces of bullet-proof glass for military vehicles, Atlantis Waterjet
Services pressurizes and harnesses the power of water to cut through any material.
"The beauty of this machine is you can cut through pretty much any material, from real thin plastics to stainless steel," Edgar Hernandez, president
of Atlantis Waterjet Services, said.
Using a regular garden hose, the water is pressurized at 60,000 psi then mixed with an abrasive similar to sandpaper grit before contacting the
material at 2,200 mph. After an image is drawn on the computer, Hernandez said the machine can cut it out of any material up to 6 inches thick.
Normally used to manufacture machine parts, Hernandez saw the waterjet's potential in a more creative market.
"I like the fact that we can take a concept drawn up on a napkin and give it to (the customer) in stainless steel," Hernandez said.
Just a stone's throw across the Cobb County line in Bartow, Hernandez, the son of Cuban immigrants and his wife, Julie, opened Atlantis a year
ago to cater to diverse clientele. They can make decorative art, like wrought iron-esque patio designs out of wood, as well as more functional
accents, such as swirls and curlicues for kitchen backsplash designs.
Recently they finished a job for the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas cutting thousands of bamboo shaped-leaves out of copper.
"It's nice to have someone come in and say we need 1,000 of these little parts and just hear the machine running," Mrs. Hernandez said.
It's Hernandez's ability to imagine the possibilities that led him to the artistic merit of the waterjet. So far Atlantis Waterjet Services is a small
operation. Including himself, Hernandez employs four people and frequently operates the machine as well as runs the company.
The creative minds behind ABC–TV's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" also saw Atlantis Waterjet Services' potential. For the March 11 show
featuring the Tipton–Smith family in Cherokee, the designers commissioned a piece from Atlantis.
"We just said we're here and we'd like to help out anyway we can and they took us up on it," Hernandez said.
The market's there for the specialized cutting in home interiors and exteriors, he said, but not a lot of architects and designers are familiar with the
machine's more artistic capabilities yet.
"Before, architects were limited in what they could use for their designs because you couldn't do really intricate stuff," Hernandez said. "But now
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2. Marietta Daily Journal (GA): Document Display http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=print&p_docid=11CC27AFD3D63F40
with this technology, pretty much anything you can dream up is possible."
acrissup@mdjonline.com
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