CNC Brand Profile

OMAX: The Waterjet Company That Won on Software Instead of Pressure

OMAX built its name on the controller, not on pressure. The company two waterjet pioneers founded in Kent, Washington, in 1993 built its business on software that knows when the jet has to slow down, and in 2009 its biggest rival paid it $35 million to settle the patent fight and walk away from a merger.

That history explains a lot about the used OMAX machines on the market today: why the software matters as much as the table, why the pump is a direct drive design, and why one company sells machines under several brands with model numbers in two different units.

OMAX at a Glance

1971: Before OMAX, There Was Flow

John Henry Olsen trained as a tool and die maker at Detroit's Cass Technical High School, then earned an MIT undergraduate degree in 1961 and a doctorate in mechanical engineering in 1966. He went to work at Boeing Scientific Research Laboratories in Seattle.

In 1971 he co-founded Flow Research. According to The Fabricator, the first high pressure waterjet cutting machine was built in his barn shop on Vashon Island, Washington. When he died in February 2019, at 79, the trade press called him the father of waterjet cutting technology. By 2009 the Seattle Times was calling Flow the world's largest waterjet maker, and our Flow brand profile covers that side of the family tree.

1993: Two Engineers and a Controller

Olsen and Dr. John Cheung founded OMAX in Kent, Washington, in 1993. Both had been involved with early waterjet companies that eventually became part of Flow, and they set up in the same city.

OMAX describes its starting point as a new type of motion control technology and proprietary software that made the first truly affordable waterjet system possible. The patent behind it, U.S. 5,508,596, was filed by Olsen on October 7, 1993, and granted on April 16, 1996, under the title Motion control with precomputation.

Why the Controller Mattered

A waterjet is not a rigid tool. The stream lags as it cuts, and the patent spells out the consequence: the distance between where the jet enters and where it exits depends on how fast it is traversing. Run it too fast through a curve and the bottom of the cut drifts away from the top, which shows up as taper and a poor edge.

Olsen's answer was to work out the motion before the cut starts. The patent describes precomputing every position command and the timing between them, controlling velocity, acceleration and jerk, so the machine slows where the jet needs it and runs faster everywhere else. In its own words, total control of the velocity along the cutting path is required for accurate cutting with jet cutting tools.

That is why an OMAX operator mostly tells the software what the material is and how thick it is, and the software works out the speeds. In 2008 the Federal Trade Commission described PC based controllers as the main way OMAX and Flow competed, and said OMAX held two broad patents covering them.

Resell CNC Take

On a used OMAX, the software is part of the machine, not an accessory. A table and a pump without a working, current copy of the control software is a much harder machine to put to work, so we treat the software version and its transfer as a line item, the same way we treat the pump hours.

The Pump: Direct Drive, Not Intensifier

Many waterjets use intensifier pumps, which use hydraulic oil to drive a piston that multiplies water pressure. OMAX built its machines around direct drive pumps, where an electric motor turns a crankshaft that drives the high pressure plungers directly, with no hydraulic oil.

OMAX's argument is efficiency. On its pump technology page it compares its EnduroMAX against unnamed competitors at their manufacturers' recommended settings:

Those are OMAX's own figures, not an independent test. But they make the company's position clear: more cutting power from a bigger stream at 60,000 psi, rather than a smaller stream at higher pressure. Its current EnduroMAX pumps come in 30, 40, 50 and 100 hp versions and are rated for 1,000 hours between maintenance cycles. OMAX also sells DynaMAX intensifier pumps for pure water cutting, multiple heads and etching, rated for 500 hours.

2004 to 2009: The Lawsuit, the Merger and the $35 Million

In 2004 OMAX sued Flow, alleging infringement of its patents on the software that controls the waterjet, and sought more than $100 million in damages. Flow countersued over its own patent.

In 2007, with the suit still pending, publicly traded Flow offered $109 million in cash and stock for privately held OMAX. The FTC challenged the deal in July 2008, calling the two companies each other's closest competitor in a highly concentrated U.S. market, Flow the leading supplier and OMAX the second. It let the merger proceed only if Flow would grant any competitor that asked a royalty free license to OMAX's two controller patents.

Then the economy turned. Flow cut its offer to $75 million, and in May 2009 it walked away. It paid OMAX $35 million: $29 million to settle the patent litigation and $6 million for ending the merger. At the time, Flow had about 670 employees worldwide and OMAX about 180. That summer OMAX announced a new division and brand, MAXIEM.

The Brands Underneath

A used buyer will see OMAX machines sold under several names. They come from the same company and use its direct drive pump technology, but they were aimed at different buyers.

How to Read an OMAX Model Name

OMAX model numbers describe the cutting envelope, but not all in the same unit. Read a MAXIEM 1530X as inches and you would expect a 15 by 30 inch machine instead of one that cuts 5 by 10 feet.

The metric names are nominal: OMAX lists the MAXIEM 2060X at 6.24 by 2.00 meters, not exactly 6 by 2. Older five digit OMAX names, such as the 60120 and 80160, read the same way as the 2652 and 55100. Whatever the name, confirm the actual X and Y travel on the spec sheet for that serial number.

2019: Hypertherm

In March 2019 OMAX agreed to become a wholly owned subsidiary of Hypertherm, the Hanover, New Hampshire, builder of plasma cutting systems. Hypertherm already had a waterjet group, making intensifier pumps and abrasive recycling systems, and OMAX brought its direct drive pumps and software. Hypertherm said it would keep OMAX's Kent operations, management and distribution channels in place. The deal closed on July 18, 2019, with Cheung still CEO. Olsen had died that February.

In 2022 Hypertherm changed its corporate name to Hypertherm Associates. It is 100 percent associate owned, was founded in 1968 and has about 2,000 associates. Its brands include Hypertherm plasma, OMAX waterjets, ProNest and Robotmaster software, and AccuStream waterjet parts. In July 2025 it announced a next generation OMAX waterjet for stone with 5-axis control and low pressure piercing.

Software and Taper Control

OMAX controls are PC based, and our 2652 lists a Windows based control. The IntelliMAX software generates the toolpath and sets the cutting parameters from the material type and thickness. The OptiMAX adds IntelliVISOR monitoring and the IntelliTRAX drive system. That PC based approach is exactly what the FTC described as the competitive battleground in 2008.

The other piece to know is taper. An abrasive jet can cut a V shaped kerf, leaving the top and bottom of a part different widths. OMAX's Tilt-A-Jet head, now marketed as TiltaJET, and its A-Jet 5-axis head tilt the nozzle to correct for it, and the premium IntelliMAX software adjusts the angle continuously along the toolpath. A used OMAX with one of these heads is a more capable machine than the same table with a straight head.

In Our Inventory

OMAX 2652. A compact JetMachining center with 52 by 26 inches of cutting travel and 8 inches of Z, a 50,000 psi EnduroMAX pump and a Windows based control running IntelliMAX Premium. OMAX rates the 2652 at ±0.001 inch linear accuracy and repeatability and 180 inches per minute traverse.

We buy and sell OMAX waterjets across the range. Inventory changes, so check the OMAX brand page for what is available today. Waterjets sit alongside the sheet metal brands in our Trumpf and Bystronic profiles, and for another process that cuts without a spindle, see the EDM accident.

What to Check When Buying a Used OMAX

The pump. Model, pressure rating and hours, plus maintenance records. Current EnduroMAX pumps run at 60,000 psi, and older machines may carry lower pressure pumps, like the 50,000 psi unit on our 2652. Pressure and pump horsepower set how fast the machine can cut.

The software. Confirm the IntelliMAX version and that it transfers with the machine. Given how much of OMAX's performance lives in the control, it deserves the same scrutiny as the pump.

The tank. Garnet and sludge buildup, slat condition and any corrosion. A full tank is heavy: OMAX lists the 2652 at 10,252 pounds operating weight against 4,300 empty.

The cutting head. Orifice and mixing tube condition, abrasive delivery, and whether a Tilt-A-Jet or A-Jet head is fitted.

Your shop. OMAX specifies 3 phase, 380 to 480 VAC for the 2652, so check it against your service, and plan for water quality, drainage and garnet handling.

A test cut. Cut a part with tight corners and measure it top and bottom. That is the controller and the taper control proving themselves.

Frequently Asked Questions