As the owner of Accurate Waterjet, this is my story.
I’m Arnie Lytle, a waterjet cutting specialist in Tempe, Arizona. I have lived in the Valley of the Sun since 1996. I’m the father of four children, two stepsons and grandfather of 11. Accurate Waterjet is a veteran-owned, family-operated business located in Tempe.
PASSION FOR PISTONS
I grew up on a farm in Southwestern Nebraska, learning how to tinker with my 1923 Ford Model T from my older brother, and raising cane every chance I got. I grew up fixing farm equipment, building muscle cars, driving trucks, or drag racing. On the farm we found ourselves in constant need of new parts that were hard to get our hands on or too expensive for kids to buy. Necessity is the mother of all invention, and we figured out ways to make things work with my own creative solutions.
CREATIVE INVENTOR
This ability to build my own parts and fix my own tools came in handy while working in the generator room of a US Navy destroyer. I served during the Vietnam War Era, and I sometimes had to get creative to get the job done. My love of mechanics, math, metals, art, computer programming, and engineering ultimately led me to a career as a waterjet cutting specialist.
Since 1997, I’ve worked in the waterjet cutting industry. Over the years, I learned a lot about how to boost efficiency by changing the way of doing things. I did this by creating more efficient programs that run our waterjet and laser machines and more efficient ways of loading materials to be cut. I keep an eye on every part of the creative process, translating to lower costs and better products for our customers.
I’m honored to have gained expertise in dozens of niche industries, some of which include:
- Architecture
- Custom fence design
- Construction and custom home building
- National defense (military)
- Police defense and armor
- Custom signs
- Military and domestic aerospace
- Custom cars
- Offroad as well as other race car parts designing & building
- Hollywood movie set building
- Award & trophy building for various shows
- USA Olympic Luge Team parts building
- Museum art displays
- Power generation
- Railroad and train parts
- Technology
- ASU research projects
- Reproduction auto parts, especially for impossible to find parts for classic cars
MY EARLY WATERJET CUTTING SPECIALIST CAREER
In 1997, my welding skills, which were learned in the workshop on the family farm, got me a job in a new waterjet shop startup in Phoenix. By that point in my life, I’d worked on so many different types of projects that I had a well-rounded skillset. This allowed me to understand the technology and mechanics behind waterjets and maximize their capabilities. To succeed in this industry, I learned as much as I could about CAD drawing, design, metal art, manufacturing, machining, waterjet and laser operations.
During those early years, I became a leading waterjet cutting specialist in Phoenix. We did a lot of Defense and Aerospace work in that company, but my main job became, to help develop new ways to use waterjets. I learned to do things that nobody had figured out how to do yet, like blending a round hole into a square hole with a 5-axis waterjet or making shaped holes in formed panels. I helped develop processes that, to this day some 19 years after I left that company, I have never seen another company figure out how to do.
GOING ALL IN ON MY OWN BUSINESS
By 2005, I wanted to be my own boss again. I sold my farm and plunked down everything I had in my first waterjet shop. We had a booming business, so good in fact that I bought Accurate Waterjet in 2008, until the recession hit. From 2008 to 2010, we experienced losses so deep we barely survived. My wife decided to retire, partly because of health reasons, so we closed our doors, a few months after that, along with millions of other business owners in 2010, but I maintained hope that Accurate Waterjet would rise again so kept the business name, and sent my customers work to the shop I worked in after we closed down.
Slowly and steadily, the economy improved. By 2014, I was cautiously prepared to get back in the ring again. I worked with a partner, that we both had great hopes to rebuild the company to surpass its former size. We slowly came back to nearly the level that would allow us to really take off, and then Covid-19 hit with the shutdowns. After that, things went downhill again, to not really come back to the levels before that.
In 2016 I started out with a local artist working on decorative fencing. The object was to create a beautiful security fence, that was nearly impossible to climb over, that was safe for people (especially children) to be around without harming themselves on sharp edges, pinch points etc. After many hours of programming, I came up with an acceptable pattern (based off of the artists desired artwork). The result was the Large 12′ tall security fence that is located around an electrical supply station for the Light Rail in Mesa.
From then on, I grew to love these fence building projects, and it eventually become my passion. I have been working on more and more of these fence projects as time goes by, and now I am working on creating them for private homes to create a beautiful, and completely original fence to boarder yards around the valley.
BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA
The recent election has initiated a new era in our country. We will see significant changes around us at the beginning of the 2025 year. Along with the changes in our nation’s government, and hopefully economic improvements, Accurate Waterjet is moving in a new direction. We severed our relationship with the partner we had for the past 10 years, that yielded less than stellar results, for various reasons, and moved on.
Accurate Waterjet has relocated back to Tempe, and joined forces with another shop. We will now have significantly more, and better capabilities. Our company can now offer CNC Mill & Lathe capabilities, along with 3D printing (non-metals), Laser cutting (non-metals) and both Mig & Tig Welding. We now have better capabilities for inspection as well as reverse engineering to help create your new products.
So, after 28 years in the waterjet business, I am very excited about the future in the coming new year of both Accurate Waterjet and our nation as a hole.
ABOUT OUR CLIENTS
Our clients are a long list of creators and DIY enthusiasts. I’ve engineered and reverse-engineered hundreds of products for manufacturers, entrepreneurs, contractors, architects, engineers, artists, and more. Some of my favorite projects as a waterjet cutting specialist have been with artists and athletes. If you’ve got a vision, we can probably figure out a way to make it happen. I love a good challenge, so don’t be afraid to ask me for whatever you need. I will always be honest with you and tell you if waterjet is not the right fit for you though and try to connect you with the right people if that is the case.
SEE MY WORK
If you want to see some of the Accurate Waterjet team’s or my personal work as a waterjet cutting specialist, you can check out the custom metal art on display on the eastbound side of Southern Avenue before the Rural Road intersection in front of the Tempe History Museum. They’ve been on permanent display there since 2007.
My waterjet cutting work can be seen in the USA Olympic Team’s luge sled runners. The portfolio page has pictures of awards we made for award shows in New York City. View the gallery for photos of designer fences and custom metal art panel examples.
ORDER CUSTOM PARTS OR PRODUCTS
Do you have a potential project for us? You can speak with an Accurate Waterjet team member at 480-322-9616. We’ll do our best to help you out. You can email us at quotes@accuratewaterjet.com for information on how me may be able to help you with your project.