As the owner of Accurate Waterjet, this is my story.
I’m Arnie Lytle, a waterjet cutting specialist in Phoenix, Arizona. I’ve lived in the Valley of the Sun since 1996. I’m the father of four children, two stepsons and grandfather of 11 grandkids. Accurate Waterjet is a veteran-owned, family-operated business located in Phoenix.
PASSION FOR PISTONS
I grew up on a farm in Western Nebraska, tinkering with my 1923 Ford Model T and raising cane every chance I got. Whether I was fixing farm equipment, building muscle cars, driving trucks, or drag racing, I found myself in constant need of new parts that were hard to get my hands on or too expensive for a kid to buy. Necessity is the mother of all invention, and I 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 destroyer during the Vietnam War Era when I 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, from creating more efficient programs that run our waterjet and laser machines to smarter ways of loading materials to be cut. I keep an eye on every part of the creative process, and this translates 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 impossible to find parts for classic cars
MY EARLY WATERJET CUTTING SPECIALIST CAREER
In 1997, my welding skills, which were learned in the family workshop on the 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.
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 18 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 partnered with Ron Marusiak, one of the owners of the shop I went to work for in 2010. We put Accurate Waterjet back in full operation. Today, we’re in full swing operating at 3819 E. LaSalle Street in Phoenix. We affectionately call our building “The Hobby Shop”, and we always have a variety of projects going on.
ABOUT OUR CLIENTS
Our clients are a long list of doers. 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, I 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.