Although the efficacy of a waterjet cutting system has been established beyond a doubt, size and cost remain the dominant hurdles in the large scale adoption of this technique. The latest design of a waterjet cutting system developed by the graduates of the University of Pennsylvania is out to change all that!
Wazer, the world’s first desktop waterjet, is a cost-effective system that could cut through almost any soft or hard material with precision rivalling the one offered by the more expensive systems.
The design of Wazer is user-friendly. All you need is to provide Wazer access to the drawing files in standard formats, like .svg or .dxf, by plugging it into a desktop or a laptop via the USB cable. Next, set the material to be cut on the Wazer platform and adjust the height of the cutting jet. Fill up the abrasion tank by hooking up the water supply and allow Wazer to work its magic.
Wazer employs a combo of abrasive sandy particles and high-pressure water stream to cut nearly any material, ranging from carbon fibre to glass, stone, steel, and titanium. The designers claim that the Wazer is precise up to one-sixteenth of an inch, almost 1.5 mm.
The industrial sized water jet cutters cost around $200,000. These water jet systems can also be hired at hourly rates as low as $100 per hour. As opposed to these costly waterjet cutting systems, a Wazer unit is listed at $6000.
Wazer will enter full-scale production by the end of next year. The creators of Wazer managed to bring its price down by lowering the water cutting pressure. Albeit the slower cutting time, the reduced pressure does not affect the types of materials that Wazer could cut through or the precision of the design.
You can see more images of Wazer below:
Wazer is a handy tool for both the hobbyists and the designers for it is an active waterjet cutting system while being inexpensive. Wazer has already launched its Kickstarter campaign and has amassed more than $848,000 in pledges. The company plans to ship the complete units by August 2017 if things work out as planned.
You can learn more about Wazer in this video:
