Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Wazer: The Waterjet For Your Garage
Hackaday: Most hobbyists don’t have waterjets in their garage, but they would if they could! A Waterjet (or Water Jet Cutter) is a marvelous tool. Simply mount a high-pressure stream of grit and water on an x-y gantry, and the pressure generates enough erosion to cut through just about any thin material. Unfortunately, claiming your own waterjet will erode away a nice big hole in your pocketbook too. Machines up to this point start at about $75K, not to mention that they’d claim the better part of your workspace in a two-car garage.
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5 comments:
This is a really cool piece of technology. I haven't ever seen a waterjet cutter before, but I can understand how useful one could be in the right circumstances. I'm not sure that a scene shop would benefit too much from the machine, though. A large one, maybe. Since waterjet cutting is much faster than CNC milling and much safer and cooler than plasma cutting, it is a good technique to use when cutting sheet metal. The Wazer, though, is meant for the hobbyist with small projects. Still, this machine is another step in the exciting trend towards smaller and smaller technology. The ability to shrink a large cutting system into a (relatively) portable platform shows that we are mastering the ability to control these techniques. This tool reminds me of the handheld CNC router that was on the green page last week. Eventually, I think it's reasonable to expect a handheld (or auto-moving) waterjet cutter. Something like that could easily find its way into a scene shop that builds a lot of scenery out of metal.
Waterjet cutters are so crazy. The fact that you can shoot water and an abrasive with so much force that it just cuts right through solid metal blows my mind. And it has so much accuracy! At least, industrial ones have a lot of accuracy. This home version of the water jet is really interesting and pretty cool that you can use water to cut metals in your home, but, like the early 3D printers, I think it’s still too expensive to become generally used. The expense combined with the fact that lazer cutters (our hazer cutter at least) can also do metal means that it’ll be a long way away from making it into the theatre realm. Like Sam was saying, the idea that we can make large, industrial machines into home models- like 3D printers, lazer cutters, embroidery machines and the like is a pretty amazing trend, and I eagerly await the next new thing. Our future is looking really interesting for the range of toys we can play with.
I wonder how long it will be before someone convinces Ben Carter that we need to get one of these. While the article clearly describes the target audience for the Wazer, I’m not convinced. The price tag seems to be aimed at small scale professionals and not amateurs or weekend tinkerers. It does seem like the price would be great for colleges and universities that want to have access to the technology, but don’t have the $100k for a professional machine. I think one of the best parts about the article is that it talks about upcycling and reusing materials that otherwise might have gone in the trash. I appreciate the technology and effort in the Wazer, but I also question the true need for it. A lot of times when I see new technology, I say “I want that”. In this case, I’m not so sure that I do.
While I think its great that they’re trying to make an incredibly expensive piece of equipment more affordable I question who their market is. It feels like something that’s being aimed at amateurs and people who like to make things in their free time. But how many home tinkerers are regularly cutting the kinds of things that you need one of these for? Or working with that level or precision for that matter? I could see small professional companies or colleges being interested but those are booth groups that would will have been around for a while and have probably found another solution for their precision cutting needs if they couldn’t afford one of the 100k waterjets that already existed (like a laser cutter or a CNC router). Using our program as an example, it would be cool to get to experiment with the technology but do we actually have any need for it?
This might be the one tool that Carnegie Mellon School of Drama doesn’t have. Although I have never seen a water jet in person I have seen the by-product of the machine and it is quite fascinating to think that water has the ability to push through metal. This machine in particular is very cool because even 2 years ago the idea of having a water jet in your garage was not feasible but with these new improvements in technology, CNC guided machines have made there way to the consumer market. Over the summer I interned at a company that has a desktop laser cutter that had twice the function as the $30,000 one that CMU owned at a fraction of the cost. I hope machines like this water jet continue to improve and one day will be in my price range. But until then I can only hope to have the capability to use such a machine.
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