What you see here is the brain-child of four college students
fueled by microwaved ramen and brand-named energy drinks.
They have created a machine with robotic precision
designed for creation
but using water for destruction.
They have made the first desktop waterjet
and they call it the Wazer.
I’m going to review the Wazer to see if it lives up to the hype
and give you guys my personal thoughts.
I’ve recently used it to complete our portable belt grinder project,
so check that out if you haven’t seen it already.
Now the Wazer started as an undergrad research project
at the University of Pennsylvania back in 2012
but quickly rose to prominence through their Kickstarter launch in 2016,
shortly after establishing the company.
With a successful campaign,
Wazer has left their mark on the industry with a low cost, portable waterjet.
This is designed to fit in your garage,
private shop,
basement,
or small workspace.
Its portability allows you and another person
to toss it in the back of a pickup for simple transportation.
All it needs is a water-in,
a water-out,
and two 110 outlets for both the pump and the machine.
The machine and base came in separately,
arriving on a pallet, and no joke
after unloading and unboxing,
it took my brother and I just an hour and a half to completely assemble
before we’re ready to start cutting.
Their provided instruction manual,
which I believe is the best manual I’ve ever seen,
made it super easy for a streamlined setup.
The waterjet’s designed to sit on a desktop or table,
but if you’d like to have it freestanding,
you can purchase the legs separately.
It doesn’t need to be anchored down either.
Then you just fill it with water until it reaches the bottom of the plastic dampener.
And even though the plastic dampener is 12 by 18 inches,
your material can be 13 by 19 inches in size.
The abrasive hopper is located on the side
and can hold about 30 pounds of abrasive
using the standard 80 mesh garnet.
Loading abrasive is really simple.
All you have to do is pull out this hidden hopper right here,
load it up with abrasive,
and then just slide it back in.
This keeps it protected from any water or spray that can contaminate the garnet.
But what happens with all that garnet that we just put into the hopper?
The waterjet will go and spray into the corners of the tank
stirring up or agitating the garnet
which eventually finds its way through a pump
and into these two bins up front,
making it super easy for disposal.
You shouldn’t reuse the garnet due to the other contaminants mixed in with it at this point.
Water supply can come from your household tap,
and water-out can go into a sink, bucket, or any other draining system of choice.
Because it's activated by a pump, it does not need gravity to drain.
Let’s check out the power behind the waterjet!
The pump is a neat, compact, two-horsepower, 110 electric motor.
I’m noticing its very similar in design to a commercial waterjet
but on a much smaller scale.
The life support of the pump consists of
a control from the computer to turn it on and off when needed,
a high pressure line that goes straight to the machine cutting nozzle,
and filtered water in from a supply line.
It’s not advisable to reuse water from the Wazer, as it will also contain contaminants from use.
With a working pressure of 5,000 PSI,
it goes through about a half a gallon of water per minute.
That’s enough power to cut half inch thick aluminum at a half inch per minute,
or a quarter inch steel plate at a half inch per minute.
The machine has a maximum linear speed of 75 inches per minute,
which is pretty fast,
and the gantry has an accuracy of three-thousandths of an inch.
It’s pretty impressive for a machine of this size.
I’m ready to start cutting, so let's see how simple it is to use from start to finish.
We’ll begin with their software.
All that needs to be done is to import your drawing,
find its position and scaling,
pick your material and thickness,
determine its cutting path,
and add any tabs and leads.
Selecting your cut quality will determine the length and time it takes to cut,
but this is also something you can adjust while it’s cutting.
Now that I have saved the cut file to the SD card,
I’ll insert it into the Wazer.
Then I’ll secure the material to a 12 by 18 plastic cut bed with some screws.
The Wazer makes it easy to set the cutting head height.
We’ll use this plastic shim that Wazer’s included to set the nozzle to material height,
and then I’ll turn the knob to lock it into place.
With the cut file selected from the SD card and the machine calibrated,
I’m ready to hit go.
I know it’d be cool to operate this machine with the lid open,
but it won’t allow you to proceed until it’s shut.
As you can tell, the waterjet’s running at the moment,
and it’s not nearly as loud as I thought it would be.
Clocking in at around 74 decibels,
no hearing protection is required to operate the machine.
Only when it pierces the material is it at its loudest;
that means you can cut to your heart’s content without disturbing those around you.
As I mentioned before, if you want to change the cut quality and speed during the actual cut,
you can do so right at the machine by tapping the up and down arrow
What would you cut with a machine like this?
Well, we have a few materials here today to test its versatility.
It can cut hardened steel if you want to make a knife or a tool.
It can cut leather for a sheath,
rubber for a gasket,
definitely plastic for a knob or a handle,
carbon fiber for a drone body,
porcelain for ornate tiling,
or even glass for decor.
Wow the Wazer really is a cool machine!
But what I did notice is that on a long cut duration,
the Wazer will stop and ask me to add abrasive, which is good,
but it means I have to attend or babysit the machine.
I did have to do some maintenance which required this belt tension on the x-axis,
but this is normal maintenance just to maintain maximum accuracy.
In total, it did take a few hours to cut all these parts,
but that’s still considerably faster than waiting for an outsourced part.
As a designer, I really like the form and function of the Wazer.
All the parts fit flush into the sci-fi, streamlined design,
giving it a clean fit and finish.
The clear lid is really nice to be able to watch the cut,
and the legs flow nicely into the machine itself.
The storage rack underneath is a welcomed feature to store material before use.
Wazer has kept it simple with its intuitive, straightforward design.
The size is the best feature about the Wazer.
It’s possible to place it, store it, or transport it practically anywhere,
and I’m still amazed that you can actually plug this machine into a 110 outlet.
Its self-cleaning function of removing abrasive saves me a ton of time and keeps it mess free;
it’s a brilliant feature!
The Wazer isn’t ideal for high-production environments.
I have to remain near it to monitor for material shifting and low garnet.
If it runs out, the cut will automatically stop until the garnet is refilled.
But this makes it ideal for a personal workshop or garage,
and when you compare it to other waterjets out there,
at $7,000 its price is an absolute steal!
Unlike a commercial waterjet, you don’t need any specialized training to operate this.
The Wazer’s platform is so easy to learn and operate,
that if I wanted to have somebody make some cuts here in the shop, I’d start them off on this tool first
before jumping up to a more commercial unit that takes more training.
The intimidation of a large waterjet is definitely not felt here.
If you’re unfamiliar on how a waterjet works,
we have a detailed video about the mechanics
that you can learn all about it right here.
I want to thank Wazer for allowing us to demo and use their awesome invention
and for making technology that’s now accessible to all of us who want to create
and make and build and cut the things that we want to create.
What would you make?
Let me know, post in the comments below.
And until next time, I’m Jason,
and thanks for watching!
Wow, oh wow.
Wow, what I have to say, uh, wow!
Wow, wow!
Wow.
Wow!
Wow (inaudible) wow!
Wow.
Wow!
Wow.
Wooow!
Wow, woof wee shee (laughs).