This is a messy process, unlike laser cutting. The Kickstarter videos gloss over that. (They also avoid showing video of the thing cutting at actual speed.) The tank fills up with water and garnet sludge. A lot of sludge. They don't show cleaning out the tank.
I've used TechShop's Flow waterjet cutters a few times. They're way overkill for most TechShop jobs, being able to cut 4 inches of steel plate 8 by 8 feet. TechShop's people are looking at the Wazer. The big question is operating costs. If the Wazer goes through its consumables fast, it could be too expensive to run. It's useful to have a small waterjet, but it's not clear that a really slow waterjet is useful. Especially if it chews up more garnet per cut. Still, it could be great for thin sheet metal jobs.
I hope this thing ships. Remember GlowForge, the low-cost laser printer? That's been hyped for two years now, and holds the all-time Kickstarter pre-order record, $28 million, beating out the Pebble watch. But it hasn't shipped. Currently they're claiming they will ship by the end of December 2016.
I've used TechShop's Flow waterjet cutters a few times. They're way overkill for most TechShop jobs, being able to cut 4 inches of steel plate 8 by 8 feet. TechShop's people are looking at the Wazer. The big question is operating costs. If the Wazer goes through its consumables fast, it could be too expensive to run. It's useful to have a small waterjet, but it's not clear that a really slow waterjet is useful. Especially if it chews up more garnet per cut. Still, it could be great for thin sheet metal jobs.
I hope this thing ships. Remember GlowForge, the low-cost laser printer? That's been hyped for two years now, and holds the all-time Kickstarter pre-order record, $28 million, beating out the Pebble watch. But it hasn't shipped. Currently they're claiming they will ship by the end of December 2016.