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Here we see the WAZER having just completed the cutting of a sprocket. The cutting space on the table is 12 by 18 in.

Waterjet tables are an appealing choice for shops that are interested in offering precision cutting without having to worry about heat-affected zones on a part. It's also a flexible option if a shop needs to occasionally cut non-metal parts for assemblies. But a full-size table might be considered overkill for smaller shops that already have other cutting capabilities or for research labs and maker spaces where footprint is an issue.

The industry has taken note of this in the past couple of years, leading to the development of a number of prototype-friendly machines that reduce the sticker shock of the technology while offering a right-sized machine for a shop's particular needs. Each manufacturer has taken a slightly different approach to this down-sized option, so for those in the market, it's a matter of what you are looking for: extreme precision, speed, space management, price, or some combination of all of these.

WAZER: Price-conscious Startup

Brooklyn, N.Y.-based WAZER originally launched its desktop waterjet as a Kickstarter campaign in 2016. Company founders Matt Nowicki and Nisan Lerea built their first waterjet while studying engineering at the University of Pennsylvania to give them a tool to cut parts for a student open-wheeled race car-building competition. After they graduated and put the product through a couple years of development at HAX Accelerator, the co-founders created the first 110-Volt desktop waterjet. It cuts steel, titanium, aluminum, glass, stone, tile, and carbon fibre.

The cutting space is 12 by 18 in. and it can cut ½-in. aluminum, 1/4-in. mild steel, and 1/8-in. stainless steel.

"There's always a trade-off between size and increasing costs and spatially making it more difficult to install a machine," said Lerea. "We knew we wanted to come in on the lower end pricewise because we wanted this to be essentially a desktop machine to work in any workshop. So we tried to pack as much as we could in that footprint."

While the machine sits on a desktop, a self-contained pump sits under the table, which needs to be supplied with tap water. It also requires a sink or a floor drain nearby for drainage. The abrasive is loaded on the left side of the main machine via a retractable drawer, and the machine can keep running while the hopper is filled. Lerea noted that the machine can run for a little over an hour without requiring an abrasive refill. An optional stand is available for the machine for shops that don't have a lot of benchtop space.

WAZER won't divulge the precise PSI of the pump they use, although Lerea does acknowledge that the machine is not particularly fast. It's part of the trade-off of having an inexpensive machine that maintains precise cuts. Most other specs are available on the company's website.

The company presold 300 machines as part of its Kickstarter campaign. All of these have now been delivered, as have more units.

"Now that we’ve stabilized production, we’re making units every day and building up our technical support team," said Lerea. "We do remote support via email and phone, as well as video tutorials. Through these we help customers understand the machine and how to maintain it. We are also launching a 220-V version internationally later this year."

OMAX's ProtoMAX waterjet is designed as a fully self-contained system on a wheeled base that allows a shop to move it around as needed.

Like all the other companies featured in this article, WAZER has been interested to see that while this machine has been purchased by research facilities and small businesses, it's also finding its way into small-scale manufacturing environments where low-volume part production and prototyping needs can be filled by this kind of machine.

ProtoMAX®: Full-Featured, Small Footprint

OMAX's ProtoMAX waterjet, launched in late 2017, has a similar footprint as WAZER's but is designed as a fully self-contained system on a wheeled base that allows a shop to move it around as needed. But reasons for the development of the product were similar to those described by Wazer's Lerea.

"We wanted to bring more affordability to customers who didn't feel there was a machine that precisely fit their needs," said Dave Fuller, product manager at OMAX, Kent, Wash. "These companies have been outsourcing reluctantly for parts that a machine of this size can produce for them."

The cutting area of the machine is 12 by 12 in., and a piece of material that is 14 by 18 in. can fit in the machine's enclosure. Part height is limited to material that is 1 in., but with its 5-HP motor and 30,000-PSI pump, it can essentially cut any material at that thickness. The area required for the whole machine is roughly 4 by 5 ½ ft. Generally speaking, one could say that it produces parts slower than OMAX's larger models, but quantifying the precise difference is difficult because it depends on the choice of motor and psi level in those models. Suffice to say, productivity will be several factors higher with industrial equipment depending on motor HP and pressure.

Fuller has been surprised at how it has been embraced for production needs.

"Our highest representative market is industry, including very small shops making custom components all the way to Fortune 50 technology companies," he said. "In light manufacturing, we didn't really think there was going to be such a demand for folks making their own relatively small parts, but entrepreneurs are picking up on how this kind of machine can work for them. A few examples of the types of jobs they are doing include manufacturing and/or prototyping custom knives, belt buckles, motorcycle parts, and artistic glass. And, of course, shops are using it to develop prototypes as well."

The machine runs on 240 V and holds about 15 lbs. of garnet, allowing it to run without requiring filling for about an hour, and the hopper can be filled while cutting. It also features the same software that is used on OMAX's larger machines, so there's no learning curve for those that have used one of their systems in the past. The machine also allows cutting under water to reduce noise and water spray, according to the company, and a safety inter connect switch on the lid that makes operation safe by stopping all cutting actions when opened. The combination of the water level control and the cover enables the machine to operate at under 75 DB. A cutting bed light illuminates the entire cutting stage for fixturing and part removal.

"Because it essentially works on the same platform as our larger machines, it gives entrepreneurs or those using it in an educational institution an opportunity to learn about that system, how to optimize its performance, and how it might help them grow their business or help students transition into industry," said Fuller.

A-Series: Contained Production Capability

The A-Series is a larger-volume yet compact machine with a cutting envelope of 4 by 2 ft., and, like these other machines, an enclosed cutting area that allows it to be placed in a smaller area within a shop without requiring a splash zone around the machine.

WARDJet, Tallmadge, Ohio, had a soft launch of its A-Series in January 2018.

"This came out of our engineering group getting a number of requests from customers," said Benjie Massara, the company's product manager for waterjets. "We do a lot of custom engineering and tailoring of machines. Our E-Series goes down to a 5- by 5-ft. cutting area, but customers were asking for configurations as small as a 2- by 2-ft. cutting area. So we knew there was something between those two sizes that could be a sweet spot for the marketplace, especially with the rise of maker spaces and what I like to call Instagram machinists. Those are the ones you see who have got a product that can be completed in a smaller run and a smaller space – something for your keys, knife blanks in small runs where they don't need the full production area but want the power of the larger tables. You don't need specialized tooling for different materials, the tool doesn't change, the only thing that changes is the speed, so you can go from cutting a thin sheet metal to a thick piece of titanium.

"Traditionally, you have to reserve a lot of space around the machine for extra accessories and a splash zone. And we noticed that there hasn't been a unit on the market that allows for someone to put this type of a machine into a shop, running next to a lathe or a smaller mill, that has the same feel as a Haas machining centre."

The A-Series is a larger-volume yet compact machine with a cutting envelope of 4 by 2 ft., and, like these other machines, an enclosed cutting area that allows it to be placed in a smaller area within a shop without requiring a splash zone around the machine.

The big difference between this and the other machines discussed here is that it is a full-power option, with pump pressure of 60,000 PSI and a 30-HP pump. And unlike the other machines, there aren't strict height restrictions for materials. It is possible to cut 7 in. of any material on the machine. The bulk feed hopper for the abrasive holds about 85 lbs. and should serve to cut for about two hours continuously, depending on orifice size and abrasive settings.

"We wanted something you could do proper production runs on," said Massara. "What was important to us too was maintaining the power of the waterjet. With the way it's configured, you can place a quarter sheet on the bed. And when you run it, you don't sacrifice speed for the compactness of the machine. We didn't want something where you put it on a regular machine, takes five minutes, but on the smaller machine it's a 30-minute job. You end up using more abrasive, and it ends up costing more if you try to do production on it."

The machine can stand about 12 or 18 in. off the wall, which means, comparatively speaking, it can be tucked away in the shop.

"Our application team now transitions to it whenever they have a smaller test piece to cut," said Massara. "They can reach the entire work volume, which is very convenient."

While Massara has seen the A-Series deployed in a variety of areas, again, it's the entrepreneurs and labs where it seems to be catching people's imagination.

"In a lab setting I’ve seen people using it to cut test coupons in INCONEL," Massara said. "A waterjet is great for that. I’ve also seen people transition from using angle grinders or wet saws to using the waterjet to cut materials. What would take six hours using other technology takes 30 seconds instead, with no secondary processes."

Here we see the Finecut machine on a shop floor.

Each of these three machines offers an enclosed work envelope that allows a shop to introduce waterjet technology within a small footprint. For shop owners, it's a matter of deciding how much power and flexibility are required given space and financial constraints.

Editor Robert Colman can be reached at [email protected].

OMAX Corp., www.omax.com

WARDJet, wardjet.com

WAZER, www.wazer.com

Finecut™ Micro Waterjet: Extreme Precision

When researching smaller-footprint waterjets, shops might come across Finepart Sweden AB's Finecut micro waterjet. Although it has a similarly small footprint, don't mistake it for the type of machine that is going to function the same as the fab shop models in this article. This machine can hold a tolerance of +/- 10 microns, so it's more akin to a precision machining centre or an EDM machine.

"This type of machine allows you to make products for the medical, electronics, aerospace, and military industries that can't be made in other ways," said Dan Smith, owner of Waterjet World Inc. of Burlington, Ont., which represents Finepart, as well as TECHNI Waterjet and other waterjet-related products such as pumps, water processing systems, and abrasive removal units. "You can essentially machine a part with no heat-affected zone. It might have a bridge on it that's only 10 thou wide and perfectly straight. If there was a heat-affected zone on a part like that, it would throw the geometry off."

Here is an example of a precision part made with the Finecut.

As Smith describes it, the machine is very accurate from a positioning standpoint, built similar to the way an EDM machine would be made.

"Instead of having a wire coming out the head, however, you’ve got a jetstream of 8 thousandths of an inch," he said.

Smith said this technology is more likely to find a fit in a machine shop where it can be used to cut profiles out around a pre-machined geometry very precisely. Although the machine can cut through a 2-in. part, Smith explained that it's really on parts that are 12 mm or thinner where the machine is able to achieve the precision that provides its value.

If you think the machine sounds precise now, Smith said that technology will soon be available to create a nozzle that is 6 thou or smaller.

The development of this microtechnology is being driven by weight and size restrictions and the cost of material to build such things as satellites and other precision jobs.

Waterjet World Inc., www.waterjetworld.ca