Yes, still waaaay spendy, but something to consider in a year to two?
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The question is which will happen first, the city approving our venting the metalshop plan (so we can use cnc plasma) or we save up enough money and buy a waterjet?
Water jet upkeep is expensive.
I would guess this is probably a tool that we can’t afford. Ever.
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That’s a very un-maker attitude! Look at it as a project, like these kids did.
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The mechanical bits aren’t my worry, the garnet abrasive media is.
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$0.15 per pound doesn’t sound too bad, even better if you can recycle it. Granted, plasma might be much cheaper, but we won’t ever be able to get proper ventilation, so that’s a non-starter. 
http://www.waterjets.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=85&Itemid=55
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And consumable costs can and should be passed along like 3d printing and laser cutting.
“A waterjet will use from about 0.25 pound (0.1 kg) per minute to 2.0 pounds (1 kg) per minute depending on the pump and nozzle you are using. The typical usage is about one pound (0.45 kg) per minute.”
From the same website. Of course feed rates are highly dependent on material.
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Well, same company sells media and water recycler systems. Obviously that just ads another rather large chunk to the price tags…
Waterjet cutters are awesome. But the systems I have seen being actually uised have always been very expensive, costly to run, and when they fail, they fail hard. In all honesty if I were to dream about a 100K tool for DMS it would be a 5x10 industrial laser with CO2 and JAG over waterjet. But dreaming of using a machine that I don’t really have a project for is always fun.
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Lol, thats funny right there… We have already too much difficulty recouping usage costs…
Does DMS really need to be all thingto all people?
What we have are members who are thieves. Not difficult to deal with, just require someone(s) to take the time to identify them and get them banned. I know that 3D fab doesn’t have the reimbursment level they should, but my understanding is that the laser committee seems to get decent reimbursement. At least their current account shows a decent amount.
Not sure how talking about acquiring potential tools is being all things to all people. It is after all, why many of us become members. To have access to tools we would not otherwise have.
My experience in manufacturing with water jets is they are expensive to run and maintain. Besides the media breaking down and needing constant replacement, the nozzles wear out also and have to be replaced.
They are a GREAT tool however.
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Yes they are a great tool with the right training. I see it like the haas. Very expensive. Very limited people who have proper training and needs. How many people use the haas besides Polyprinter?
Just an fy… It costs about $60 for an 18 by 18 by 1/8 inch aluminum plate water jet cut done by Hollyfab in qty 1 to 5.
A water jet or any 2.5d cnc is much simpler to develop the code for then the HAAS. It is more comparable to the multicam, which is currently the most expensive tool at the space (we are still paying it off). I suspect we could even use vcarve to develop the code for a water jet, plasma, or laser
co2.
$.15/min + wear components…
The laser costs $.2/min
I visited the Techshop in San Jose, CA last summer and the did have a water jet (FlowJet CNC) which they were charging per minute due to high energy consumption, but I don’t remember the exact rates.
I saw Tinijet at CES:
Their website is pretty sparse right now, but they had a working unit in their booth, so it’s not vaporware (at least not water-vapor-ware ;). They haven’t set their pricing yet, but quoted “around $15K”. My mouth was watering.
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Also, for what it’s worth, responding to some of the comments:
- Operating cost and maintenance/reliability would have to be factored in,
- I expect the level of training on how to use it would be closer to that of a laser cutter than the HAAS.
- Safer than the plasma cutter (with no fire code issues).
- More versatile than a laser cutter (the current laser cutters, at least, any for some application, even high-powered lasers).
- All things to all people? No. But if there’s enough interest, yes.
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I’m hoping we can retrofit the Lasersaur with a Nd:YAG, & get the plasma cutter running as well ; but a waterjet would also be very excellent to have. The more net-shape production processes available, the better!