Maslow waterjet cutter

I’m not having the space to do this, so i’m not going to even try this, but I do like to share this idea.

What about modding a pressure washer and use the Maslow as a water jet cutter.

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Okay, I’ll start some discussion. If you are wanting to cut metal, the pressures used on industrial water jet cutters are an order of magnitude higher than a pressure washer. I’m not saying it can’t be done, but it will be challenging to get and hold enough pressure to do useful things.

I don’t know about metal cutting but for plastic, aluminium, wood, this could be a nice alternative (did you see the video?)
A commercial CNC is also a lot more powerfull then a Maslow so i don’t see how a waterjet is different

To me that demonstration in the video seems to be usefull enough to cut several materials.

Pro: No dust, very clean edges, no bits that get dull.
Con: water splashing all over the place. :slight_smile: Cutting only (no engraving)

I think it uses just as much energy to do the same work. A 1000W waterjet will do about the same amount of work as a 1000W router. However, look at that video how clean it cut’s the hardwood. That also has a value to it. Though water and wood also have a downside to it.

It al depends on what the end user wants to accomplish.
As demonstrated in the video it looks like a very useful jigsaw / scrollsaw alternative even at a low pressure. Pretty impressive for a $150 pressurewasher + $80 carbide jet nozzle.

I don’t have a bathroom that’s big enough for this. But perhaps this can be scaled down…

also a Con, the possibility of injection injuries (where the water forces grit
deep in your skin), this is actually far more dangerous than a mere cut from a
router. In part because it’s not a common enough problem for first responders to
identify. At TechShop, anyone around the waterjet (not just the person using it)
is required to wear a badge on a lanyard around their neck indentifying that if
they are found unconsious, there is a high probability that they have suffered
an injection injury.

The video where he is guiding things past the jet with his bare hands is very
much a “don’t try this at home”

Another Con, the grit isn’t cheap, and the nozzles are wear items (and also not
cheap)

will the force of the jet counteract too much of the weight of the sled? will it
even stay down on the workpiece when cutting? (and how do you do this, and still
have enough movement of the sled when not cutting?)

All this being said (and if you can avoid cutting your frame to pieces and still
capture the water behind your machine), the maslow speeds would be well suited
to this sort of thing.

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As long as it enables a person to make something ‘in the wild’ then it’s just great.

I don’t see the average DIY’er drag a a few thick sheet of steel into the backyard and build a fullblown Titanic. But for smaller projects this may just be the coolest tool for he job.

A water jet (without grid) could also make a nice tool for RC areoplane builders. Using water instead of hot wire also would avoid the fumes of the molten styrofoam. Not sure how much safer a water only solution is…

Having cut tons of wood on an industrial water jet machine the edges are not nearly as clean as you might imagine. Blowout on the backside can be pretty bad sometimes. Worse are the distortions from swelling from all the water of course. For fine wood there can be some gnarly discoloration as well.

Not saying it’s not viable or worthy, but it’s no magic solution either. I use this process frequently for decorative pieces in Theatre. Without some post processing and paint treatments, it’s less clean than cnc

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There is a desktop waterjet machine that was a recent Kickstarter success. I think it was called the Wazer. A couple grand if I remember right, but looked like an interesting project.

Waser’s only 4 months behind schedule, on time by KS standards. Not a lot of activity in the comments so nobody’s worried. No red flags yet

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I’ve been keeping an eye on them too. I was skeptical that they would get it done, but they seem to be doing a good job

Dare I say CNC Plasma cutter. :slight_smile: (I bet that will draw in a few curious people)

I guess it all comes down to the needs of the enduser.

people have been talking about using a plasma cutter in a maslow since about day
1 of the kickstarter :slight_smile:

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That’s a whole different can-o-worms.

Besides the need for z control and feedback to stroke and maintain the arc it’s also extremely electrically noisy. I suggest lurking and poking around in one of the forums discussing diy plasma cutters