It is a game-changing moment in the world of desktop manufacturing, thanks to the Wazer Pro. It’s the machine that took the hugely popular concept of water jet cutting and made it accessible and affordable for all, breaking the monopoly of the big industrial players in the space.
From a concept born out of a Penn Engineering research project to a world leader in desktop water jet cutting technology, the rise of the Wazer brand reads like a tech innovator’s fairytale. From the startup co-founded by Nisan Lerea and Matt Nowicki, the vision to democratise water jet cutting was made reality with the release of the original model, funded through $1.3 million in pre-sales on Kickstarter alone.
The jump from Wazer to Wazer Pro is as much about creative aspirations as it is about responding to the voice of the brand’s own community. Listening carefully to users who wanted ‘more’, who wanted more cutting power, who wanted more accessibility and ease of maintenance, who wanted a streamlined experience that would reinvent the desktop cutting experience, the makers at CNC Kitchen designed a laser cutter that promises to do just that. True to its name, the Pro is committed to improving on the original model – promising twice the cutting speeds of the Wazer, which cuts through aluminium to steel, and delivers results with a level of accuracy that is hard to ignore.
The curse of complex machinery is its maintenance. To help alleviate that, the Wazer Pro was designed with a sophisticated abrasive collection system; a respite from maintenance for the maintenance woes that often ensnare finely made or advanced technology. That’s Wazer’s perspective, too: they’re not keen on promoting the Wazer as a tool that will complicate the creative process, so there’s minimal technical interruptions.
The learning curve for existing users needn’t be a cause for concern, either: the Wazer Pro uses the same software platform that its predecessor had. And Wazer’s trade-up programme means anyone with the original machine gets a substantial discount when it comes time to upgrade. Is there a community that sticks together like that?
Not only are the Wazer Pro’s ideas and features disruptive to the water jet market; they’re disruptive to conventional price tags. The $18,999 Wazer reimagines the water jet as an accessible, high-quality solution for small businesses, workshops and artists. In Alison Eden’s case, the Pro has enabled her to quadruple her output – yet she cites speed and precision as factors that have not made her work less deeply handcrafted.
From Lab to real life Wazer’s pride of place as an icon of innovation speaks to the boldness of their vision and the effectiveness of their execution. Onward and upward, with a constant eye on improvement and an ear to the ground for customer feedback, the company promises to spread their footprint in the water jet cutting world.
Wazer Pro’s title still sings: its name is a tinny ambition to bring pro-grade capabilities to people, to stay focused on power, productivity and precision in a package designed for a wider audience, to be both homespun and commercial-grade.
But this powerhouse of a tool is not solely for professional use: it can be bought by makers, creators and even small businesses that need to push the limits of what they can accomplish in their individual spaces. Looking to the future, it’s evident that this desktop powerhouse is just the beginning of what will definitely cut through the manufacturing realm, wherever there is accessible access to it.
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