Cut shapes with high pressure water

" target="_blank">Synova, it doesn't need a laser to do it.

If you have ever put your hand in front of a high pressure hose, you get the concept of the nanoJet. Flow goes one step farther and at the last minute before the water exits the cutting nozzle, injects highly abrasive garnet sand into the water. This basically wears through just about any material you would care to put into the nanoJet. The clear hose in the center going from the cylinder at the top to the head at the bottom is where the sand flows.

What you end up with is a device that, according to Flow, can cut through anything without producing any heat at the cut. OK, you probably don't want to cut through water sensitive materials, but it can cut through plastic as quickly as the motors on the head can whip it around. This means about 60 inches a minute for complex shapes. In this case it is cutting through the packaging for Sandisk SD cards of one variety or other, but if your needs include cutting 8 inch titanium plate, the nanoJet can do it at about .1 inch per minute. 60,000 PSI water is not something you want your hand in front of.

While no kitchen should be without one, the $100-500K price tag makes it available to only the most well-heeled of chefs. Should you want one like the pictured unit with an optical vision alignment system, it will run in the $500-700K range. Still, the ability to quickly pattern cut cheese with blinding accuracy should not be underestimated, not to mention turning radishes into roses with optically aligned precision. µ