fbpx
Back to Learn
Customer Story
January 31, 2023
CNC Waterjet for In-House Fabrication means fast Turnaround
By WAZER Team

What started as a side business for Eric Elliott in his North Hollywood garage, has now grown into a company creating fabrications and mechatronics for the entertainment industry, theme parks, and museums, and installations around the world. When Eric went full-time with Elliott Metal Fabrication in 2004, he initially did all the work on manual machines because CNC was still relatively expensive and complicated at the time.

The shop now boasts a CNC plasma table, router, and laser cutter-but they have their limitations. A large format waterjet was far too expensive for his workload, which is why Eric chose the WAZER for its size, cost, and ease of use.

The WAZER has proven its value for more than 3 years, increasing efficiency and allowing Eric to present clients with capabilities that set him apart, such as cutting aluminum, steel, fiberglass, and plastics like Delrin, UHMW, and acrylic without expensive tooling needs. 

“I don’t need it tomorrow, or in 2 days, or in a week… I need to draw and cut it out and have it in 30 minutes.”

He added, “The WAZER benefits me where I can offer a client so much more in-house, rather than sending it out”, adding “instead of having to job shop it out and wait for the part, I can make it right now-and I didn’t have to spend $250k on a machine I can’t fit in my shop.” Eric emphasized the quick turnaround prototyping nature of his business, “I don’t need it tomorrow, or in 2 days, or in a week.. I need to draw and cut it out and have it in 30 minutes.”

Eric also stressed the WAZER has been a great timesaver, saving thousands of man hours that would be otherwise wasted, “it’s allowed me to start cutting things and then start working on something else.” By design, the WAZER has less setup and fixturing time, “being efficient in every possible way is key to being successful… The WAZER has minimal setup, I just hit go.” Eric added, “I can save thousands doing test cuts on the WAZER.”